GoKawiilThis article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies . Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility:
Credit: Elianne Dipp from Pexels
Humpback whale mothers may experience grief when their calves die, a rare research observation led by Griffith University and Sea World Foundation has found.
In 2025, a female humpback whale—along with an escort whale—was observed off the southern Gold Coast after giving birth to a presumed deceased calf. She remained with it for several hours and possibly even days.
Dr. Olaf Meynecke, from Griffith University's Whales and Climate Research Program, said postmortem attentive behavior in cetaceans had been documented predominantly among toothed whales and delphinids (known as odontocetes), but remained largely absent from research published on baleen whales, like humpback whales.
"Unlike reports of toothed whales where mothers have been observed lifting their dead calves to the surface, this humpback whale mother showed prolonged postmortem behavior and attention toward her deceased calf under the surface," Meynecke said.
*May cause distress to viewers* This video, taken in 2025 off the southern Queensland coast in Australia, shows a humpback whale mother returning to the seafloor to her stillborn calf. Credit: Andy Mulville
A rare view beneath the surface
"She remained close to the calf, maintaining eye contact and positioning herself next to her calf over several hours and maybe even days.
"These observed behaviors were consistent with caregiving or nurturing actions and postmortem attentive responses documented in socially complex mammals, and indicated an inherent, strong maternal attachment to the calf."
... continue reading