Wildlife Photographer Captures First-Ever Aerial Footage of Humpback Whale Giving Birth

A drone photographer has captured what is believed to be the first-known aerial footage of a humpback whale giving birth in the ocean.

Wildlife photographer Alexander Forrest filmed what is believed to be the first and only humpback whale birth ever recorded by drone off the coast of New South Wales on July 28.

The 20-year-old photographer was standing on a coastal point in northern New South Wales to capture the annual whale migration along a stretch of ocean known as the “humpback highway” when he noticed an adult female traveling more slowly than expected in shallow waters.

According to The New York Times, when Forrest sent up his drone to get a closer look, the video showed a large cloud of bright red blood spreading through the water. At first, Forrest worried a predator had attacked the whale.

A few moments later, however, the reason became clear. A gray calf appeared beside the adult whale, revealing that the blood was associated with a birth rather than an attack.

“My adrenaline was through the roof,” Forrest says in a statement. “After thousands of hours filming whales from the air, I’ve never witnessed anything comparable.”

The photographer’s drone footage shows a striking red cloud in the water above the adult whale before a light gray calf suddenly emerges, flicking its tail as it rises. The newborn then lifts its head above the surface, appears to take its first breath, and then swims alongside its mother through the clear water.

After witnessing the birth, Forrest contacted the Organisation for the Rescue and Research of Cetaceans in Australia (ORRCA) to report what he had seen and ask the group to keep track of the mother and her calf. He was later joined by ORRCA drone operators Tanya Snowden and Dominic Cotter-Dephoff, who spent several hours filming with him.

In a news release, ORRCA’s head of research, Annie Post, says there have been only three previously published observations of humpback whale births. She says Forrest’s drone footage is believed to be the first time such an event has been recorded from the air. The drones captured the calf’s first hours of life, including the mother’s care for her newborn, the calf’s first dives, and encounters with several other humpback whales that approached the pair.

“It is an extraordinary contribution to our understanding of humpback whale reproduction and maternal behavior,” Post says in a statement.