October 19th - Poptart and a Mom and calf!

On the 19th we found 3 Humpbacks in the Salish Sea. First we stopped with Poptart, the 2016 calf of Big Mamma. This little whale is already 5 years old and still coming back to the same feeding grounds mom showed them all those years ago.
Poptart was doing some long, deep dives as they filled their belly with food. All our Humpbacks are making a last push to eat as much as they can as the season winds down. They will soon all leave us and head for the tropics to breed and raise their calves.

After leaving Poptart we found Split Fluke and her calf. Split Fluke got her name from the large split in her tail, which you can clearly see below. These last few weeks with her calf are likely spent teaching the young one any more foraging techniques and making sure they are ready to make the trip back south. Baby Humpbacks only get 1 year with mom to learn everything they can to survive on their own. So Split Flukes calf needs to pay close attention so they are ready for their first solo trip in the Spring.

All photos from our trip today were taken by Marine Naturalist Cheyenne Brewster.

Jilann LechnerOctober 22, 2021Comment