{"id":628245,"date":"2026-10-12T11:40:12","date_gmt":"2026-10-12T11:40:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/628245\/"},"modified":"2026-10-12T11:40:12","modified_gmt":"2026-10-12T11:40:12","slug":"humpback-whales-unusual-response-to-dead-calf-raises-questions-about-animal-grief","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/628245\/","title":{"rendered":"Humpback whale\u2019s unusual response to dead calf raises questions about animal grief"},"content":{"rendered":"

A humpback whale repeatedly touched and stayed beside her dead newborn, raising new questions about maternal attachment and grief in animals.<\/p>\n

Whale grief has a famous image attached to it. In 2018, an orca named Tahlequah carried her dead newborn for 17 days and more than 930 miles (1,500 km).<\/p>\n

Toothed whales do it often enough that there\u2019s a research literature on the topic. Baleen whales barely appear in those records: a newborn has too little blubber to float, and it sinks soon after it dies.<\/p>\n

Off eastern Australia in July 2025, researchers documented a rare encounter between a humpback whale and her dead newborn.<\/p>\n

The humpback whale gave birth two-thirds of a mile (1 km) from the beach, and the calf was dead. Video taken that morning shows the body on the sea floor, and the mother coming down to it.<\/p>\n

She stayed, touching the calf with her head and one pectoral fin and resting eye to eye beside it. <\/p>\n

That\u2019s the first detailed record of the behavior in a humpback whale.<\/p>\n

Whale calf was dead at birth<\/p>\n

Two adult humpbacks were milling at the surface off Palm Beach on the Gold Coast at around 8 a.m. on July 17. Each was about 40 feet long (12 to 13 meters). Nothing looked like a fight: no chasing, no fast movement.<\/p>\n

The larger one arched her back, dove for under two minutes at a time, and surfaced in almost the same spot. Both drifted to within about 65 feet (20 meters) of a small boat that had cut its engines.<\/p>\n

At roughly 8:30, the amniotic membrane came away and floated on the surface. The exact moment couldn\u2019t be pinned down, and no blood or placenta showed, possibly because the water was murky.<\/p>\n

By about 8:45 the camera was on the calf. It lay on the sea floor, under 13 feet long (4 meters), not moving and not breathing. <\/p>\n

Newborn humpbacks usually measure 13 to 15 feet, so this one may have been undersized.<\/p>\n

The calf was never lifted<\/p>\n

Dolphins account for more than 90 percent of reported cases, and what they mostly do is hold the body up. They balance dead calves on the snout or the back and push sinking ones back up.<\/p>\n

This mother did none of that. She went down to the dead whale calf instead and held still beside it, a minute or more at a stretch. She came back again and again until the boat left at 10 a.m.<\/p>\n

The fact that she never attempted to lift the calf was particularly striking.<\/p>\n

In more than half of the humpback births anyone has documented, the mother pushed her newborn up so it could take its first breath.<\/p>\n

Jan-Olaf Meynecke<\/a>, of the Whales and Climate Research Program at Griffith University<\/a>, said the mother \u201cshowed prolonged post-mortem behavior and attention towards her deceased calf under the surface.\u201d<\/p>\n

She might have known the calf was dead shortly after delivering it, Meynecke and his co-author wrote. <\/p>\n

Alternatively, the calf\u2019s position on the seafloor may have made lifting difficult, or baleen whales may simply respond differently than dolphins.<\/p>\n

They looked like resting whales<\/p>\n

Andrew Mulville, a rescue boat captain with the Sea World Foundation<\/a>, was filming from a 16-foot (5 m) private boat.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt first sight, I thought it was just two whales resting on the surface, but their behavior was unusual,\u201d Mulville said. \u201cIt was definitely not what I was expecting to see out at sea that day.\u201d<\/p>\n

The second adult stayed the whole time. Humpback mothers often travel with an escort, sometimes a male and sometimes an unrelated female, which can help keep other males away. <\/p>\n

Loud calls carried through the water, though nobody could tell which whale made them.<\/p>\n

Over the next two days, people watching from Burleigh Heads and from the beach saw two adult humpbacks circling the same water for hours. <\/p>\n

Neither was identified, so there\u2019s no way to say it was the same pair.<\/p>\n

\"Release<\/a>Release of amniotic membrane (a). Parts of the amniotic membrane floating on the surface (b). Female humpback whale resting next to her stillborn (c), and eye contact with the stillborn (d). Credit: Discover Animals\/Andy Mulville. Click to watch video.Other whale calves were found dead<\/p>\n

That July went badly for humpback calves along this coast. Seven dead newborns turned up between K\u2019gari and Ballina, plus one dead young whale of unconfirmed age.<\/p>\n

The birth also happened more than 310 miles (500 km) south of this population\u2019s usual breeding grounds on the southern Great Barrier Reef, and in colder water. <\/p>\n

The sea was 68.9 \u00b0F (20.5 \u00b0C) that morning, while humpback births recorded elsewhere have happened between 72 and 82 \u00b0F (22 and 28 \u00b0C). Something may have brought the delivery on early, and nobody can say what.<\/p>\n

Humpback births keep turning up further south<\/a> than the species\u2019 traditional breeding grounds. Whether that reflects a recovering population<\/a> or hungry mothers is still up for debate.<\/p>\n

The same whales have also started migrating earlier<\/a>. <\/p>\n

At least six newborns died near K\u2019gari in 2023, and pregnancy is costly<\/a> for a migrating female. Neither die-off has been traced to a cause.<\/p>\n

A photograph of the mother\u2019s tail went to Happywhale<\/a>, which holds more than 15,800 identified humpbacks for Australia\u2019s east coast. The search returned no match.<\/p>\n

Was the whale grieving?<\/p>\n

Grief is hard to demonstrate in any wild animal, humpback whales included. <\/p>\n

Researchers cannot determine whether a whale experiences grief simply by observing its behavior.<\/p>\n

What Meynecke and Mulville will say is that the behavior matches what socially complex mammals do around their dead. Elephants and primates touch, guard, and stay close. <\/p>\n

Humpback whales<\/a> carry the same type of brain cells linked to social awareness in both groups.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe physical contact the mother was seeking with her deceased calf is certainly what surprised me most. She was also looking at the calf closely and doing this repeatedly for at least an hour but likely longer,\u201d Meynecke said in an e-mail to Earth.com.<\/p>\n

Baleen whales fight predators instead of fleeing them, and researchers have suggested such species may be slow to leave a dead calf. It could equally be distress, attachment, confusion, or reflex.<\/p>\n

The behaviors indicated strong maternal attachment to the calf, Meynecke said.<\/p>\n

What remains unknown about whale grief<\/p>\n

How long she stayed is unknown. The boat left at 10 a.m., and the whales seen from shore afterward were never matched to her.<\/p>\n

Nor does anyone know how often it happens. A dead newborn sinks, so nothing is left at the surface to notice. Even a live birth is rarely seen: the first video of a sperm whale birth<\/a> was recorded this year.<\/p>\n

\u201cNew technologies like drones can certainly increase the chances to observe birth of humpback whales and the immediate responses after the birth,\u201d Meynecke told Earth.com.<\/p>\n

Rescue crews and government agencies log the strandings on this coast. What happens underwater usually goes unrecorded.<\/p>\n

The full study was published in the journal Discover Animals<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u2014\u2013<\/p>\n

Like what you read? Subscribe to our newsletter<\/a> for engaging articles, exclusive content, and the latest updates.<\/p>\n

Check us out on EarthSnap<\/a>, a free app brought to you by Eric Ralls<\/a> and Earth.com.<\/p>\n

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