Rare drone footage captured by the University of Hawaii Marine Mammal Research Program shows a newborn humpback whale gliding along near the ocean’s surface, sometimes riding on its mother’s back.

The whale calf appeared to be healthy.

“It was quite spectacular,” said research program director Lars Bejder, who took the footage. “Obviously, the calf was extremely young, uncoordinated and its flukes wobbly still.”

Bejder took the footage on Jan. 20 while doing field work with his crew on Maui as part of a larger study using aerial images to study the body conditions of humpback whales in Hawaii and Alaska.

They were working in coordination with the Ultimate Whale Watch, Oceanwide Science Institute and the Applied Research Laboratory at UH, when they were alerted to the birth. They arrived 20 minutes after the humpback female gave birth.

He noted there was still blood in the water, and the calf was still uncoordinated. In his more than 20 years researching humpbacks, Bejder said this is “pretty much as close as we can get to a live birth.”

“I think everybody can appreciate these kinds of footages,” he said, “and it brings us closer to these animals and gives us a really majestic view of these creatures, and yeah I think it’s pretty spectacular.”

The UH research program is embracing the use of traditional techniques as well as noninvasive suction-cup tagging and drones to collect data on habitat use, animal populations, movements, communication and the physical condition of marine mammals.

Under Bejder’s leadership, the program has shifted its research focus to include the impacts of climate change, human activities and prey availability on whales and dolphins.

The video footage and photos of the mother humpback whale and calf were taken by the research program with NOAA permit 20311-01.

Researchers are required to obtain NOAA permits for work with protected species such as the humpback whales, which allow them to get closer in order to attach a telemetry tag or to remove entanglements. NOAA requires the researcher to display the permit number in publications using their photos.

Otherwise, NOAA regulations under the U.S. Marine Mammal Protection Act prohibit individuals from approaching humpback whales within 1,000 feet from the air and 100 yards when on or in the water.