NEWBORN
02
03
SDOP
42
The day started promisingly
02 Freediving is the
with three sightings and an
only practical way to
underwater encounter to
approach sperm whales
within about 14 metres. From
03 Nine hours a day
in a small boat gets
a small boat like ours, it was
extremely tiresome
not possible to see whales
04 Soon the calf could
from the surface. Therefore,
swim independently for
short distances
we worked with two vigias
05 The mother’s
da baleia who watch out
massive head got
for whales from hillside
bigger and bigger
observation towers, remnants
from commercial whaling days.
The boat’s radio suddenly crackled, and from the
driver’s reaction I could tell it was a good message.
A group of about six animals had been spotted
about one nautical mile to the south.
Courtesy of twin 150-horsepower motors, we
reached the spot quickly and there was our prize.
The pod was swimming in circles very slowly, which
was decidedly unusual behaviour. We cut the
motors to avoid scaring them away, and kept to a
safe distance of about 150 metres. With a last look
at the pod’s position, I gently slid into the water.
For the first 80 metres I swam as fast as possible,
scanning the blue to get a glimpse of the animals,
but there was nothing but a big murky cloud. I
soon realised that the cloud was blood, which
appeared greenish because of the loss of red light
underwater. This explained the pod’s strange
behaviour. I thought they must be watching over
a wounded member.
Female sperm whales are famously social. They
form networks with their young and live in groups
of 15 to 20 animals. Sexually mature males leave
the pod and form associations with older males
but travel alone. I assumed, correctly as it turned
out, that this was a pod of females. As the whales’
communication sounds intensified and I got nearer,
I could discern the group about 30 metres in front
of me, huddled just below the surface. But with
the sun directly in front of me it was difficult to see
exactly what was going on.
I descended to about 15 metres to pass carefully
beneath them. My descent revealed that my initial
assessment was wrong. There was no wounded
animal; it was a mother giving birth. The placenta
and pieces of skin were floating in the water
around the calf, which had left the womb only
seconds earlier.