For a few moments the tourists thought they were about to witness something terrible.1 they had a once in a lifetime opportunity to watch a whale baby emerge into the world.
2 into the blue waters just off the coast of Dana Point, California, people on a small boat spotted an adult whale swimming around. Then a pool of something3 appeared to spread.
"Many of us thought it may be a shark tack. But it was not. Instead of the4 of life, it was the beginning of a new one!" one of them wrote online. "This is a5 for all of us. We've never seen it happen before. "
"The fact that you can see the blood means the6 must have just come out. It isn't something that is seen or7 very often. In fact, I don't know if there're any other videos like that. They are extraordinarily 8 ." said Schulman Janiger, a biologist."I 9 that I were there. "
Schulman Janiger admitted she'd never10 an actual birth. About nine years ago. She was just11 enough to spot a newborn whale less than an hour old.
"Whales are born with soft fins(鰭) that take about 24 hours to become12 . Until then they can't really swim and the mothers have to13 their babies so they can rest and breathe," she continued. "Animals on land smell each other. But animals in14 can't smell. So their skin is very sensitive. That's why we can see the baby whale and its mother touch their faces15 in the posted videos. "
