The latest episode of BBC's Blue Planet ll documentary series has left many nature fans reaching for the tissues, as a mother whale grieves the loss of her calf in a heartrending way.
In a clip posted to the BBC's YouTube page, a mother pilot whale is shown carrying her dead calf in her mouth, refusing to let go of her offspring in a heart-breaking display of grief which continues for days after its death.
The footage, which aired in the fourth Blue Planet ll episode last night in the UK, has left many fans in tears at the emotional scenes.
During the episode narrator David Attenborough says that the calf may have died due to pollutants entering the mother's body before being transferred to the calf through her milk.
It's postulated that man-made plastic pollutants in the ocean are the likely candidate.
Blue Planet ll screens on TVNZ 1 Sunday nights at 7:30pm and ondemand.
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