Drone captures rare video of 'magical moment' whale birth

Humpback whale sighted on drone video giving birth at Kingscliff in NSW Wed 29 Jul 2026 at 4:42pm In short: A humpback whale has been recorded giving birth to her calf in what is believed to be the first whale birth recorded filmed by a drone. The sighting occurred on Tuesday afternoon at Kingscliff on the New South Wales North Coast. What's next? The video footage is expected to be peer reviewed and published, contributing to whale research. A drone operator has captured a rare sighting of a humpback whale giving birth on the New South Wales coast. Drone pilot Alex Forrest is one of just four people to capture a whale giving birth, and the first to do so with a drone. The Organisation for the Rescue and Research of Cetaceans in Australia (ORRCA) volunteer noticed the humpback whale swimming behind the pod, and began filming her from about 700 metres off the shore at Kingscliff on Tuesday afternoon. "There was this one female whale going unusually slow, but she wasn't sleeping," he said. "All of a sudden red just spurted out and there was a plumage; I was like, 'Is there an interaction with a predator?'" "I had no idea until it reached the surface." ORCCA said Mr Forrest filmed the whales at a distance of more than 100 metres in compliance with the NSW Biodiversity Conservation Regulation. He has captured thousands of humpback whales from above, but he said the surprise was beyond belief. "I hope this footage can contribute to the very little known about humpback whale birthing," Mr Forrest said. Macquarie University whale scientist Vanessa Pirotta said the sighting was an incredible moment. "This is incredible. People watch humpback whales every single year, they're the world's most watched whale," Dr Pirotta said. "This is a magical moment of an animal that could live up to 80-plus years. "When your baby wants to come it'll come, the fact that baby knew exactly what to do which was to rise to the surface, was a very special moment." Loading...ORRCA said it believed it was the first drone recording of a humpback whale birth, and the fourth time the phenomenon had been filmed. ORRCA head of research Annie Post said the footage would help to compare other documented whale births in the world. "She seemed to be travelling alone and on her own when she gave birth, we can compare to others who have been escorted," she said. Ms Post said the footage would be peer reviewed and contribute to knowledge on marine mammals. "The more data we can collect, the more we can pick up on any trends," Ms Post said. University of New South Wales PhD candidate Jane McPhee-Frew said the sighting differed to what was previously known about where humpback whales went to give birth. "We had an idea they had to go to the tropics to give birth; we're sort of having to unlearn a little bit,"she said. Ms McPhee-Frew said the sighting was likely due to the growing population of humpback whales and the use of technology. "It's building a picture of how animals and the environment change through space and time, how we think we have got something figured out but turns out there's a little bit more to it," she said.