An extremely rare interaction between a group of sperm whales has been captured on video.
Footage shows a newborn sperm whale emerging at the surface of the Caribbean Sea, surrounded by a tight group of adult females.
The calf is lifted out of the water within seconds and balanced across the heads and backs of the group.
The observation was recorded off the coast of Dominica in July 2023 by researchers from Project CETI.
Despite decades of research, direct observations of births in the wild remain extremely limited.
This is one of the most detailed observations of a sperm whale birth ever recorded in the wild, captured by scientists, giving a rare insight into how the deep-diving marine mammals reproduce and interact socially.
