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When drone pilot Alexander Forrest set out to capture the annual whale migration off the coast of New South Wales, he never thought he’d get some history-making footage. After spotting a lone adult whale traveling at a slow pace, he wondered if the animal was mid-slumber. A few moments later, he captured what is believed to be the only humpback whale birth ever recorded from a drone, showing a freshly newborn calf taking its very first breath.
“I was naive to the rarity I was about to document,” Forrest wrote on Instagram. “The whale suddenly rose toward the surface, so I hit record—any breath is chance to capture a unique behavior. In this instance she didn’t rise for an exhale, but to birth her new calf. It was extraordinary—my adrenaline was through the roof, and it echoes into the footage. The calf jetted to the surface for its earliest breaths, and its mother almost instantaneously turned to seek out her calf.”
The footage shows an area of the water turning a bright red, which made Forrest think a predator had attacked the whale. Instead, the footage shows a light gray calf happily emerging from the cloudy waters. The videographer then reached out to the Organisation for the Rescue and Research of Cetaceans in Australia (ORRCA) to share the news with them. Forrest was later joined by two ORRCA drone operators, who captured the mother’s care for her newborn in its first hours of life, as well as the calf’s first dives and encounters with other humpback whales.
Forrest’s images will now undergo an in-depth scientific analysis, and they’re expected to be the foundation of a peer-reviewed scientific note. According to ORRCA, this is only the fourth time a humpback whale birth has been documented in full, and the first it has been recorded from the air. As such, it will provide priceless insights into whales’ reproduction, birth, and early life behavior.
“It’s a privilege to have witnessed such a remarkable moment, and even more rewarding to know it may contribute to marine mammal science for years to come,” Forrest added. “Watching this unfold in front of me, I wasn’t just a filmmaker or a photographer. I was a spectator.”
To stay up to date with this intrepid drone pilot, follow Alexander Forrest on Instagram.
Videographer Alexander Forrest used a drone to capture what is believed to be the only humpback whale birth ever recorded from the air.
Alexander Forrest: Instagram
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