A heartwarming footage has captured the moment a pod of brave dolphins defends a humpback whale and her calf from a group of male whales.
Although the ocean is a place full of dangers, the threat posed to the humpback whale, Spirit, and her calf, Sunny, was completely different from the ones usually faced by the aquatic creatures.
The mother and her calf found themselves in severe danger when a group of five male humpbacks approached them off Flinders Bay around Western Australia.
All the males were seemingly competing with each other to mate with Spirit – and while whale mating is highly encouraged for their conservation, this particular case was not good for the calf.
Had one of them succeeded in mating with the mother, the subsequent abandonment of her calf would have led him to death.
Fortunately, none of the five males got the chance to mess around Spirit – thanks to a pod of heroic dolphins who appeared at the scene just in time.
The incredible encounter was filmed by a whale-watching tour from Whale Watch WA.
In the footage recorded from on board, around a dozen dolphins can be seen coming to the aid of the distressed mother and her son.
The dolphins can then be seen gathering around the tired mother to keep the hopeful suitors away from her.
And to everyone’s amazement, one of them even flashes its teeth toward the group of males to display aggression, a rarity for dolphins.
Mother Spirit keeps swimming close to the tour boat in an attempt to shelter young Sunny.
At last, due to the continuous resistance from the dolphins, the male humpbacks give up their efforts. The largest male even ‘escorts’ the mother and her calf to safety by chasing the smaller ones away.
The experience was referred to as ‘truly remarkable’ and a ‘true once in a lifetime experience’ by the Whale Watch WA group.
They hailed the mother humpback for going to all lengths to protect her baby and, of course, the brave dolphins – without whom the young calf would’ve probably died.