The E1 population of humpback whales (East Australia) migrates from feeding areas in Antarctica to breeding and calving areas within the Great Barrier Reef region of Northern Queensland. In recent years, evidence indicates a shift in calving habitat toward the south in Southern Queensland and New South Wales. Since 2013, newborns have been documented on the Gold Coast with small body size, limited swimming ability, folded dorsal fins, foetal folds, and neck indentations. The consistent annual observation of neonates well south of the Great Barrier Reef indicates geographic plasticity in calving habitat use by this population.
Nonetheless, direct observation of a humpback whale birth has not occurred in the Gold Coast. Observations of humpback whale parturition and post-parturition behaviour in the wild remain rare worldwide. Here we report behavioural observations of a female humpback whale with an accompanying male escort interacting with the female’s presumed stillborn calf in shallow coastal waters of the Gold Coast Bay, Queensland, Australia, during the 2025 breeding season.
The female’s behaviour was recorded using a video camera, and the animal was repeatedly observed returning to the neonate, maintaining close physical proximity, engaging in tactile contact, and vocalising near the body for forty-five minutes. This humpback whale pair ceased their migration and remained on site with the stillborn calf over multiple days.
A placenta was observed partially extruded from the female’s genital slit during in-water observation. This tissue was subsequently expelled and collected for veterinary examination; no pathological abnormalities were detected.
This prolonged site fidelity by the mother–escort pair is an important behavioural insight for this species. This account represents one of the few detailed descriptions of post-parturition behaviour associated with a stillborn neonate in humpback whales. It provides rare insight into maternal and escort responses following neonatal loss in this species.