Whale threesomes

Here's a photo that can probably make even a biologist blush (right).

A female right whale is shown here copulating with two males at the same time. The female is between the two males and you can see two penises, one coming from each side, and both entering her vagina.

This is real, that you can be sure, because the event was seen, photographed, and described by whale scientists.

On 11 August 2000 in the Bay of Fundy in Canada, a mature female right whale was observed copulating simultaneously with two mature males. The female made no attempt to resist copulation. For anatomical reasons, double copulation would be difficult or impossible in most mammals; however, it is quite feasible in right whales, and the fact that it actually occurs provides strong support for the belief that females of this species promote sperm competition as a mating strategy.

Male right whales have a penis that is 8 feet long and capable of searching out a female's vagina. Females often roll onto their backs during mating, so approach by males can require heroic lengths. Apparently, heroic lengths are not a problem.

Another interesting thing about right whales that goes along with this threesome or more-some behavior is sperm competition. Females often mate with more than one male, and males compete to see who can get the most sperm inside the female. Their efforts are made possible by massive 1000 kg testes that likely produce one whale of an insemination.

Sounds to me like a much more fun way to compete than fighting over who gets to mate. Let's all mate and let the sperm battle it out.

Of course, this is great blog fodder including a discussion of this event and what it means.

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