A wild killer whale birth has been caught on camera for the first time ever. The news comes from a Facebook post by Orca Channel, which recounted a whale-watching trip off the coast of Skjervøy in the Arctic Circle. A group of researchers were observing a group of orcas feeding, when suddenly things took a different turn.
“We were floating calmly and watching the feeding, when all of a sudden, close to the boat, there was blood spilling and splashing everywhere,” wrote Krisztina Balotay, a photographer and videographer at Orca Channel. “At first, I had no idea what was going on. A moment later, I saw a little head pop above water. As it turned out, a female gave birth right next to us.”
After the calf was born, the pod became “extremely active” and formed a circle around the newborn. The onlookers witnessed the orcas pushing the calf up to the surface, in what they believed was an attempt to hold it above the water for air. The behavior made the observers worry that the calf had not survived, but they confirmed by drone that the cetacean was indeed alive.
“It was so amazing to watch something like this in the wild,” wrote Balotay. “The celebration that went on within the group was astonishing.”