August 25th 3:30 - HBs in the Strait

For our afternoon trip for August 25th, we found a total of 3 humpback whales near Valdes Island. The first humpback we found was called Orion. Orion is a humpback whale our naturalists can recognize instantly due to his unique dorsal fin and easily identifiable pattern under their fluke. Each humpback whale has a distinct fluke which helps us tell them apart from one another.

After watching Orion for a while, we wandered over towards Zephyr and her calf which we found not far from Orion. Zephyr is the 2011 calf of Divot making her 10 years old. Humpbacks usually reach sexual maturity around the ages of 5-10 years old and can have calves every 2-3 years. Humpback calves will stick with their mom for about a year and are usually weaned for about 6 months before the start feeding independently. Humpback calves can drink 100 to 130 gallons of milk per day!

Check out the photos our naturalists took below!

Jilann LechnerAugust 31, 2021Comment