Photographers were able to observe sexual intercourse between humpback whales for the first time. Both animals were males, and the act raises questions.
Same-sex sexual behavior is widespread in the animal kingdom and has been observed in dolphins and killer whales. Humpback whales grow up to 16 meters long and up to 36 tons, which is the weight of several buses. They typically spend the summer in polar waters before migrating to warmer, tropical climes in the fall and winter. Their existence was threatened by commercial whaling in recent decades.