The cetacean ballet was filmed off Calvi, in the heart of the Pelagos sanctuary. “An exceptional moment,” say the scientists
Andn thirty years of observation, I have never had the opportunity to attend a gathering like this ”, say that cetologist Cathy Cesarini, president of the CARI association (Cétacés Association Recherche Insulaire), observes the images of a birth of sperm whales, captured by a drone about thirty nautical miles from Calvi. “It’s an extremely rare moment”, believes the scientist who notes the significant solidarity that exists between cetaceans during a birth.
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On the images we can thus observe a grouping of more than twenty sperm whales that come with birth. One after another, in an incredible ballet, these giants of the seas come together, organize and make waves to protect newborns.
Supportive animals
“This is a behavior found in most cetaceans. There are godmothers who join and come to help with the birth of the little ones. There is always a godmother who pushes the little one to the surface so that she can take her first breath. Cetaceans have lungs and need to come to the surface to breathe. When the baby is born, it is always for the tail. If he was born through the head, when he came out whole he would have drowned. explains Cathy Cesarini, underlining that the chicks generally measure three meters while the adult specimens can reach more than fifteen meters.
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Important dimensions that still explain the amount of blood in the vortices. “It’s about the placenta. The movements can also be explained by the excitement of the moment and the infant’s push to the surface. Sometimes the cetaceans create bubble walls to protect the specimen that is in the center of the grouping. Some surround schools of fish with bubble walls to trap them as if it were a net, adds the president of the CARI association, who points out that the scientific community has not yet revealed all the secrets of these marine animals. “Off the Azores we have already been able to observe what is called the ‘daisy formation’ to defend against predators. Females protect their calves or an injured adult by surrounding them. They turn inward, the tails outward in a “daisy formation” that evokes the petals of the flower. The heavy and powerful tail of an adult female sperm whale has the potential to deliver lethal blows. ” she adds, emphasizing the collective side observed during childbirth. “I always say that a cetacean that runs aground on its own is not worth putting it back into the sea, in this case it is really in great danger and in very bad conditions. Because a cetacean is never alone. He is always surrounded by his family.
“An unforgettable moment”
In the middle of the salon of his boat Eden, Captain Patrice Cullieret returns to look at the images he had the opportunity to take with his drone off Calvi. “I can watch them in loop, I always get goosebumps, the moment was so moving”, says the captain along with his crew. And in thirty years of sailing the Big Blue, this sea dog admits he has never had such an encounter. “At each crossing we meet pilot whales or dolphins, but we had never had the opportunity to observe such a group”, noticed–him going back to the events of this “Incredible day”.
At the beginning of September, departing from the port of Calvi, the crew sailed for Cannes to participate in the Cannes Yachting Festival with the aim of exhibiting the boat Eden to the construction site. Three hours later, some thirty nautical miles off the coast of the island, the sailors saw two whales in the heart of the Pelagos sanctuary. “Then we saw a lot of eddies and I thought they were pilot whales because we see them regularly. Mika, a crew member, approached the tidying boat, turned off the engines so as not to disturb the cetaceans and on my side I took off my drone to capture the images. At first I didn’t know what I was filming, but I was sure it wasn’t common. Analyzing in detail the images on the big screen, we were pleased to discover that it was a birth of sperm whales “, remembers Patrice Cullieret with emotion, adding that the crew chef, also a diver, wanted to dive into the water to observe the phenomenon more closely. “But I dissuaded her, it was too risky”, jokes. A magical moment, like a real hymn to nature that makes us forget the devastation caused by pollution in the Mediterranean and, on the contrary, gives hope for the conservation of wild species.
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