Scientists are offering everyone the chance to witness an amazing sight that until recently has never been seen by human eyes: a humpback whale giving birth.
The extremely rare footage was captured after sunset on March 5, 2021 far off the island of Lahaina at the popular maternity sanctuary.
National Geographic on Friday teased the mesmerizing video, which will be released — from beginning to end — as part of the network’s new series “Incredible Animal Journeys” airing Nov. 19.
“We’ve been waiting for this for 25 years,” said Rachel Cartwright, a whale researcher at the Keiki Kohola Project, a Maui-based nonprofit that protects humpback whale mothers and calves. “It has never been seen.”
Many female humpback whales travel to the Hawaiian Islands each year to give birth in warm, predator-free waters.
The Keiki Kohola project uses research drones, not realizing they are about to record history. National Geographic National Geographic’s new series “Extraordinary Animal Journeys” will air on Nov. 19.National Geographic
Although scientists camped out in tropical waters hoping to observe the entire birthing process, no one had ever seen the entire process.
Cartwright’s team got lucky, however, when one of its research boats spotted a group of male humpbacks huddled on the surface of the water near a female they were hoping to mate with.
A crew member dove into the water to film the mammal and saw a small worm peeking out from the female’s underside.
“At that point, we knew we had a possibility of birth,” Cartwright told National Geographic.
“We had people in the water until the sun went down,” he continued. “But the lights are out, and we don’t think we’ll get anything new.”
The team uses a research drone, not realizing they are about to make history.
The crew assumed they had collected part of the birth and other potential data – until Cartwright plugged a memory card into his computer to watch the footage.
The extremely rare footage was captured after sunset on March 5, 2021 off the island of Lahaina at the popular maternity haven. National Geographic
“What we saw on the footage was a huge explosion of blood coming out,” Cartwright said. “And then, two seconds later, we finally saw a calf.”
Divers immediately jumped back into the dark water to continue filming the newborn – a boy – with a low-light camera.
The beautiful footage ends with the couple lovingly massaging their heads together and the baby swimming close to its mother’s head as it begins its new life.
Many female humpback whales travel to the Hawaiian Islands each year to give birth in warm, predator-free waters.National Geographic
In addition to providing a glimpse into a rarely seen natural wonder, the video offers scientists a previously unknown insight into the birth process.
The involvement of several men throughout the delivery surprised the team, who still did not fully understand the reason behind their presence.
“There’s a beautiful sequence where the mother has her tail up, and the little baby’s tail sticks out, and the male goes down blowing bubbles,” Cartwright said.
Humpbacks release strings of bubbles strategically, whether they are hunting, courting, or perhaps to trigger the release of pleasurable hormones, such as oxytocin, when the bubbles move across the whale’s skin, according to science sources.
“There was a bunch of foam and the female just swam through it, like she was getting a little spa or massage,” Cartwright said. “It was really shocking to see.”
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
