A study published Wednesday presents rare video of a female humpback whale appearing to grieve a stillborn calf off Australia's Gold Coast. The footage shows the mother staying beside the motionless newborn on the seafloor and maintaining repeated contact for hours or possibly days. Researchers say the behaviour may represent grief-related responses and highlights the strong bond between mother and calf. The study appears in Discover Animals and adds to other recent rare whale observations, such as a drone-captured birth and a record long-distance migration sighting.
Rare Footage Shows Humpback Mother Mourning Stillborn Calf Off Australia's Gold Coast
A female humpback whale has been documented apparently grieving a stillborn calf in new research released Sept. 16, 2026. / Credit: Meynecke, JO., Mulville, A. First documentation of humpback whale (Megaptera novaeangliae) post-mortem attendance of a stillborn. Discover Animals.
Newly released research published Wednesday documents a female humpback whale that appears to mourn a stillborn calf, offering rare insight into the emotional lives of these ocean mammals. The footage, filmed off Australia's Gold Coast last year, shows the adult whale remaining close to the motionless newborn as it lay on the seafloor.
Accompanied by another whale, the female maintains what looks like eye contact with the calf and repeatedly touches it with her head and pectoral fin. Observers report she stayed beside the carcass for "several hours and possibly even days." Several other deceased whale calves were reported in the area at the time.
"At first sight, I thought it was just two whales resting on the surface, but their behaviour was unusual," said Andrew Mulville of Sea World Foundation, who witnessed the scene. "It was definitely not what I was expecting to see out at sea that day."
Olaf Meynecke of Griffith University's Whales and Climate Research Program described the footage as heartbreaking: "It's pretty heartbreaking to watch this female making continuous contact with the deceased calf." The researchers said the mother did not attempt to lift the calf to the surface, which suggests she may have recognized the calf was dead shortly after birth.
What This Might Mean
Scientists writing in Discover Animals say the behaviour "may represent a form of grief-related behaviour in humpback whales." If so, the observation would add to growing evidence that socially complex marine mammals can experience prolonged responses to loss similar to those documented in elephants, great apes and other species.
The team noted this is, to their knowledge, the first detailed and documented occurrence of this specific behaviour in humpback whales. The video adds to several recent rare whale observations, including a drone-recorded humpback birth in Australia and a study that tracked a humpback sighted off Brazil and, 22 years later, off Hervey Bay, Australia — a span of about 9,383 miles.
Context And Conservation
While anecdotes of grieving-like behaviour have been reported in cetaceans before (notably an orca that carried her dead calf for more than two weeks), high-quality footage and careful documentation are uncommon at sea. This record helps researchers understand mother–calf bonds and the emotional complexity of marine mammals, and underscores the value of continued monitoring and conservation efforts.
Study: Published Wednesday in Discover Animals.
Location: Off Australia's Gold Coast (footage taken last year).
Observers: Andrew Mulville (Sea World Foundation) and Olaf Meynecke (Griffith University).
Help us improve.
