{"id":99567,"date":"2026-09-16T18:54:23","date_gmt":"2026-09-16T18:54:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/site.itshrt.com\/worldnews\/humpback-whale-seen-grieving-dead-calf-in-rare-footage-heartbreaking-to-watch\/"},"modified":"2026-09-16T18:54:23","modified_gmt":"2026-09-16T18:54:23","slug":"humpback-whale-seen-grieving-dead-calf-in-rare-footage-heartbreaking-to-watch","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/site.itshrt.com\/worldnews\/humpback-whale-seen-grieving-dead-calf-in-rare-footage-heartbreaking-to-watch\/","title":{"rendered":"Humpback whale seen grieving dead calf in rare footage: &#8220;Heartbreaking to watch&#8221;"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <script async src=\"https:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-6606220950177433\"\r\n     crossorigin=\"anonymous\"><\/script>\r\n<!-- ItShrt World News -->\r\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\"\r\n     style=\"display:block\"\r\n     data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-6606220950177433\"\r\n     data-ad-slot=\"1882483372\"\r\n     data-ad-format=\"auto\"\r\n     data-full-width-responsive=\"true\"><\/ins>\r\n<script>\r\n     (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\r\n<\/script>\r\n<br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div id=\"\">\n<p>A female humpback whale has been documented apparently grieving a stillborn calf in new <a href=\"https:\/\/link.springer.com\/article\/10.1007\/s44338-026-00232-9\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">research released<\/a> Wednesday, offering rare insights into the complex emotions of the sea-dwelling mammals.<\/p>\n<p>The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.livescience.com\/animals\/whales\/it-is-extremely-rare-to-witness-scientists-record-humpback-whale-mom-grieving-her-stillborn-calf-in-first-of-its-kind-footage\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">footage<\/a>, taken off Australia&#8217;s Gold Coast last year, shows a female humpback whale staying close to the dead calf as it lies motionless on the seafloor.<\/p>\n<p>Accompanied by a companion, the whale holds eye contact with the animal, touching it with its head and fin.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;At first sight, I thought it was just two whales resting on the surface, but their behaviour was unusual,&#8221; <a href=\"https:\/\/phys.org\/news\/2026-09-whales-stillborn-humpback-whale-grieving.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">said Andrew Mulville<\/a> from Sea World Foundation, who witnessed the heart-wrenching moment.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;It was definitely not what I was expecting to see out at sea that day.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Researchers said the whale had stayed with the deceased animal for &#8220;several hours and possibly even days.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;It&#8217;s really sad,&#8221; Olaf Meynecke of Griffith University&#8217;s Whales and Climate Research Program told AFP. &#8220;It&#8217;s pretty heartbreaking to watch this female making continuous contact with the deceased calf.&#8221;<\/p>\n<div class=\"embed__float-wrap\">\n<figure class=\"embed embed--type-image is-image embed--float-none embed--size-medium\" data-ads=\"{\" extrawordcount=\"\">\n<p>      <span class=\"img embed__content \"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/assets3.cbsnewsstatic.com\/hub\/i\/r\/2026\/09\/16\/80ddb01d-c7dd-4a55-be9e-accd88cfa3fa\/thumbnail\/620x444g2\/27136dafaddc660a26405d8374a8ffb9\/whale-screenshot-2026-09-16-113101.png#\" alt=\"A female humpback whale has been documented apparently grieving a stillborn calf in new research released Sept. 16, 2026. \" height=\"444\" width=\"620\" class=\" lazyload\" srcset=\"https:\/\/assets3.cbsnewsstatic.com\/hub\/i\/r\/2026\/09\/16\/80ddb01d-c7dd-4a55-be9e-accd88cfa3fa\/thumbnail\/620x444g2\/27136dafaddc660a26405d8374a8ffb9\/whale-screenshot-2026-09-16-113101.png 1x\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><\/span><figcaption class=\"embed__caption-container\">\n<p>                  <span class=\"embed__caption\">A female humpback whale has been documented apparently grieving a stillborn calf in new research released Sept. 16, 2026.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>                  <span class=\"embed__credit\"><\/p>\n<p>                Meynecke, JO., Mulville, A. First documentation of humpback whale (Megaptera novaeangliae) post-mortem attendance of a stillborn. Discover Animals.<\/p>\n<p>                          <\/span><br \/>\n              <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>A number of other deceased whale calves were observed in the area at the time, the researchers said.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;To our knowledge, this is the first detailed, documented occurrence of this behaviour for this species,&#8221; the <a href=\"https:\/\/link.springer.com\/article\/10.1007\/s44338-026-00232-9\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">researchers wrote<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>The whale did not try and bring the calf to the surface, suggesting &#8220;she might have been aware that it was dead shortly after giving birth,&#8221; they said.<\/p>\n<p>Researchers said the whale&#8217;s actions &#8220;may represent a form of grief-related behaviour in humpback whales.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Meynecke said his research spoke to the &#8220;strong bond&#8221; between mother and calf and the emotional stages that &#8220;socially complex&#8221; mammals go through following the deaths of their offspring or companions.<\/p>\n<p>The study was <a href=\"https:\/\/link.springer.com\/article\/10.1007\/s44338-026-00232-9\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">published<\/a> Wednesday in Discover Animals.<\/p>\n<p>Marine mammals have exhibited similar behavior before. An orca that made headlines in 2018 after she\u00a0<span class=\"link\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbsnews.com\/news\/grieving-orca-tahlequah-j35-dead-calf-now-feeding-frolicking-with-pod\/\" target=\"_blank\" data-invalid-url-rewritten-http=\"\">carried her dead calf<\/a><\/span>\u00a0for more than two weeks was again spotted last year\u00a0<span class=\"link\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbsnews.com\/news\/orca-carrying-dead-calf-tahlequah-killer-whale\/\" target=\"_blank\" data-invalid-url-rewritten-http=\"\">carrying the body<\/a><\/span> of her newborn, just days after researchers confirmed she&#8217;d\u00a0<span class=\"link\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbsnews.com\/news\/orca-who-carried-dead-calf-has-a-new-baby-tahlequah-j35\/\" target=\"_blank\" data-invalid-url-rewritten-http=\"\">given birth<\/a><\/span>.<\/p>\n<p>Whales are far from the first non-human mammals to have been observed engaging in complex grieving rituals, he said.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;We&#8217;re seeing this from elephants and apes and cases like that that are also extremely heartbreaking,&#8221; Meynecke said. &#8220;But on land we witness this more often, whereas at sea it&#8217;s really rare to document something like this.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>The footage was unveiled about two months after a photographer in Australia captured a humpback whale giving birth in what is believed to be the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbsnews.com\/video\/drone-humpback-whale-birth-video\/\" target=\"_blank\" data-invalid-url-rewritten-http=\"\">first time<\/a> such a birth has been recorded by a drone.  <\/p>\n<p>In May, researchers announced that they had documented two humpback whales swimming a <span class=\"link\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbsnews.com\/news\/humpback-whales-record-breaking-swim-photos-study\/\" target=\"_blank\" data-invalid-url-rewritten-http=\"\">record-breaking distance<\/a><\/span> between breeding grounds. According to the study, one of the whales was seen off the coast of Bahia in Brazil before being sighted 22 years later at a breeding ground in Hervey Bay, Australia, about 9,383 miles away.<\/p>\n<section class=\"content__body--footer\">\n<\/section>\n<p>  <!-- data-recirc-source=\"queryly\" --><\/p>\n<aside class=\"component list recirculation component--type-recirculation  \">\n<p><h3 class=\"component__title\">More from CBS News<\/h3>\n<\/p>\n<div class=\"component__item-recirc-block\">\n<p><h3 class=\"component__title\">Go deeper with The Free Press<\/h3>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/aside>\n<section class=\"content__body--footer\">\n      <!-- tags --><\/p>\n<section class=\"content__tags\">\n<p class=\"content__tags__label\">In:<\/p>\n<\/section>\n<\/section><\/div>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-6606220950177433\"\r\n     crossorigin=\"anonymous\"><\/script>\r\n<!-- ItShrt World News -->\r\n<ins 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insights<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":99568,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[38],"tags":[2436],"class_list":["post-99567","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-science","tag-whales"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v24.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Humpback whale seen grieving dead calf in rare footage: &quot;Heartbreaking to watch&quot; - World News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The footage shows a female humpback whale staying close to the dead calf as it lies motionless on the seafloor, touching it with its head and fin.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" 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