Whale scientists capture the sights and sounds of a baby sperm whale birth for the first time | CBC Radio

July 8th began like any other day for Canadian whale biologist Shane Gero, who was off the coast of the eastern Caribbean island of Dominica looking for a family of sperm whales.

Gero and his team study sperm whale communication using advanced machine learning to decode video they record with overhead drones and audio they record underwater with hydrophones. 

Ultimately, they want to translate what the whales are saying with their strange ping-like click vocalizations.

But that day, Gero — the lead biologist for Project CETI (Cetacean Translation Initiative) and a scientist in residence at Carleton University — witnessed something nobody has ever documented before: the birth of a sperm whale.

Here is part of his conversation with Quirks & Quarks host Bob McDonald:

You’re out watching and listening to the sperm whales. Tell me what was happening that day when you realized something unusual was taking place. 

It was kind of an unbelievable morning. We had been with the whales for about an hour and they were all grouped up, the entire family together, about 11 animals. And it’s grandmothers, mothers and their daughters altogether.

We thought they were being quiet and maybe a little bit defensive because there were pilot whales around and they have been known to harass sperm whales. But as it turned out, about an hour after we were with them, there was this enormous gush of blood.

And then we saw these beautiful, tiny, little floppy flukes of the new baby who had just been born. I mean, it was surreal. 

Drone footage showing baby sperm whale being born

Drone footage showing baby sperm whale being born

Take me through that. What does seeing a baby whale being born actually look like? What do they do? 

It was way more active than I thought. These were animals that were rolling around and pushing into each other. And, of course, there was a cacophony of sounds underwater. The little one was sort of lifted out of the water on the noses of its moms and aunties. Her grandmother was also there and [was being] pushed around, and the baby was actually really limp.

At first I thought that maybe she was stillborn because they were so floppy. It took us, I’d say, a few minutes to realize that no, no, she’s breathing on her own, and kicking and moving on their own.

Scientists aboard the CETI vessel watch with jubilation just born sperm whale

Scientists aboard the CETI vessel watch with jubilation just born sperm whale

To have [the whales] all, sort of, writhing around like spinning spaghetti around your fork so elegantly and gracefully in the ocean was pretty unbelievable. 

You said that initially you saw blood and there were pilot whales around. So what went through your mind when you saw that? 

Immediate concern. At first we thought it was the pilot whales attacking. We’d never seen a successful pilot whale hunt of a baby sperm whale. They come in, they harass them, they bother them, maybe they get some new scratches, but we’ve never seen one be taken.

But when we saw the blood and then the immediate physical response of all of the other females, we were worried that that’s what it was until we saw the new baby there. And then it was about 45 minutes or more before the pilot whales actually showed up and showed any interest in what was going on.

Drone video showing the group of sperm whales holding a newborn above the water

Drone video showing the group of sperm whales holding a newborn above the water

Then, of course, the boat went from sort of jubilation and excitement to, you know, very stressed and worried for the survival of the little one. A few hours later the calf was still around and playing with its cousins and its mom, so we know that the calf survived. But there were a few hours where everyone was very tense about what might happen next. 

You’re out there to study whale communications, so what did all of this sound like? What noises were the whales making during all of this activity?

Sperm whales talk to each other by these patterns of clicks that we call codas. It’s kind of like a Morse code system, different clicks and pauses. And it went from relatively quiet to 11 animals all talking at the same time. Now, to be clear, being a sperm whale, that’s not rude. Like, animals often mirror each other and overlap their calls.

It’s hard not to see it as a celebration, just like [it would be with] us.

You talk about how the females gathered together to keep the baby up, to hold it up. There’s that phrase, ‘It takes a community to raise a child.’ Is that true with these whales as well? 

Yeah. I mean, fundamentally, sperm whale society is based on females living together, caring for each other’s babies and defending them communally. And I think we saw all of that happen in the scale of an hour or so in this, this sort of event. 

We’ve known this family since the beginning of the project in 2005. And so we know that grandma was there and mom was there and the baby’s new half sister was there, and all of them were participating in this. So it was a pretty momentous day for them, let alone for us. 

Sperm whales just following birth passing CETI-1 research sailing boat

Sperm whales just following birth passing CETI-1 research sailing boat

So you had the surprise of seeing a whale birth, but you were really there to study whale communications. How does this all fit into your CETI project? 

Well, it’s a remarkable data set now, right? I mean, we have this very specific behavioural context of what happened and what they were likely to be talking about.

But also it gives us this opportunity now to follow this little one as they acquire their natal dialect, right? And so that sort of ontogeny of learning sperm whale, which is what we’re hoping to do, will be happening in real life for this little one as well. 

So what’s your ultimate goal, are you going to try to translate what they say and, as Doctor Doolittle said, ‘talk to the animals?’

I think that’s something that’s been fascinating people for hundreds of years, but I think the real intent behind CETI is to listen and learn from animals.

There’s going to be something that our primate brain can’t understand about what it means to be a whale. But when we do find similarities between what’s important for them to talk about and what’s important for us to talk about, that’s where I think we’re going to start learning something about what’s important to why we’re all here. 

This Q&A has been edited for length and clarity.