🚨Science news! A team including Museum researchers has published the most comprehensive documentation of a sperm wha... by @amnh

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🚨Science news! A team including Museum researchers has published the most comprehensive documentation of a sperm whale birth ever recorded. The studies, led by scientists at Project CETI (Cetacean Translation Initiative), are based on more than six hours of underwater audio and aerial drone footage captured in July 2023 in the waters off Dominica. Researchers have been studying the lives of sperm whale families in that area for more than 20 years. This research is the most detailed recording of cooperative birth assistance among non-primates. It documents an entire sperm whale unit—related and unrelated whales from two lines of grandmothers, mothers, sisters, and daughters—working together to support the labor, birth, and early moments of a newborn calf through coordinated lifting, physical support, and caregiving behaviors. “For sperm whales in a group, helping protect an infant at birth may be little price to pay for help in return when you give birth in the future, or if simply being part of a group generally increases your chances of survival,” said Museum Senior Research Scientist John Gatesy, one of the co-authors on the Scientific Reports study. To learn more, visit the link in our bio. Photos 1 & 2: Brian J. Skerry/National Geographic (@natgeo) Photo 3: © Project CETI (@projectceti) #science #biodiversity #museum #whales #marinebiology

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