Watch: Can humpback whales experience grief?

In July 2025, off Palm Beach Reef on Australia’s Gold Coast, a female humpback whale was filmed displaying what researchers believe is grief over her stillborn calf. The footage, captured by Andrew Mulville from Sea World, shows the mother repeatedly touching and observing the calf for at least two hours. Dr Olaf Meynecke of Griffith University described this behavior as post-mortem attentive, noting that it had not been observed before in humpback whales. This discovery is significant because it may indicate complex emotional responses in marine mammals, though more research is needed to understand these behaviors fully. The study, published in Discover Animals, highlights the importance of further observations to better comprehend how humpbacks respond to death and stress.