Mexico City.- A group of tourists in California were stunned when a huge gray whale gave birth off their observation yacht.
The tourists saw a female of this species of cetacean mammal, about 12 or 15 meters, face up near Dana Point, in South Los Angeles. Seeing her in this position, they initially feared that sharks or killer whales had injured her.
Soon the whale suddenly righted itself and a calf emerged from the blood-stained waters. The small cetacean began to swim around the young mother and the astonished gaze of the tourists.
Gary Brighouse, captain of the boat operated by the tour company Capt. Dave’s Dolphin & Whale Watching Safari (DWWS), commented that it is so unusual to see a whale of this species give birth in the area that it was the first time they witnessed it.
Gray whales usually give birth in the warm, sheltered lagoons of Baja California, Mexico. The lagoons offer security against predators such as killer whales, and their warm waters are optimal for their young, since they have not yet accumulated a thick layer of fat.
The video, posted on the DWWS YouTube channel, shows them swimming together and the mother occasionally pushing the calf to the surface and letting it rest on top of her body.
Newborn gray whale calves are about 4.5 meters long and their weight increases by more than 22 kilograms daily. He basically feeds on mother’s milk. Mothers of this species can lose 30% of their body weight by nursing a young on milk, which contains more than 50% fat.
It is not ruled out that the video is the only filmed evidence of the birth of a gray whale calf.
“To the best of my knowledge, no one has filmed a gray whale giving birth,” DWWS owner Dave Anderson told Live Science.
