Originally written for WildX

At one metric ton a pair, the southern right whale has the biggest balls of any animal on earth. Those are filled with a gallon of sperm and paired with a formidable 12-foot long prehensile penis, all to ensure that the “job” gets done. But what does that have to do with Antarctic icebergs and the southern coast of Africa? Everything. 

Southern right whales are migratory, splitting their time between the icy Antarctic and the warmer southern coast of Africa. Their primary motive for migration? Sex and food. Consuming up to a metric ton of copepods, krill and plankton per day is no problem in the cold waters, but the climate is too harsh for birthing calves, which are born without a protective layer of blubber under their skin. Knowing this, whales migrate north to warmer waters for calving and mating.

The perilous journey begins around May, as the southern hemisphere’s summer is coming to a close, and stretches on for over 3,000 miles, a distance longer than the USA is wide. Traveling at a pace of 1-2.5mph, they face numerous threats, many of them caused by man. Shipping lanes are a huge danger, not only because of the disorientation caused by the noise at sea that messes with their communication, but also because of the potential for fatal collisions with ships. Climate change has also had a drastic impact, affecting the whale’s food supply and causing them to migrate earlier. 

When they arrive at the coast in June, they almost always return to the same spots, literally. Southern right whale are easily identified by their characteristic broad backs with no dorsal fin, long, arching mouth, and specifically the callosities found on and around their heads. The latter are rough skin patches that calves are born with, and over time become colonized by barnacles and whale lice. Each whale’s pattern of callosities is as unique as our own fingerprints and can be used to identify individuals. That is how scientists, biologists, researchers, and enthusiasts know that the same females return to the same bays to give birth. 

In South Africa, the whale congregate in Walker Bay, a stretch of coast between Hermanus and Gansbaai that’s a protected safe haven that happens to be perfect for whale-watching. In these sheltered waters, male whale put on a show to win the right to mate. Unlike the males of other species, they do not compete aggressively. Rather, it comes down to who has the biggest balls and the longest member. Southern right whale are polygamous and can have up to seven partners in a single mating season, but that doesn’t mean the females aren’t picky. In an attempt to stall her suitors, or perhaps find a worthy one, a female may turn onto her back, keeping her belly and mating organs above the surface. This does little to stop the advances of her battling beaus, who swim up alongside her and employ their 12-foot prehensile penises to seek out the promised land. Even for those who do make contact, a calf is not guaranteed. Releasing up to a gallon of sperm at a time, one whale’s delivery can easily flush out the previous partner’s. 

Elsewhere, females impregnated the previous season prepare for birthing by moving into the calmer, shallow waters, where it’s hard for large predators like killer whale to navigate, and the distance to the surface is shorter – whale calves have to breach to breathe within 10 seconds of being born. To help with the birthing, females are often seen with a “midwife”, a fellow female that will use its flipper to help the newborn to the surface. Like so many other animals in the wild, the calves must learn to swim almost immediately and most have the hang of it within 30 minutes of leaving the womb. 

Already the size and mass of an SUV at birth, calves grow quickly, feeding on their mothers’ fat-rich milk and are estimated to grow by about 1in in length and 132lbs in mass per day! To think of it another way, they start off roughly about a fifth the size of their mothers and by the end of the season, they can be up to a third the size. Over the course of a year, they increase five times their weight. As amazing as the spectacle is, it takes a huge toll on the mother, who can lose up to 40% of her body weight during that time. When both calf and mother are strong enough to take on the long trek to the Antarctic, the journey begins.

This incredible cycle carries on throughout the generations, and every year between June and October, it offers some of the most spectacular wildlife watching right from the South African shore. Frequently seen breaching, tail and flipper slapping, and often lifting their tails as they dive, they put on an amazing show for any and all lucky enough to be watching, and it was all put in motion by the biggest balls on the planet.