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Baby sperm whale filmed feeding for first time, solving long-time scientific mystery

How the elusive mammals nurse with that bulbous head has been a curiosity for decades.

Photo credit: Canva

Sperm whale heads don't seem like they'd be conducive to nursing.

We know that mammals feed their young with milk from their own bodies, and we know that whales are mammals. But the logistics of how some whales make suckling happen has been a bit of a mystery for scientists. Such has been the case with sperm whales.

Sperm whales are uniquely shaped, with humongous, block-shaped heads that house the largest brains in the animal world. Like other cetaceans, sperm whale babies rely on their mother's milk for sustenance in their first year or two. And also like other cetaceans, a sperm whale mama's nipple is inverted—it doesn't stick out from her body like many mammals, but rather is hidden inside a mammary slit.

sperm whales, ocean, whale behavior, cetaceans, marine biology Sperm whales have a unique head shape. Giphy GIF by Nature on PBS

Most whale and dolphin babies nudge the mammary slit to expose the nipple, allowing them to "suckle." A sperm whale baby's head and mouth aren't really designed for suckling in the traditional sense, obviously, as its massive nose protrudes over its much smaller lower jaw. But even in the whale sense of mom shooting milk into a baby's mouth, it's been unclear how it works for sperm whales due to their oddly shaped heads. Photos and observations have led researchers to believe that the mother whale expresses milk into the water for the baby to ingests outside of her body, but the real mechanics haven't been clearly understood.

With the proliferation of underwater photography and filmography, it may seem strange that we don't have more nursing whale evidence to examine, but because baby whales can't breathe and nurse at the same time, nursing events are usually quite short. Even being in the right place at the right time to observe a whale nursing is rare, much less capturing it on film.

sperm whale, whale behavior, sperm whale calf, marine biology, wildlife You can see how nursing might be tricky with that mouth.Photo credit: Canva

A four-part documentary series from National Geographic released in 2021 has provided, for the first time, film footage of a sperm whale baby nursing. It shows how the baby actually inserting its lower jaw into the mother's mammary slit, and the milk—which contains ten times more fat than human milk and is the consistency of yogurt—shooting directly into the baby whale's mouth.

The documentary series containing this footage, "Secrets of the Whales," was conceived of by National Geographic Explorer and photographer Brian Skerry and follows the stories of five different whale species—narwhals, humpbacks, belugas, sperm whales, and orcas. It was filmed in 24 locations around the world and took three years to make. Produced by award-winning filmmaker and conservationist James Cameron (of "Titanic" and "Avatar" fame) and narrated by award-winning actress and conservationist Sigourney Weaver, the series is sure to please whale lovers and nature lovers alike.

- YouTube youtu.be

In addition to sperm whale babies breastfeeding, the docuseries shows how beluga whales name themselves so groups can keep track of each other, how baby belugas share their moms' call signs, how 30,000 humpbacks travel together from Australia to Antarctica and use breeches to talk to each other, and how a beluga pod adopted a narwhal into their bod—apparently the first ever cross-species adoption ever recorded.

Executive Producer James Cameron called the series a "challenging, daunting project" in a SXSW Conference panel. "It's also so important for people to understand and for this film to illuminate how these creatures think, how they feel, what their emotion is like, what their society is like," he said, "because we won't protect what we don't love."

- YouTube youtu.be

The filmmakers hope that by sharing with people the unique identities of the whales they followed, they can inspire people to think about how these magnificent mammals can be better protected.

"It's inescapable that they're being poisoned by us, that they're being deafened by us, or their behaviors, all of their feeding strategies and mating strategies and reproductive strategies are being dismantled by all of this noise from shipping channels and military sonars and all that," Cameron said. "They're going to continue to decline. The right whales are down to about 300…We barely understand these animals, so I think we have to, as a society, we have to think about doing it better."

Indeed we do.

This article originally appeared four years ago.

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A whale-watching tour got to witness a gray whale giving birth right next to their boat

Even the expert crew said they'd never seen anything like it.

Photo by Dan Meyers on Unsplash

Whale watchers got to see a baby whale being born off the coast of Dana Point, California.

Seeing a whale in the wild can be a moving experience for many people. That's why thousands of people pay money to go on whale-watching excursions, hoping to catch a glimpse of the gentle, majestic, intelligent creatures in their natural habitat.

Lucky whale watchers get to catch much more than a glimpse, and some even see a whale breach up close. But very, very few ever get to see anything close to what a recent group of tourists on a whale-watching cruise off Dana Point, California, got to witness.

Boats are required by law to stay at least 100 yards away from whales, but if a whale approaches a boat when it's stopped, there's not a whole lot a captain can do. Starting up the engine would just disturb it, so the best thing to do is just enjoy the encounter.

In this case, when a gray whale swam near a Capt. Dave's Dana Point Dolphin & Whale Watching Safari tour boat, passengers and crew thought they might be witnessing something tragic. The whale was splashing about and was soon surrounded by blood in the water. Some speculated that maybe a shark or other predatory animal had attacked the whale.

As it turned out, they were witnessing the miracle of life—it was a mama giving birth to a baby gray whale.

Twitter user Jeremy Theisen shared a video of the event, and though it's difficult to see what happens, you can hear the people on the boat wondering what was happening before it became clear.

Capt. Dave's shared drone footage of the exciting moments after the birth as the calf learned to swim and the mama seemed to show off her newborn to those who witnessed the event.

"This is a first for all of us. We've never actually seen it happen," Capt. Gary Brighouse can be heard saying, according to WXXI News.

Captain Dave's shared in a statement on YouTube:

"After surfacing, the newborn calf began learning how to swim and bonding with its mother. The female even brought the calf over to the boats as if to show off her offspring and say hello.

Gray whales prefer to give birth in the warm and protected lagoons of Baja California, Mexico. The lagoons offer safety from predators such as orcas, as well as warm water for calves who have not yet built up a thick layer of blubber.

Although some gray whales do give birth in Baja, there are times when calves just won't wait and are born during the migration. Gray whales migrate annually along the U.S. west coast, swimming 10,000 to 12,000 miles round-trip. It is one of the longest migrations of any mammal. The whales travel from their feeding grounds in the Bering and Chukchi Seas near Alaska to the mating and birthing lagoons of Baja, and back again."

Alisa Schulman-Janiger runs the Los Angeles chapter of the American Cetacean Society's Gray Whale Census and Behavior Project, which tracks the migration patterns of whales along the coast. She told NPR that the footage of the birth and immediate aftermath was "astounding" and a windfall for researchers.

"The fact that you can see the blood pool means the calf must have just come out," she said. "That isn't something that is seen very often or documented often. In fact, I don't know if there's any other video footage of something like that."

Schulman-Janiger explained how the mama whale was holding the calf up so it could rest and breathe and that they exhibited typical bonding behavior. She said she wished she had been there, adding: "It's extraordinarily rare and really, really special for people to be able to share in those first few moments of a young whale's life. A whale could get to be 50, 60, 80 years old. And this is just the beginning of that calf life."

What an incredible thing to witness.

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Bibong, Korea's last captive Indo-Pacific dolphin, has successfully been freed

Bibong had been living in an aquarium for 17 years.

Photo by Flavio Gasperini on Unsplash

Efforts to release marine mammals back into the wild are proving successful.

Dolphins are one of the most intelligent creatures on Earth, capable of more complex communication and comprehension than nearly every other species. Their intelligence is one reason humans have captured dolphins and trained them for entertainment, but it's also one reason why keeping them in captivity is seen as cruel.

According to The Korea Times, Bibong, a 23-year-old Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphin, has just been successfully released into the wild after 17 years of captivity in an aquarium in South Korea. He is the last of his species to be freed by the Korean government after being declared endangered in 2012.

The plans for Bibong's release were announced in August and Bibong has spent more than two months training to adapt to life in the wide open ocean. Bibong is one of eight dolphins that had been kept in an aquarium on Jeju Island, but the other seven were released in 2013, 2015 and 2017. According to Korea Now, Bibong was seen refusing to obey his trainer's orders during a performance last year, "possibly due to chronic stress and pressure."

This summer, Bibong was moved to a transitional facility where he could learn to communicate with other dolphins and prepare for life in the wild. An estimated 120 Indo-Pacific dolphins live off of Jeju Island, where Bibong was originally captured in 2005.

Now that he's been released, he will be monitored by the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries daily for 30 days via a tracking device attached to his fin, followed by at least five consecutive days of monitoring per month for another six months. Updates on his progress will be provided to animal rights groups, marine mammal experts and government officials, according to the Times.

Both The Korea Times and Korea Now note that a popular Netflix show, "Extraordinary Attorney Woo," helped bring the plight of the Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphin into the spotlight when the show's lead character said, "I want to see an Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphin near the coast of Jeju someday."

In August, Korea Now shared footage of Bibong as he was moved from the aquarium to the training facility where he has spent 70 days preparing for life in the wild:

Oceans Minister Cho Seung-hwan told The Korea Times that the most important thing for the dolphin is to live a healthy and happy life after it returns to the ocean.

"We will fortify marine animal protection policies to improve their well-being," Seung-hwan said. "The government will continue discussions with the aquarium industry to help a greater number of animals return to where they came from and belong."

The ministry is also hoping to release a beluga whale named Ruby from an aquarium in South Jeolla Province sometime late next year.

Efforts to save marine mammals from extinction have shown great potential for success. Humpback whales, for example, have made a comeback and have been taken off of endangered species lists after industrial whaling nearly wiped them out in the 20th century.

But even whales and dolphins that aren't in danger of extinction deserve to live freely in the wild whenever possible.

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You'll never look at a sea cucumber the same way again after seeing how it eats

Super cool and slightly nightmarish.

@gunsnrosesgirl3/Twitter (BBC Earth/YouTube)

Watching sea cucumbers eat is wild.

Nature is full of wonders, from the breathtakingly beautiful to the truly terrifying. (Ever seen an anglerfish? Yikes.) But some wonders come from the most unexpected places.

For instance, the unassuming sea cucumber.

If you've ever seen a sea cucumber, you know they're not terribly exciting. I'd bet $1,000 that if you were to ask 1,000 people what animal they wish they could be, none of them would say "sea cucumber." They don't fly, they don't really swim, they don't make funny noises and they're not particularly cute. The name "cucumber" should be a clue that they basically just sit there like vegetables, a background feature adding a little shape and color to the underwater landscape. They don't even have a brain. They're just kind of there.

Or at least that's what I thought before I saw one eat.

Because pretty much all these creatures do is eat and poop, something about one of those things had to be interesting, right? As it turns out, the way sea cucumbers eat is flippin' fascinating, if not slightly nightmarish.

When it's dinner time, the cucumber opens up its mouth and extends a network of tendrils attached to "feet" out into the surrounding water. These tendrils act as hands, grabbing the plankton, algae and other tiny things in the water, and then the feet shove that organic matter into the sea cucumber's pie hole.

That sounds all well and good on paper, but it's a whole other thing to actually see it in action. I had no idea what I was in for when this video started, and now I'll never be the same.

Gaaaahhhhh. Whyyyyy? Why is it so cool and so disturbing at the same time? Why do sea cucumbers suddenly turn into strangely beautiful horror movie creatures when they get the munchies?

As it turns out, sea cucumbers really aren't as boring as they seem. They also breathe through their bums and let little fish live inside their anuses, so that's neat. Also, when they feel threatened, they literally shoot their own guts out of their butts.

Three cheers for the surprisingly bizarre sea cucumber for reminding us that there's always much more to nature than meets the eye.

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