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Journalism of Courage
Researchers have, for the first time observed and captured images of humpback whales having sex. And as it turns out, both the individuals involved in the act were male.
If you are surprised that animals also engage in homosexuality, you really shouldn’t be. The 1999 book Biological Exuberance by Bruce Bagemihl features well-illustrated and meticulously researched instances of homosexuality in the wild. So, the argument that being gay is “unnatural” has not held water for a long time.
Scientists have spent decades researching humpback whales, but even sightings of a male penis, have been rare, according to The Guardian. Even sexual intercourse has not been documented until recently when two photographers captured such an encounter between two whales off the coast of Hawaii.
The sighting happened in January 2022, and it has been confirmed in a study published in the journal Marine Mammal Science on Tuesday. Two whales approached and circled a boat in the waters off the island of Maui before engaging in sexual intercourse.
“Upon reviewing the photographs, it was noticed that Whale A had a significant jaw injury, that likely impaired normal feeding behavior. It was also observed that Whale B had its penis extruded throughout the entire encounter and, at times, would penetrate the genital opening of Whale A, using its pectoral fins to hold Whale A. This grasping behavior appears to be an important component of copulation or attempted copulation for humpback whales,” wrote the researchers in the study.
Such non-productive sexual behaviour could happen for various reasons — it can simply be practice for future encounters or it could play an important role in establishing and maintaining relationships between individuals. It could also be used as a tool to assert dominance over other individuals.
Robert Pitman, a marine ecologist at the Mammal Institute at Oregon State University put forward a simpler and more morbid explanation to National Geographic — When adult males are in breeding grounds they are focused on mating and might try their luck with other males. While some would respond aggressively, others won’t, especially when they are sick. Pitman was not involved in the study.
Whale A in this example seems to be particularly sick, in part due to the jaw injury. It also seemed to be hosting a large number of parasites.
