Sperm whale birth recorded up close reveals coordinated family care.

Project CETI researchers recorded a sperm whale giving birth off Dominica in July 2023 and documented Unit A family members jointly lifting and supporting the newborn; published analyses show coordinated movements and changes in click vocalizations.

Researchers from Project CETI recorded a sperm whale giving birth off the coast of Dominica in July 2023. The team used aerial drones and a hydrophone to document activity from 11 members of a family group called Unit A. The footage and audio form the basis of studies published in Science and Scientific Reports. The recordings offer a direct view of how the group behaved during the delivery and its immediate aftermath. Key observations: - The mother, identified as Rounder, delivered a calf tail-first and family members clustered immediately to lift the newborn toward the surface. - Members of Unit A took turns supporting the calf for about three hours and also positioned themselves to deter nearby pilot whales and groups of Fraser's dolphins. - Researchers recorded changes in click vocalizations during the event, including more frequent clicks and frequent use of the 1+1+3 coda linked to the clan. - The team combined drone imagery, machine learning and hand annotations to track individual positions, orientations and interactions among whales. - Project CETI plans to match the audio recordings to the visual data to link specific codas to observed behaviours, and the calf was reported seen alive a year later. Summary: The recordings provide direct evidence that multiple members of a sperm whale family cooperated to support a newborn and to protect it during and after birth, and they indicate links between social position and caregiving roles. Researchers will next align audio and visual records to better understand how the whales' codas relate to the behaviours observed.