An Australian photographer claims to have snapped the world’s first photograph of humpback whales making love. We can call it that now — love making, that is — based on the detailed description provided by Jason Edwards, who captured the moment off the coast of Tonga.
We can’t show you the image here for copyright reasons, so you’ll have to click through to see it, but a picture almost isn’t necessary once you’ve heard Australia’s Daily Telegraph relay Edwards’ report of the encounter, which he describes as “brief but tender”:
Mr Edwards said the female allowed the male to grapple her on a slight angle, sliding in from behind until his belly touched. Placing a pectoral fin over her flank, he stroked her gently during the act. After the pair broke apart, the female released a burst of bubbles from her mouth, rather than through the spout.
Downright titillating, wouldn’t you say? Though Edwards’ account of the unconventional way the male went about winning his mate in the first place is equally entertaining:
“It was amazing…There were four or five males vying for her attention and while the larger ones were busy jostling each other, the smallest one swam away with the female.”
Sounds like a smart whale to us. [The Daily Telegraph]
