Heart-warming moment lost baby sperm whale jumps for joy 5ft above the waves after being reunited with its family
- Newborn whale calf had temporarily lost its mother in sea off the Azores
- British diver Justin Hart, 44, filmed its euphoric reunion with the adults
- Whales body-slam the water to communicate with others far below
Every small child knows the panic of losing sight of its mother in the supermarket, and as these delightful pictures show, small whales obviously feel the same way.
Taken by a British diver who was following the sperm whale calf, they show the minute the baby - who had lost track of its mum - found her again in the sea off the Azores.
Soaring 30ft across the waves, the euphoric newborn slammed its body onto the water with joy after becoming separated from its family group in the chilly waters.
The newborn sperm whale calf leapt out of the water and slammed its 12ft-long body onto the sea to tell its mother it had found her again
But the adorable whale calf was doing more than just jumping for joy.
British biologist and dive guide Justin Hart, 44, who took the pictures, says that young whales communicate with older ones in the ocean by creating a slamming sound which travels through the water to the ears of the adults deep below.
By leaping out of the water and slamming its 12ft long body onto the surface of the sea up to 30 times, the baby whale is telling its relatives where it is so they can regroup.
He said: 'We had been following the sperm whale calf for most of the day.
'Sperm whales, of all the whales and dolphins, are the species that dive the deepest and for the longest time.
'The calves have to follow what's going on below them from the surface as best they can - probably listening to the echo ******** clicks of the adults.
The newborn whale had become separated from its family group when they swam deeper to hunt squid
Breath-taking sight: Despite being only a few months old, the whale calf measures 12ft long
'However sometimes the adults re-surface far out of sight of the calf - and in this situation the whales often breach or leap out of the water causing a large bang as their bodies hit the surface.
Mr Hart, who is originally from London but now lives on Pico Island in the Azores, said in this way, the whale family could regroup and the calf could suckle if it needed to.
He added: 'When I took the photo two adults females had just resurfaced and the calf quite literally began jumping for joy.'
Mr Hart captured the rare image four miles from the port of Lajes do Pico while he was working as a crewman on an underwater documentary with special licence to film sperm whales in the area.
The baby whale slams its body onto the water to tell the adults where it is so that they can regroup
The sperm whale pod was photographed four miles off the island of Pico in the middle of the Atlantic
Diver Justin Hart, who is originally from London, is living in the Azores and working on a whale documentary
Sperm whales live in nearly all the world's oceans in pods of about 15 to 20 animals and they practise communal childcare.
When the baby is fully grown adult it will weigh up to 45 tonnes and be nearly 60ft long - around the same as two double decker buses end-to-end.
Mr Hart said the sperm whales dived deep to hunt squid in what is called the mesopelagic zone, around 600 metres under.
He said: 'This is a problem for the calves as they do not have the capacity to follow their mothers there when they leave the surface to forage.
'The calves do not have to follow their mother too closely as sperm whales have a system of surrogacy whereby the calf can take milk from any milk-producing female in its social group.
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