Aufnahmen zeigen, dass die Geburt eines Pottwals eine Gruppenarbeit ist. Die Entbindungsphase der Geburt dauerte 33 Minuten und innerhalb einer Minute nach der Entbindung hoben Mitglieder der Pottwal-Einheit das neugeborene Kalb aus dem Wasser auf die Köpfe und Rücken der erwachsenen Weibchen

 Rare footage of a sperm whale giving birth has offered scientists a window into the behavior of these large, elusive mammals.

The video taken in 2023 shows female whales from two family lines working together to support the labor during critical moments and lift the newborn calf above the water. It’s a level of coordination that’s extremely uncommon in the animal kingdom, especially outside of primates like monkeys and humans.

“The group quite literally helps bring the calf into the world,” said Oregon State University behavioral ecologist Mauricio Cantor in an email. He had no role in the new research.

Scientists want to know how whales cooperate and socialize in the wild, but it’s tough to study this in animals that spend most of their time underwater. There are just a handful of sperm whale birth records from the past 60 years, and all are anecdotal accounts or from whaling boats.

Several years ago, researchers were studying whale communication on a boat off the Caribbean island of Dominica when they noticed something odd. Eleven whales — most of them female — surfaced, their heads facing one another, and started thrashing and diving above and below the water. The scientists immediately took out drones and microphones to capture the event.

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-025-27438-3