Here’s the rare moment captured on camera when an adult whale feeds her young calf.
We may not always be able appreciative of the natural world when it happens in the inaccessible depths of the ocean, but when researchers and scientists, or even TV crews, are able to document such awe-inspiring moments, it really makes you sit up and take note.
In this instance, Russian photographer Mike Korostelev, 38, captured the unique scene as he was diving in the Indian Ocean.
The stunning imagery of a mother sperm whale injecting her milk into ocean water, for her calf to then ingest is quite an extraordinary process. The infant whale had to stimulate its parent’s mammary gland beforehand, in order to coax the milk out of her, and it was all snapped by Korostelev.
‘It was big honour for me to be there and so close in that private moment of a whale’s life,’ he said.
The method whereby whales feed their young isn’t a commonly known process, nor is it heavily documented for people to freely access or observe
Here, though, the incredible photographs not only show off the ginormous size of the mammals compared to humans, but the grace and tenderness they have for one another.
Seeing such sweet moments in a whale’s family life is not only fascinating, but particularly cathartic considering everything else that’s going on in the world right now.
