Cooperation by non-kin during birth underpins sperm whale social complexity
- Alaa Maalouf
- Joseph DelPreto
- Maxime Lucas
- Simone Poetto
- Jacob Andreas
- Antonio Torralba
- Shane Gero
- Giovanni Petri
- Daniela Rus
- David F. Gruber
2026-03-26
We quantitatively document a sperm whale birth event, revealing collective support behaviors across kinship lines. Using high-resolution drone footage, computer vision, and multiscale network analysis, we studied the interactions within a Caribbean sperm whale unit comprising two matrilines. Our results suggest that a female family member led birth assistance and that after delivery, all individuals oriented toward and helped lift the newborn, taking turns in a coordinated, cross-kin effort. Despite historically observed foraging segregation, kinship barriers dissolved as all unit members contributed. These analyses provide evidence of birth attendance, or assistance, in a nonprimate species, a behavior long considered characteristic only of humans and their close relatives.