Non‑Kin Midwifery in Sperm Whales

Drone footage from Dominica captured adult female sperm whales from two ordinarily separate family groups cooperating to support a newborn at the surface, taking turns to push it up to breathe for roughly an hour. Machine‑learning tracking showed rapid spatial clustering and role‑sharing not limited to close kin, suggesting flexible, role‑based alloparental care in this species. — If sperm whales practice flexible, cross‑group caregiving, it changes how scientists and conservationists think about whale culture, social resilience, and the social costs of group disruption.