Arabic version: طائرة مسيّرة توثّق ولادة حوت أحدب قبالة كينغزكليف

According to ABC News, a drone operator recorded a humpback whale giving birth to a calf about 700 metres off Kingscliff on the New South Wales North Coast on Tuesday afternoon. The Organisation for the Rescue and Research of Cetaceans in Australia said it believed the footage was the first drone recording of a humpback whale birth and only the fourth time the event had been filmed.

Drone pilot and ORRCA volunteer Alex Forrest spotted a female whale swimming unusually slowly behind a pod before he began filming. He said he initially saw red spurting out and a plume, and did not understand what had happened until the calf reached the surface. ORRCA said Forrest kept more than 100 metres away, in compliance with the NSW Biodiversity Conservation Regulation.

Forrest, who has captured thousands of humpback whales from above, said he hoped the footage could add to the limited knowledge of humpback whale birthing. Macquarie University whale scientist Vanessa Pirotta described the sighting as an incredible and special moment, noting that the calf rose to the surface after being born.

ORRCA head of research Annie Post said the mother appeared to be travelling alone when she gave birth, allowing researchers to compare the event with other documented births in which whales were escorted. The footage is expected to be peer reviewed and published, with researchers using it to identify possible trends in marine mammal behaviour.

University of New South Wales PhD candidate Jane McPhee-Frew said the sighting differed from previous ideas that humpback whales needed to travel to the tropics to give birth. She said a growing humpback population and the use of technology were helping build a fuller picture of how animals and their environments change through space and time.