If you’ve ever spotted a whale floating on its back and wondered whether it was sick, dying, or participating in some bizarre, unknowable whale ritual, rest easy. Scientists think they’ve finally figured it out, and the answer is much more relatable than you’d expect: they’re probably just chilling. It’s a little whale R&R.
According to a new study published in Mammalian Biology and explained by the researchers in The Conversation, southern right whale mothers float upside down to recover during one of the most physically exhausting periods of their lives. If you’ve ever witnessed a human mother collapse onto a soft surface in exhaustion to get just a few seconds of reprieve from the madness of motherhood, it’s that but a whale.
Using drones to observe 59 mother-calf pairs along Australia’s southern coast, researchers found that roughly one-quarter of the mothers spent part of their time resting belly-up at or just below the water’s surface. He didn’t see any other whales doing it. Not juveniles, not adult males.
Not even males without calves were doing it. It’s a behavior exclusive to mothers with newborns and, in one case, to a mother nearing birth.
Southern Right Whale Moms Float Belly-Up, and the Reason Is Surprisingly Relatable
The leading theory is that Southern right whales migrate more than 3700 miles between Antarctica and Australia, then spend several months nursing calves without eating, relying entirely on their stored fat reserves to sustain them. Resting upside down keeps their mammary glands away from their calves, effectively temporarily shutting down one of the basic functions of motherhood, cutting off the cow from the all-you-can-drink milk buffet while mommy just rests her eyes for a few minutes to conserve energy.
Another theory is that the position might help whales cool off. Southern right whales don’t have a dorsal fin, which can help regulate body temperature. Writing in the conversation, the researchers compare mother whales putting their bellies up and their pectoral fins in the air to humans dangling their feet in a swimming pool on a hot day.
If you ever see a southern right whale lazily floating upside down, there’s no need to call an emergency vehicle or something. It’s just an exhausted mom trying to get a few minutes’ peace.
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