Researchers don’t know much about how humpbacks give birth. It’s a difficult thing to observe that requires being in the right place at the right time. Recently, however, researchers from the University of Hawai’i at Mānoa’s Marine Mammal Research Program were able to capture the first few minutes of a newborn calf’s life in the incredibly rare footage you see above.
“I think everybody can appreciate these kinds of footages,” said Program Director Lars Bejder. “It brings us closer to these animals and gives us a really majestic view of these creatures. I think it’s pretty spectacular.”
The video was shot by a drone flying off the coast of Maui. According to reports, Bejder was at a different location filming other whales when a local tour guide company called him.
“They had just seen all this whitewater and commotion in the water and weren’t quite sure what it was,” Bejder explained. “Suddenly there was all this blood, which made us go over there and that’s what we discovered–a newborn calf.”
