Sailors’ tales of whales ramming ships just got modern confirmation from above. Using drones, researchers filmed sperm whales slamming their massive heads into each other—direct evidence of the behavior long blamed for 19th-century ship sinkings that helped inspire Moby Dick. In footage captured around the Azores and Spain’s Balearic Islands between 2020 and 2022, scientists saw not giant bulls, but younger “sub-adult” whales doing the headbutting, reports Live Science. Published in Marine Mammal Science, the study suggests this could play a role in social dynamics within whale groups, though its exact purpose remains unclear.
“It was really exciting to observe this behavior, which we knew had been hypothesized for such a long time, but not yet documented and described systematically,” said lead author Alec Burslem in a statement. Some researchers think it may stem from underwater fights between males; others argue frequent ramming would be risky given the delicate sound-producing structures in the heads of the whales. Burslem calls the drone’s overhead angle “transformative” for whale research and hopes more video surfaces, saying additional sightings could finally clarify why these deep-sea giants weaponize their heads at all. You can watch video here.