Researchers from Griffith University say they watched a humpback whale mother remain beside her dead calf for hours, and perhaps days, off Australia’s Gold Coast. The unusual sighting has left scientists questioning whether the mother was grieving.
The Mother’s Watch
The encounter was documented by researchers from Griffith University and Sea World Foundation. In 2025, a female humpback was seen off the southern Gold Coast with an escort whale after apparently giving birth to a deceased calf. The mother stayed near the calf for several hours and may have remained with it for days.
The calf stayed beside her while she held its gaze, a posture that looked like care and tending.
What the Observation Shows
Olaf Meynecke, who leads Griffith University’s Whales and Climate Research Program, noted that close attention to deceased members has mostly been seen among toothed whales and dolphins — those creatures known as odontocetes. In contrast, similar documented instances involving baleen whales, including humpbacks, show up far less often in published studies.
“Unlike reports of toothed whales where mothers have been observed lifting their dead calves to the surface, this humpback whale mother showed prolonged post-mortem behavior and attention towards her deceased calf under the surface,” Dr. Meynecke said.
“She remained close to the calf, maintaining eye contact and positioning herself next to her calf over several hours and maybe even days.”
“These observed behaviors were consistent with care-giving or nurturing actions and post-mortem attentive responses documented in socially complex mammals, and indicated an inherent, strong maternal attachment to the calf.”
Mulville’s Surprise
Andrew Mulville, a Sea World Foundation Rescue Boat captain, was there when it happened and saw the strange encounter for himself.
He said he was initially confused by what he was seeing.
“At first sight, I thought it was just two whales resting on the surface, but their behavior was unusual.”
“It was definitely not what I was expecting to see out at sea that day.”
Rare Cases Among Baleen Whales
There is little documentation of baleen whale mothers remaining near dead calves, researchers say. The Griffith University team’s observation now joins that small pool of recorded instances.
Deeply sad and rare is the meeting described here, raising questions about how large whales process death and what their behavior may reveal about cognition and emotion.
What Scientists Want to Document
Researchers stress the importance of careful documentation of such events, which are rarely seen, because they help determine whether these behaviors show maternal attachment, grief-like responses, or other forms of social and emotional behavior.
“This case study highlights the need for continued systematic documentation of rare neonatal mortality events to better understand the cognitive, emotional, and evolutionary significance of post-mortem behavior in large whales,” Dr. Meynecke said.
“Understanding how non-human animals responded to death provides insight into their emotional lives, social bonds, and cognitive capacities.”
The Published Study
Discover Animals has published a study by Jan-Olaf Meynecke and Andrew Mulville, titled ‘First documentation of humpback whale (Megaptera novaeangliae) post-mortem attendance of a stillborn.’
What We Know So Far
- The mother stayed near the calf for several hours
- She may have stayed with it for days
- She kept eye contact and positioned herself next to the calf
- The behavior resembled caregiving and nurturing
- The observation was rare among baleen whales
Our View
A mother whale remaining by her dead calf for hours, sometimes days, while maintaining eye contact, is an unusual sight that points to strong maternal bonds.
This research also gives us insight into mourning in a species whose inner workings remain largely unknown to us. For years, these animals have been acknowledged for their intelligence, yet few investigations have explored how they cope with loss.
The point remains a warning about what we have yet to learn about the lives of whales.
Source material: “Humpback whale mother may have mourned her dead calf for days,” ScienceDaily.
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