By Lauren Beavis
“One-in-a-million” drone photos show the world’s biggest gender reveal – as experts discover the beloved Pi, the humpback whale, is female.
Pi has been visiting the Isles of Scilly every year since 2020 – but despite the regular appearances, not much is known about her.
In particular, Pi’s gender – which has been described as an unanswered “Scilly mystery” – until now.
But in a rare chance of fate, a local wildlife photographer was in the right place at the right time to capture a drone photograph as Pi flipped upside down above the surface of the water.
The image, described as a “one in a million” photograph, was shared with international experts who unanimously agreed Pi was a female.
Brendon White, the photographer who captured the photos, said: “We first spotted Pi feeding off a ledge about one kilometer offshore.
“Then shortly after, another humpback was reported just around the corner on the other side of the peninsula.
“Pi suddenly stopped feeding and made a beeline for that area. Assuming there would be some interaction between the two whales I quickly got my drone up in the hopes of capturing the two whales together or possibly even a breach from the sky as they seem to breach more when together.
“Once I had the drone up I could only see the one whale, Pi (no idea where the other one had disappeared to).
“Her behavior was slightly different to the normal resting or feeding behaviour we often see, she was staying close to the surface and waving her pectoral fin in the air.
“It was soon revealed in the images that there was a shallow ledge beneath her and she was likely having a good scratch.
“After a while I noticed she was rolling over onto her back and I was hit with a sudden shot of adrenaline knowing this could possibly be our chance to finally determine the whale’s sex.
“Maintaining a respectful distance I took as many photos as I could while she was upside down, barely keeping my composure with all the excitement.
“One step closer towards understanding all the whale behavior around the islands. She then dived deep out of sight.
“I took the drone up much higher in the hopes the show wasn’t over and it wasn’t! She appeared very suddenly as she breached out of the water.
“I started recording and managed to capture her breaching twice from the air as well as getting some photos from the land and by the end of it all my nerves were shot from the excitement of it all, what a morning!”
Pi was first sighted in 2019 off the coast of Cornwall.
Experts from the Isles of Scilly Wildlife Trust explained that due to her size and lack of adult company, it was assumed at the time that she must be a junior whale, approximately one-year-old.
Based on this assumption, they expect Pi to be an eight-year-old mature adult humpback – with the potential to have calves of her own.
Jay Cowen, Fundraising and Comms Officer, Isles of Scilly Wildlife Trust, said: “Our local cetacean enthusiast shared this one-in-a-million photograph with an international network of cetacean experts, who all agreed that Scilly’s Humpback Whale Pi is a female.
“We’re very excited to find out what surprises Pi next has in store for us.
“Confirming the sex of a whale is no easy task, and getting confirmation from a photograph is even more uncommon.
“The strength of dedication shown by our community of wildlife enthusiasts is deeply inspiring.
“Together I believe Scilly will be able to record more whale sightings with each passing year.”
