Researchers Film Cooperative Sperm Whale Birth Off Dominica

In a rare glimpse into the hidden world of marine mammals, researchers from the nonprofit Cetacean Translation Initiative captured video footage of a sperm whale birth off the coast of Dominica in the Caribbean on July 8, 2023. The event, involving a group of 11 whales from two matrilineal families, revealed unprecedented levels of cooperative support during and after the delivery, as documented in studies published Thursday in the journals Science and Scientific Reports.

The team, led by field biologist Shane Gero and including biologist David Gruber, had set out that morning aboard a catamaran to study sperm whale communication through electronic tagging and recordings. Sperm whales produce structured sequences of clicks known as codas, which the project aims to decode using machine learning and robotics. Instead, they encountered an unusual cluster of whales huddled at the surface, their heads facing inward and bodies thrashing intermittently. Suspecting something significant, the scientists deployed two camera-equipped drones and hydrophones, or underwater microphones, to document the scene.

After about an hour of observation, a plume of blood clouded the water at 11:12 a.m....