Perth boy captures incredible moment mother whale teaches her baby to breathe in incredible drone footage
Humpback whale teaches calf to breathe Whale watching off the coast of Western Australia Footage captured by 12-year-old boy Jack Humsky
A 12-year-old boy has captured the incredible moment a whale teaches its calf how to breathe.
West Australian boy Jack Humsky was on a boat with his family about 10km off the coast of Yanchep, north of Perth’s CBD, when they heard the whale spray.
The certified drone pilot quickly launched his drone and found a mother humpback whale with her calf.
Jack followed the pair and captured the beautiful interaction between a mother and her baby.
The footage shows the mother calf carrying her calf on her nose as they swim just below the surface of the water.
Jack Humsky, 12, captured the incredible moment a humpback whale taught its calf how to breathe.
The whale creates a cloud of mist known as a blow before using its snout to gently push its calf towards the surface and the wind is seen breaking the surface.
The calf is then seen taking in air through its blowhole before diving into the water.
Jack’s father, Steven, was piloting the boat and told Daily Mail Australia that the day became ‘very special’ when they spotted the whale.
‘A quiet day of fishing turned into something very special when we heard the whale spray,’ Mr Humsky said.
‘We kept our distance and Jack excitedly launched the drone… no fish were caught but Jack was overcome with joy and will never forget the experience.’
Jack’s mother, Kim, said she and her son believe the calf was too young to be taught how to breathe and swim.
‘Mother and child have been hanging around for ages,’ he told Parthenon.
‘The mother was carrying the baby on her nose, so we believe it was a very young baby learning to breathe and swim.’
Footage captured by a certified drone pilot shows a mother humpback whale using her nose to gently push her calf through the water.
Kim said her son followed the whales with his drone and was overcome with emotion.
‘Jack said he doesn’t often get emotional about nature, but he was overcome by the sight of whales!’ she said.
Jack shared his incredible footage on his Drowning Downunder Facebook and Instagram accounts, garnering over 1,300 likes on his photographs.
Humpback whales are able to swim from the moment they are born, with most mothers pushing their calves to the surface for their first breath.
Mothers will spend months or even years raising their young, staying close by while their calves learn to navigate through water.
Around 40,000 whales travel the ‘Humpback Highway’ off the coast of Western Australia between June and November.
The largest humpback migration in the Southern Hemisphere occurs between June and November in Western Australia.
The annual migration sees around 40,000 whales travel the ‘Humpback Highway’ from their summer feeding grounds in Antarctica to their breeding grounds in the nearby waters of the Kimberley region.
According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Fisheries, humpback whales can grow to about 18 meters long and weigh up to 36 metric tons.
A female humpback has a calf every two to three years and a year-long pregnancy, a newborn humpback is three meters long at birth.