The amazing new images of a mother whale with her new born calf

 

By NIGEL BLUNDELL - More by this author » Last updated at 12:00pm on 10th December 2007 Comments (1)

She is 40 years old, weighs 40 tons and has a heart the size of seven men. But as a mother, Mara the whale seems almost human.

Tenderly, she tucks her calf under her giant fin and guides it gently forward.

This 50ft humpback whale mother has had her baby inside her for a year and she will keep it by her for another year.

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Motherly: Mara holds her calf Kell to her chest in a tender pose that looks almost human

 

She will lose a quarter of her body weight in feeding it the rich milk it needs to grow strong enough to fend for itself.

This baby was born in the shallow waters of Polynesia, where these uniquely intimate pictures were taken during the making of a television documentary, Ocean Voyagers, to be shown on the Animal Planet channel on Sunday (Dec 16, 6pm).

The male baby, Kell, was born as white as ivory before, at four weeks, growing into his humpback colours – and putting on 100lbs a day.

But there is no food for humpback adults in these warm Pacific shallows, so Kell's mother, Mara, must starve for six months.

The evocative film about motherhood and parenting tells the story of mother and baby throughout the infant's first year, including the 4,000-mile journey they make together to the feeding grounds of Antarctica.

One of the largest animals ever to live on planet earth, humpback whales have been making their annual summer migration throughout the world's oceans for millions of years.

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Massive: Weighing 40 tons Mara makes the diver swimming alongside her look miniscule

 

Some of the dangers they face have remained constant for millennia: sharks and killer whales. But now there are new threats.

During the last century, more than 200,000 humpbacks were killed by whalers, and there are only an estimated 30,000 left in the Southern Ocean.

The greatest danger to them is commercial fishing. More humpbacks now die entangled in heavy-duty fishing nets than through any other cause.

But there is another, repellent threat. A Japanese whaling fleet is currently in the Southern Ocean hunting them and other species for 'scientific research'.

It is estimated that they kill 20,000 whales, dolphins and porpoises every year. But this winter, for the first time in 40 years, the Japanese are defying international protests and plan to kill 50 humpbacks along their migration route.

Young humpbacks are particularly vulnerable because, although an adult can go 15 minutes before coming up for air, a baby must breathe every three to four minutes.

Whalers have long used the calfs to locate their mothers, who loyally stay close to their offspring.

Unfortunately, the humpbacks are naturally curious about boats, which makes them especially vulnerable.

Mara and Kell showed no concern about the film-makers. In the underwater world of these giants, a diver is a mere tiddler, 300 times smaller than a humpback, as our picture shows.

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Majestic: Mara's enormous eye looks lovingly at the young whale she will nuture into an adult

 

Humpback whales sleep vertically – but with one eye always open. And they have receptors all over their heads – hairs that pick up vibration waves, rather like human ears.

If they see a diver as a threat, they simply glide away. But once accepted, as in the case of the Animal Planet film-makers, they become relaxed in their presence.

The power of these leviathans is always evident, however. Once they reach their Antarctic feeding grounds, they form groups to swirl around the deep, releasing huge streams of bubbles. The shoals of fish caught within this so-called 'bubble net' are forced to the surface – with the whales following open-mouthed to swallow them by the ton.

Another crafty method of catching fish is to slap the surface of the water with their tails, momentarily stunning entire shoals.

Meryl Streep, who narrates the story of Kell's first year, says that one of the most moving aspects of the documentary was listening to the songs the humpbacks sing.

She says: "They live in a world of sound, created mainly by the older, larger males, who can sing for hours, even days.

"They are some of the loudest sounds made by any animal. Their songs last for up to 30 minutes and are then faithfully repeated.

"Their voices fill the sea. They seem to be telling the infant Kell that he and his mother are not alone in the ocean."

The fear, however, is that at least some of these voices – perhaps even Kell's – will be silenced. The London-based Environment Investigation Agency said yesterday: "The Japanese whale hunt is a criminal activity.

"They're breaking all the rules by whaling in the protected area of the South Pacific. This is nothing to do with scientific research. These creatures will end up as whale meat in Japanese shops."

And leading wildlife biologist George Muller said: "As a scientist, I can tell you that what they are doing is definitely not science. It is not necessary to kill a whale to study it. And it is madness to kill something you claim to be trying to conserve."

very nice!