Ecstatic whale watchers off the Southern California coast were treated to a once-in-a-lifetime sight when a migrating gray whale gave birth to her calf just meters away from their boat. A cellphone and drone captured the birth and the first moments of the calf.
The birth was a first for Capt. Dave’s crew in over 25 years of whale watching.
In footage of the amazing event shot by Matt Stumpf of Capt. Dave’s, spectator Stacie Fox, and boat captain Gary Brighouse, onlookers can be heard gasping and squealing with excitement as the whale calf rises to the surface of the ocean and begins immediately to swim beside its mother.
The mom nudges the calf up toward the surface repeatedly, teaching her baby to breathe air through its blowhole.
The whale watchers had initially spotted blood in the water and feared the adult whale was injured. When they realized they were witnessing the birth of a calf, their mood changed instantly.
“We were like, ‘Wait a minute, don’t come too close. That mom wants to protect you,’” he said, detailing the nerve-wracking moment the calf first approached their 24-foot inflatable boat. “Mom calmly cruised between the baby and the boat, she rubbed up against our boat and our boat lifted out of the water, which was a little unsettling.”
But the mood was jubilant. An elderly man on board was celebrating his birthday, so the whale watchers agreed the newborn calf should share his name and dubbed the whale calf “Severin” in his honor.
Meanwhile, Fox who shot images of the calf from its birth said she was super excited to witness her “bucket list” moment.
“I definitely thought that it was something I would not see unless I was going down to the lagoon,“ she said. ”It’s once-in-a-lifetime type stuff.”
Migrating gray whales prefer to give birth once they have reached their destination: Baja California, Mexico. The warm waters protect the calves, who have not yet developed their thick layer of blubber, and the lagoons provide safety from predators like orcas.
Dana Wharf experts anticipate that the gray whale and calf will continue on to Baja for the winter, where the calf should gain around 50 pounds (approx. 23 kg) a day and about a foot in length every month.
