Description of a collaborative sperm whale birth and shifts in coda vocal styles during key events

Wild cetacean birth observations are extremely rare, with observations having been recorded in less than 10% of cetacean species. Here, we describe a detailed accounting of a sperm whale (Physeter macrocephalus) birth off the coast of Dominica within a well-documented social unit and consisted of sperm whales collaboratively lifting the newborn out of the water. We recorded data via multiple concurrent methods: underwater audio, aerial drone video, shipboard photography in addition to behavioral observations spanning before, during and after the whale birth. All 11 members from sperm whale “Unit A” were present and participated in the birth, which lasted 34 min from the time the flukes emerged until the completion of delivery. The sperm whale unit made extensive vocalizations, with statistically significant shifts in coda vocal style corresponding to key events, such as the beginning of the birth and interactions with short-finned pilot whales (Globicephala macrorhynchus) shortly after the birth event. An evolutionary analysis of wild cetacean births suggests that newborns being lifted out of the water dates to before the most recent common ancestor of toothed and baleen whales, > 36 million years ago, and that cooperative lifting of the newborn is noted, thus far, only in members of Odontoceti (toothed whales). This study provides the most in-depth observations of a wild cetacean birth.