Big and Small Underwater Faces — 3rd Place. Trips to the Antarctic Peninsula always yield amazing encounters with leopard seals (Hydrurga leptonyx). Boldly approaching me and baring his teeth, this individual was keen to point out that this part of Antarctica was his territory. This picture was shot at dusk, resulting in the rather moody atmosphere.   Credit: Lars von Ritter Zahony (Germany) / World Ocean’s Day Get the Popular Science daily newsletter💡 Breakthroughs, discoveries, and DIY tips sent every weekday. The striking eye of a humpback whale named Sweet Girl peers at the camera. Just four days later, she would be dead, hit by a speeding boat and one of the 20,000 whales killed by ship strikes each year. Photographer Rachel Moore’s captivating image (seen below) of Sweet Girl earned top honors at the 2025 United Nations World Oceans Day Photo Competition. Wonder: Sustaining What Sustains Us — WinnerThis photo, taken in Mo’orea, French Polynesia in 2024, captures the eye of a humpback whale named Sweet Girl, just days before her tragic death. Four days after I captured this intimate moment, she was struck and killed by a fast-moving ship. Her death serves as a heartbreaking reminder of the 20,000 whales lost to ship strikes every year. We are using her story to advocate for stronger protections, petitioning for stricter speed laws around Tahiti and Mo’orea during whale season. I hope Sweet Girl’s legacy will spark real change to protect these incredible animals and prevent further senseless loss.Credit: Rachel Moore (USA) / United Nations World Oceans Day www.unworldoceansday.org Now in its twelfth year, the competition coordinated in collaboration between the UN Division for Ocean Affairs and the Law of the Sea, DivePhotoGuide (DPG), Oceanic Global, and  the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission of UNESCO. Each year, thousands of underwater photographers submit images that judges award prizes for across four categories: Big and Small Underwater Faces, Underwater Seascapes, Above Water Seascapes, and Wonder: Sustaining What Sustains Us. This year’s winning images include a curious leopard seal, a swarm of jellyfish, and a very grumpy looking Japanese warbonnet. Given our oceans’ perilous state, all competition participants were required to sign a charter of 14 commitments regarding ethics in photography. Underwater Seascapes — Honorable MentionWith only orcas as their natural predators, leopard seals are Antarctica’s most versatile hunters, preying on everything from fish and cephalopods to penguins and other seals. Gentoo penguins are a favored menu item, and leopard seals can be observed patrolling the waters around their colonies. For this shot, I used a split image to capture both worlds: the gentoo penguin colony in the background with the leopard seal on the hunt in the foreground.Credit: Lars von Ritter Zahony (Germany) / United Nations World Oceans Day www.unworldoceansday.org Above Water Seascapes – WinnerA serene lake cradled by arid dunes, where a gentle stream breathes life into the heart of Mother Earth’s creation: Captured from an airplane, this image reveals the powerful contrasts and hidden beauty where land and ocean meet, reminding us that the ocean is the source of all life and that everything in nature is deeply connected. The location is a remote stretch of coastline near Shark Bay, Western Australia.Credit: Leander Nardin (Austria) / United Nations World Oceans Day www.unworldoceansday.org Above Water Seascapes — 3rd PlaceParadise Harbour is one of the most beautiful places on the Antarctic Peninsula. When I visited, the sea was extremely calm, and I was lucky enough to witness a wonderfully clear reflection of the Suárez Glacier (aka Petzval Glacier) in the water. The only problem was the waves created by our speedboat, and the only way to capture the perfect reflection was to lie on the bottom of the boat while it moved towards the glacier.Credit: Andrey Nosik (Russia) / United Nations World Oceans Day www.unworldoceansday.org Underwater Seascapes — 3rd Place“La Rapadura” is a natural hidden treasure on the northern coast of Tenerife, in the Spanish territory of the Canary Islands. Only discovered in 1996, it is one of the most astonishing underwater landscapes in the world, consistently ranking among the planet’s best dive sites. These towering columns of basalt are the result of volcanic processes that occurred between 500,000 and a million years ago. The formation was created when a basaltic lava flow reached the ocean, where, upon cooling and solidifying, it contracted, creating natural structures often compared to the pipes of church organs. Located in a region where marine life has been impacted by once common illegal fishing practices, this stunning natural monument has both geological and ecological value, and scientists and underwater photographers are advocating for its protection. (Model: Yolanda Garcia)Credit: Pedro Carrillo (Spain) / United Nations World Oceans Day www.unworldoceansday.org Underwater Seascapes — WinnerThis year, I had the incredible opportunity to visit a jellyfish lake during a liveaboard trip around southern Raja Ampat, Indonesia. Being surrounded by millions of jellyfish, which have evolved to lose their stinging ability due to the absence of predators, was one of the most breathtaking experiences I’ve ever had.Credit: Dani Escayola (Spain) / United Nations World Oceans Day www.unworldoceansday.org Underwater Seascapes — 2nd PlaceThis shot captures a school of rays resting at a cleaning station in Mauritius, where strong currents once attracted them regularly. Some rays grew accustomed to divers, allowing close encounters like this. Sadly, after the severe bleaching that the reefs here suffered last year, such gatherings have become rare, and I fear I may not witness this again at the same spot.Credit: Gerald Rambert (Mauritius) / United Nations World Oceans Day www.unworldoceansday.org Wonder: Sustaining What Sustains Us — 3rd PlaceShot in Cuba’s Jardines de la Reina—a protected shark sanctuary—this image captures a Caribbean reef shark weaving through a group of silky sharks near the surface. Using a slow shutter and strobes as the shark pivoted sharply, the motion blurred into a wave-like arc across its head, lit by the golden hues of sunset. The abundance and behavior of sharks here is a living symbol of what protected oceans can look like.Credit: Steven Lopez (USA) / United Nations World Oceans Day www.unworldoceansday.org  Above Water Seascapes — 2nd PlaceNorthern gannets (Morus bassanus) soar above the dramatic cliffs of Scotland’s Hermaness National Nature Reserve, their sleek white bodies and black-tipped wings slicing through the Shetland winds. These seabirds, the largest in the North Atlantic, are renowned for their striking plunge-dives, reaching speeds up to 100 kph (60 mph) as they hunt for fish beneath the waves. The cliffs of Hermaness provide ideal nesting sites, with updrafts aiding their take-offs and landings. Each spring, thousands return to this rugged coastline, forming one of the UK’s most significant gannet colonies. It was a major challenge to take photos at the edge of these cliffs at almost 200 meters (650 feet) with the winds up to 30 kph (20 mph).Credit: Nur Tucker (UK/Turkey) / United Nations World Oceans Day www.unworldoceansday.org Above Water Seascapes — Honorable MentionA South Atlantic swell breaks on the Dungeons Reef off the Cape Peninsula, South Africa, shot while photographing a big-wave surf session in October 2017. It’s the crescendoing sounds of these breaking swells that always amazes me.Credit: Ken Findlay (South Africa) / United Nations World Oceans Day www.unworldoceansday.org Wonder: Sustaining What Sustains Us — Honorable MentionHumpback whales in their thousands migrate along the Ningaloo Reef in Western Australia every year on the way to and from their calving grounds. In four seasons of swimming with them on the reef here, this is the only encounter I’ve had like this one. This pair of huge adult whales repeatedly spy-hopped alongside us, seeking to interact with and investigate us, leaving me completely breathless. The female in the foreground was much more confident than the male behind and would constantly make close approaches, whilst the male hung back a little, still interested but shy. After more than 10 years working with wildlife in the water, this was one of the best experiences of my life.Credit: Ollie Clarke (UK) / United Nations World Oceans Day www.unworldoceansday.org Big and Small Underwater Faces — 2nd PlaceOn one of my many blackwater dives in Anilao, in the Philippines, my guide and I spotted something moving erratically at a depth of around 20 meters (65 feet), about 10 to 15 centimeters in size. We quickly realized that it was a rare blanket octopus (Tremoctopus sp.). As we approached, it opened up its beautiful blanket, revealing its multicolored mantle. I managed to take a few shots before it went on its way. I felt truly privileged to have captured this fascinating deep-sea cephalopod. Among its many unique characteristics, this species exhibits some of the most extreme sexual size-dimorphism in nature, with females weighing up to 40,000 times more than males.Credit: Giacomo Marchione (Italy) / United Nations World Oceans Day www.unworldoceansday.org Big and Small Underwater Faces – WinnerThis photo of a Japanese warbonnet (Chirolophis japonicus) was captured in the Sea of Japan, about 50 miles (80 kilometers) southwest of Vladivostok, Russia. I found the ornate fish at a depth of about 30 meters (100 feet), under the stern of a shipwreck. This species does not appear to be afraid of divers—on the contrary, it seems to enjoy the attention—and it even tried to sit on the dome port of my camera.Credit: Andrey Nosik (Russia) / United Nations World Oceans Day www.unworldoceansday.org Wonder: Sustaining What Sustains Us — 2nd PlaceA juvenile pinnate batfish (Platax pinnatus) captured with a slow shutter speed, a snooted light, and deliberate camera panning to create a sense of motion and drama. Juvenile pinnate batfish are known for their striking black bodies outlined in vibrant orange—a coloration they lose within just a few months as they mature. I encountered this restless subject in the tropical waters of Indonesia’s Lembeh Strait. Capturing this image took patience and persistence over two dives, as these active young fish constantly dart for cover in crevices, making the shot particularly challenging.Credit: Luis Arpa (Spain) / United Nations World Oceans Day www.unworldoceansday.org

A bubble ring created by a humpback whale named Thorn. Image © Dan Knaub, The Video Company Humpback Whales Are Approaching People to Blow Rings. What Are They Trying to Say? June 13, 2025 NatureSocial Issues Grace Ebert After the “orca uprising” captivated anti-capitalists around the world in 2023, scientists are intrigued by another form of marine mammal communication. A study released this month by the SETI Institute and the University of California at Davis dives into a newly documented phenomenon of humpback whales blowing bubble rings while interacting with humans. In contrast to the orcas’ aggressive behavior, researchers say the humpbacks appear to be friendly, relaxed, and even curious. Bubbles aren’t new to these aquatic giants, which typically release various shapes when corraling prey and courting mates. This study follows 12 distinct incidents involving 11 whales producing 39 rings, most of which have approached boats near Hawaii, the Dominican Republic, Mo’orea, and the U.S. Atlantic coast on their own. The impact of this research reaches far beyond the oceans, though. Deciphering these non-verbal messages could aid in potential extraterrestrial communication, as they can help to “develop filters that aid in parsing cosmic signals for signs of extraterrestrial life,” a statement says. “Because of current limitations on technology, an important assumption of the search for extraterrestrial intelligence is that extraterrestrial intelligence and life will be interested in making contact and so target human receivers,” said Dr. Laurance Doyle, a SETI Institute scientist who co-wrote the paper. “This important assumption is certainly supported by the independent evolution of curious behavior in humpback whales.” (via PetaPixel) A composite image of at least one bubble ring from each interaction Previous articleNext article

Humpback Whales Can’t See as Well as Scientists Thought, and It Might Explain Why They Keep Getting Tangled in Fishing Gear Despite having big eyes, the whales can’t make out details of objects more than a few body lengths away, according to a new study Humpback whales have poorer eyesight than previously thought, according to a new study. by wildestanimal via Getty Images With large, grapefruit-sized eyes, it would make sense if humpback whales had decently strong eyesight. So, why do these intelligent cetaceans continue to become entangled in fishing gear? Scientists have dissected the left eye of a juvenile humpback and revealed the species’ eyesight is weaker than biologists previously suspected. Their results, published Wednesday in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B, carry implications for how humans can help humpback whales steer clear of fishing nets. When lead author Jacob Bolin, at the time studying marine biology at the University of North Carolina Wilmington, cut open the specimen with his colleagues, they found that the white of the whale’s eye was particularly thick at the back. This made the humpback’s focal length—the distance between the eye’s lens and retina—shorter than expected, as Bolin tells bioGraphic’s Marina Wang. Longer focal length usually indicates sharper eyesight, so this was one sign that humpbacks may have poor vision. Another limitation they discovered involved the number of retinal ganglion cells, which are like “the pixels of the eye,” as Bolin says to the New York Times’ Elizabeth Anne Brown. These neurons are responsible for converting the image on the retina at the back of the eye into electrical signals for the brain. The dissection revealed that humpback whales have a surprisingly low density of these cells, especially compared to humans. The whale had, at most, 180 retinal ganglion cells per square millimeter; humans, meanwhile, have up to about 40,000 in the same area. The researchers also found that the humpback whale could see at 3.95 cycles per degree (CPD), a measure of vision determined by how many pairs of black and white lines an animal can make out in one degree of visual space. Humans have much higher visual acuity, between 60 to 100 CPD, per the paper. Researchers investigate a preserved humpback whale eyeball. Michael Spencer / UNCW The team processed these observations with computer models to simulate how humpback whales see their environment. Their visualizations demonstrated that while the animals can see large, faraway shapes, like schools of fish, they can only detect smaller details within about three to four body lengths of the whale, according to a University of North Carolina Wilmington statement. (That’s about 150 to 200 feet.) Overall, humpback whale eyesight is surprisingly less sharp than what scientists had suggested it might be, given the size of their eyeballs, per a Nature research highlight. That means humpback whales might not see fishing nets until it’s too late. Researchers measuring the dissected humpback whale eye.  Michael Spencer/UNCW “[A low CPD] is bad for a human, but not bad for a whale at all,” says Thomas Cronin, a visual ecologist at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, who did not participate in the study, to bioGraphic. Whales don’t typically need sharp vision to catch their prey, he adds. In other words, if humans’ boats and nets didn’t get in their way, the whales could get along perfectly well. “This work helps fill a major gap in our understanding of the sensory ecology of large whales, how humpbacks experience their world,” Lori Schweikert, a co-author of the study and neurophysiologist at the University of North Carolina Wilmington, explains in the statement. Elena Vecino Cordero, a biologist at the University of the Basque Country in Spain who has previously analyzed whale eyes but didn’t participate in the study, tells the New York Times that the research might even be overestimating humpback whale eyesight because of how the dissected eye may have changed after spending more than a decade in a jar. Ultimately, the researchers suggest their work could help inspire fishing net designs that are more visible to humpback whales and potentially result in fewer entanglement incidents. Get the latest stories in your inbox every weekday.

Some humpback whales are born in warmer waters. Others are born on the way. That’s what a study in Frontiers in Marine Science seems to suggest, anyway, after showing that hundreds of East Australian humpback whales are actually born mid-migration, while their mothers are still traveling to their established calving and breeding grounds.“Hundreds of humpback calves were born well outside the established breeding grounds,” said Tracey Rogers, the senior study author and a biology professor at the University of New South Wales, according to a press release. “Giving birth along the ‘humpback highway’ means these vulnerable calves, who are not yet strong swimmers, are required to swim long distances much earlier in life than if they were born in the breeding grounds.” In fact, the study shows that these calves are sometimes born in the temperate waters around Southeastern Australia, New Zealand, and Tasmania, around 900 miles south of the traditionally assumed area. Challenging the theory that humpback migration is essential for the birth of these whales, the study provides valuable information for protecting humpback whale populations in the future. Humpback Whale Mid-Migration SightingsEvery year, Eastern Australian humpbacks travel from the polar waters of the Southern Ocean around Antarctica to the tropical waters of the South Pacific Ocean around northeastern Australia. For a long time, it was thought that this winter migration enabled the birth of these whales, with the whales having to be born in these warmer waters.“Historically, we believed that humpback whales migrating north from the nutrient-rich Southern Ocean were [traveling] to warmer, tropical waters, such as the Great Barrier Reef, to calve,” said Jane McPhee-Frew, the lead study author and a biology Ph.D. candidate at the University of New South Wales, according to another press release.But in July 2023, McPhee-Frew spotted a pair of Eastern Australian humpbacks — a mother and a calf — in the temperate waters around southeastern Australia, apparently on their way to their established calving and breeding grounds. “The calf was tiny, obviously brand new,” McPhee-Frew said in the press release. “What were they doing there?”Hoping to find out, McPhee-Frew, Rogers, and a team of five other researchers studied hundreds of observations of Eastern Australian humpbacks from around southeastern Australia, New Zealand, and Tasmania. Including information from citizen scientist sightings, scientist surveys, and beach strandings, the team examined 209 observations of calves, including 168 observations of living calves, many of which were made in 2023 and 2024. Surprisingly, some of the observations were made as far south as Port Arthur, Tasmania, with many of the mothers continuing to travel north with their newborns.According to the team, these mid-migration births are probably not a new phenomenon, as records seem to suggest that they occurred in the 1800s and 1900s, too, before the collapse of Eastern Australian humpback populations due to commercial whaling. “I think it’s very likely that this pattern has always existed, but the low number of whales obscured it from view,” McPhee-Frew said in the press release. “The Eastern Australia humpback population narrowly escaped extinction, but now there are [30,000, 40,000, or 50,000] in this population alone. It doesn’t happen overnight, but the recovery of humpback whales, and the return of their full range of behaviors and distribution, just goes to show that with good policies built on good science, we can have excellent outcomes.”Protection for Whale PopulationsA mother and baby humpback whale swimming in Kiama, New South Wales, Australia. (Image Credit: Vanessa Risku (Instagram: @droning_my_sorrows))The fact that these calves can be born on their way to the mothers’ calving and breeding grounds means that the purpose of humpback migration is much more of a mystery than typically thought. Indeed, if humpback mothers can deliver babies in temperate waters, why do they travel to tropical waters every year? Though the study cannot confirm this theory, the warm waters of northeastern Australia may offer other benefits beyond birth. For instance, they might be a potentially safer space for calves to learn and grow, even if they were born elsewhere. Such benefits might make the move worthwhile, the team says, despite the risks of delivering a newborn in the midst of migration. And there are a lot of risks. Without a newborn, the trip is long, spanning several thousand miles from the South Ocean to the South Pacific Ocean, and straight through some of the busiest swathes of sea. “This means these vulnerable animals are exposed to risks like boat strikes, entanglements, pollution, and just general public unawareness,” Rogers said in the press release. And adding a calf to the mix merely increases the risk, as newborn humpbacks are slower and weaker than their mothers. “They have those long, enormous fins that they need to grow into, and they’re not very strong swimmers. So they rest a lot of the time on their mum’s back,” Rogers said in the press release. “It’s heartbreaking to think of these young whales [traveling] through busy ports and dangerous shipping lanes with those long, clumsy fins.”The injuries on some of the observed newborns stress the need to do more to protect whales as they travel, the team says. Fortunately, with better information about where these calves and their mothers appear, protected areas and awareness campaigns can be better calibrated to save whales of all ages. “Regardless of the health of population now, we can’t be in a situation where we’re putting any age of whales — especially baby whales — in a situation where they’re getting caught in nets, being exposed to chemicals, being hit by boats and being harassed,” McPhee-Frew said in the press release. Article SourcesOur writers at Discovermagazine.com use peer-reviewed studies and high-quality sources for our articles, and our editors review for scientific accuracy and editorial standards. Review the sources used below for this article:Sam Walters is a journalist covering archaeology, paleontology, ecology, and evolution for Discover, along with an assortment of other topics. Before joining the Discover team as an assistant editor in 2022, Sam studied journalism at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois.

Humpback Whales Give Birth Much Farther South Than Previously Thought, Study Finds Researchers in Australia found records of humpback whale calves more than 900 miles farther south than expected A mother and baby whale spotted swimming near Kiama, New South Wales, Australia.  Vanessa Risku / Instagram: droning_my_sorrows Each year, humpback whales migrate predictably between cold, nutrient-rich feeding grounds and warm, tropical calving grounds, where they give birth and care for their young. Or so scientists thought. Researchers in Australia recorded calves being born much farther south than previously thought, which challenges long-held assumptions about humpback migration patterns. They shared their findings in a new paper published yesterday in the journal Frontiers in Marine Science. Humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) live in all of the world’s oceans. These behemoth marine mammals are highly migratory, swimming thousands of miles each year. The longest humpback whale migration ever recorded was 8,106 miles, from South America to Africa, though more typical distances are around 5,000 miles. In the Southern Hemisphere, humpbacks head to the krill-rich waters of the Southern Ocean around Antarctica every summer, then venture up the eastern and western coasts of Australia toward the warmer waters north of the continent every winter. Researchers long believed that humpbacks only gave birth to their calves in the tropical waters north of 28 degrees latitude on Australia’s east side and north of 23 degrees latitude on the west side. “Our general concept of humpback whale ecology is that they feed at high latitudes in the poles, breed in the tropics, and they have this migration that's driven between the two needs,” says lead author Jane McPhee-Frew, a marine guide and biologist at the University of New South Wales, to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation’s Ellen Phiddian. But, for the new study, scientists found more than 200 records of calves spotted south of these cut-offs. Some were seen as far south as Tasmania and New Zealand, at around 43 degrees latitude, which is between 807 and 932 miles farther south than expected. And that’s just where the sightings stopped—it’s possible humpbacks are giving birth even farther south. “Eventually, we just ran out of land to see them from, so we don’t actually know where the limit is,” McPhee-Frew says in a statement from the university. The scientists gathered the baby humpback whale sightings from a variety of sources, including migration surveys, stranding reports and citizen science observations from tourism boats. In total, the data included 209 observations consisting of 11 births, 41 strandings and 168 live calves; the scientists believe the reports represent at least 169 individual calves. Though the stranding data went back as far as 1991, most of the opportunistic observations occurred more recently, from 2016 forward. Roughly two-thirds of the total opportunistic observations occurred in 2023 and 2024. Since this is the first study of its kind, the scientists aren’t sure whether this is a new trend or just something no one had noticed before. “It may be the case that this has always been happening and we’ve just not documented it well or been paying attention,” study co-author Vanessa Pirotta, a wildlife scientist at Macquarie University, tells the Guardian’s Petra Stock. “Or it may be something new is happening because waters are becoming warmer further south of those traditional tropical areas, which means that they’re more favorable for a humpback whale to have a calf.” The findings were not necessarily a surprise, either, because humpbacks are known to feed, mate and give birth along their migratory corridor, says Olaf Meynecke, a marine scientist at Griffith University who was not involved with the study, to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. However, scientists “don't know to what extent they are doing this,” he adds. The findings also raise additional questions. The biggest one? If humpbacks don’t need to be in tropical waters to give birth, then why are they migrating to do it? “I don't know, but it's exciting,” McPhee-Frew tells the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. One possibility is that whales born in warmer waters have better chances of survival. These regions have fewer predators, like orcas, and the waters tend to be calmer. The warmer climate may also be beneficial for baby whales—called neonates—with poor temperature regulation. In addition, calves born farther south must still migrate northward with their mothers. This long journey is not only taxing, but it also takes them through busy shipping lanes and past urbanized areas, which opens them up to risks like boat strikes, entanglement and pollution. “Newborns are like Great Dane puppies,” says study co-author Tracey Rogers, also a biologist at the University of New South Wales, in the statement. “They have those long, enormous fins that they need to grow into, and they’re not very strong swimmers. So they rest a lot of the time on their mum’s back.... It’s heartbreaking to think of these young whales traveling through busy ports and dangerous shipping lanes with those long, clumsy fins.” Moving forward, researchers might be able to answer some of these questions by following calves born in cold waters and comparing their health and longevity to those born in warm waters. Scientists are also curious about other effects, like whether calves born in colder waters also return to these same areas when they’re ready to reproduce. In the meantime, the scientists say their findings could have important conservation implications. For instance, with calves being born farther south than previously thought, policymakers may want to consider expanding marine protected areas or launching awareness-raising campaigns to help keep them safe. “We can't be in a situation where we're putting any age of whales—especially baby whales—in a situation where they're getting caught in nets, being exposed to chemicals, being hit by boats and being harassed,” McPhee-Frew says in the statement. Get the latest stories in your inbox every weekday.

A mother and baby whale swim at Kiama, New South Wales, Australia. CREDIT: Vanessa Risku - Instagram @droning_my_sorrows. Get the Popular Science daily newsletter💡 Breakthroughs, discoveries, and DIY tips sent every weekday. Humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) are master migrators. Some populations of this  baleen whale species travel upwards of 5,000 miles per year from colder waters to feed, towards warmer tropical waters where they give birth and care for their calves. However, new research on a population off Australia’s eastern coast indicates that their trips to more balmy waters are not as essential to calving as biologists thought. Calves in this population can actually be born in colder waters near New Zealand or Tasmania–about 932 miles further south (1,500 kilometers) than previously known. Understanding this pattern could challenge some long-held beliefs about humpback migration and improve protection areas to help these baby whales. The findings are detailed in a study published May 20 in the journal Frontiers in Marine Science. “Hundreds of humpback calves were born well outside the established breeding grounds,” said Tracey Rogers, a study co-author and marine ecologist at the University of New South Wales in Australia. “Giving birth along the ‘humpback highway’ means these vulnerable calves, who are not yet strong swimmers, are required to swim long distances much earlier in life than if they were born in the breeding grounds.”  The ‘Humpback Highway’ In the Northern Hemisphere, humpback whales like those found on the east coast of the United States and Canada, typically migrate from colder feeding in the Northern Atlantic Ocean in the summer and south to the Caribbean for the winter to breed and calf.  For Southern Hemisphere humpbacks like those off the coast of Eastern Australia, the directions are flipped because of the equator. They travel from their frigid feeding grounds in the Southern Ocean around Antarctica, north towards the Pacific Ocean in Australia to breed, calve, and care for their young.  Finding this new baby whale hotspot arose due to study co-author and University of New South Wales Ph.D candidate Jane McPhee-Frew’s extracurricular work as a marine guide.  A baby whale breaches in Western Australia. Footage by Jason Milligan – Instagram: millo_hd CREDIT: Jason Milligan – Instagram: @millo_hd. “In July 2023, during a whale-watching tour, I encountered a mum and calf at the mouth of Newcastle Harbor—the busiest shipping port in Eastern Australia,” said McPhee-Frew. “The calf was tiny, obviously brand new. What were they doing there? But none of my tourism colleagues seemed surprised.”  This new sighting piqued researchers’ interest and they began investigating the calving range for humpback whales located around Australia and New Zealand. They used data from citizen science observations, government surveys, and reported strandings. New Zealand’s Department of Conservation Cook Strait Whale Project supplied data from migration surveys, and Australian state wildlife departments supplied information on strandings dating all the way back to 1991.   The team found 209 records of newborn calves (including 11 births), 41 strandings, and 168 observations of live calves, representing at least 169 individual whales. They also had data on the direction of travel for 118 whales, which showed the whales were continuing to migrate north after delivery.   “Humpback whale populations undertake extensive long-distance migrations from the Southern Ocean to breeding grounds in the tropics,” said study co-author Adelaide Dedden of the National Parks and Wildlife Service, Australia. “They rely heavily on body reserves from an enormous amount of Antarctic krill to support the physiological costs of the journey and reproduction.”   The highest-latitude calf was found at Port Arthur, Tasmania–about 932 miles further south than it was believed that humpbacks could calf.  When they compared these observations taken over the last decade with historical texts and whaling logbooks, they say that calves born during migration were observed more often before the population crashed due to hunting. Humpback whale numbers in Australia crashed during the peak of the whaling industry, particularly during the 1960s and 1970s. “I think it’s very likely that this pattern has always existed, but the low number of whales obscured it from view,” said McPhee-Frew. “The Eastern Australia humpback population narrowly escaped extinction, but now there are 30, 40, or 50,000 in this population alone. It doesn’t happen overnight, but the recovery of humpback whales, and the return of their full range of behaviors and distribution, just goes to show that with good policies built on good science we can have excellent outcomes.”  Weighing the risks For all migratory species, these epic journeys cost a great deal of time and energy. The energy expenditures can leave their young vulnerable to predators. While this particular study can’t answer why humpback whales risk migrating if they can give birth further south, it’s possible that other factors are driving migration. The benefits of delivering in tropical waters might outweigh the risks of having a potential calf born along the way.  While the data provided by Western Australia’s Department of Biodiversity, Conservation, and Attractions pinpointed a possible nursery area in Flinders Bay, it’s likely that most calves are born much further north in the tropics.  [ Related: Humpback whales use bubble-nets as ‘tools.’ ] According to the team, there are several conservation implications in these findings. Some of the observed calves were injured, so expanded protected areas, awareness campaigns about protective measures boaters and the general public can take, and more research into the habitats that humpbacks use while migrating are critical to safeguarding the calves.  “This study was based on opportunistic observations,” cautioned McPhee-Frew. “This data is excellent for answering questions like, ‘are there newborn whales here?’ But we can’t stretch the interpretations too far. It might appear that we see more calves the further north we go, or that we have seen more over time. But it could be that there are more people whale-watching in the north, or more cameras and social media sharing in recent years.”  “We can only document what we see,” added study co-author Vanessa Pirotta of Macquarie University in Australia. “Perhaps there are things happening in our ocean that we are yet to find out.”

Antipatharians, or black corals, are named for their jet-black skeletons, but they can actually be quite colorful. Photo by ROV SuBastian Among Newly Discovered Ocean Species, a Baby Colossal Squid Is Filmed for the First Time May 16, 2025 NatureScience Kate Mothes An archipelago in the South Atlantic known as the South Sandwich Islands is home to some of the most remote landmasses in the world. Uninhabited except for occasional scientific research, their volcanic makeup highlights the geological and ecological diversity of this part of the world, and we still have much to learn. Schmidt Ocean Institute (previously) recently completed a 35-day trek on the Falkor (too) to the remote island chain and discovered new hydrothermal vents, coral gardens, and what researchers suspect to be entirely new species. During this expedition, the team also confirmed the sighting of a juvenile colossal squid, capturing one on film for the first time. “Colossal squid are estimated to grow up to 23 feet in length and can weigh as much as 1,100 pounds, making them the heaviest invertebrate on the planet,” the institute says, noting the significance of the documentation because the animals have only ever been found dead, after they’ve washed ashore or been eaten by predators. “Little is known about the colossal squid’s life cycle, but eventually, they lose the see-through appearance of the juveniles,” says a statement. “Dying adults have previously been filmed by fishermen but have never been seen alive at depth.” This recent expedition forms part of the Nippon Foundation–Nekton Ocean Census program, the largest initiative working to expedite the discovery of ocean life. During the voyage, the team weathered tropical storm-force winds with hurricane-level gusts, 26-foot waves, icebergs, and a subsea earthquake. Ocean Census scientists focused on discovering new species, documenting corals, sponges, sea urchins, snails, sea stars, and benthic ctenophores—commonly called comb jellies or sea gooseberries. The team will announce the exact number of new species later this year after taxonomic experts verify their findings. This is the first confirmed live observation of the colossal squid, Mesonychoteuthis hamiltoni, in its natural habitat. Photo by ROV SuBastian “The 35 days at sea were an exciting rollercoaster of scientific discovery, the implications of which will be felt for many years to come as discoveries filter into management action,” says Dr. Michelle Taylor, head of science and expedition principal investigator for the Ocean Census. She adds, “This is exactly why the Ocean Census exists—to accelerate our understanding of ocean life before it’s too late.” See more on the Schmidt Ocean Institute’s website. A sea cucumber recorded at 649.45 metres at Saunders East, in waters measuring +0.51°C (about 33°F) A “ping pong” sponge (Chondrocladia sp.) is documented on a seafloor bank west of South Georgia Island This isopod was found during a dive at 470 metres depth at Saunders East, with a water temperature of +0.54°C (about 33°F) A vibrant grouping of coral, documented on Humpback Seamount A nudibranch observed at 268 metres on the eastern side of Montagu Island, where temperatures hovered at +0.35°C (about 32.6°F) A Brisingid — a type of deep-sea starfish — perches on a ledge among many brittle stars (ophiuroids) at a site east of Saunders Island Basket stars, a type of echinoderm, are abundant on seamounts and rocky outcroppings; ROV pilots recorded this observation at 673 meters during a dive on a bank west of South Georgia Island A crustacean from the Antarcturidae family found at 331.61 metres at Saunders East, where the temperature measured +0.5°C (about 33°F), seen here perched on a sea pen Research Vessel Falkor (too) conducts studies off the South Sandwich Islands, including a site close to Montagu Island. The South Sandwich Islands area is extremely active volcanically Previous articleNext article