A pilot spotted a newborn pygmy blue whale calf swimming with its mother and captured some beautiful photographs that have the scientific community (and animal lovers) excited. The pilot, Tiffany Klein of Ningaloo Aviation, was searching for this species as part of a research project to tag and track pygmy blue whales. The Australian Institute of Marine Science (AIMS) and the Centre for Whale Research (CWR) are heading up the research project.
Scientists believe this calf, which is likely just weeks old based on its size, is the youngest pygmy blue whale documented in Australian waters. Klein saw the mother and calf pair swimming side by side offshore from the Ningaloo Reef.
According to NOAA, pygmy blue whales (Balaenoptera musculus brevicauda) live mostly in waters off Australia, Madagascar, and New Zealand. Pygmy blue whales are a subspecies of blue whale. They grow to a max of about 80 feet long, compared to other subspecies, like the Antarctic blue whale, which can grow to be 110 feet long.
Blue whales are the largest animals on Earth. They’re also the largest animals that have ever lived on Earth, as far as scientists know.
Check out some photos of this enormous bundle of joy here: