July 24th - Tempest returns and our Humpback count so far!

Generally speaking humpbacks return to the same feeding grounds year after year. This gives us a good idea of who to expect every summer. Some of our humpbacks run like clock-work, returning to the same area of the Salish Sea reliably, like Big Mama who appears in the San Juan islands every June before heading to Campbell River.
As much as we can expect our regulars to return, we have some unfamiliar fins make an appearance. Sometimes it’s whales we only see every few years and sometimes they are completely new to our region, like Smoke who stopped in last year and turned out to be an Alaskan calf from the year before.
Here’s the list of the 43 humpbacks we’ve seen this season!

Returning Humpbacks

Bond/ Papillion
Bullet
Chinook
Dalmation
Divot
Europa
Fader
Graphite
Graze

Hydra
Incognito
Neowise
Niagara
Nike
Ocean/Mammoth
Ocular
Orion

Poptart
Prowler
Scoop
Scorch/Smoke
Scuba
Snoopy
Strike
Valiant
ZigZag

Returning Moms and Calves

Anvil + Calf
Big Mama + Calf
Corona + Calf

“New” whale this year (not seen last year by us)

Neptune
Pingu
Stella
Unknown 1
Unknown 2

Calypso
Ghost
Glacier
Monarch

Today we got to add a new whale to our list. Tempest the humpback has returned. Tempest has been in our waters before, but this was our first sighting of her this year. Tempest is a confirmed female who winters in Mexico. Tempest has been routinely sighted in the Salish Sea since 2004.

Enjoy the photos of Tempest and our wildlife taken by marine naturalists Val Watson, Vanessa Vereschahen, and Janine Van Der Linden

Photo by Janine Van Der Linden, 3:30.

Photo by Janine Van Der Linden, 3:30.

Photo by Janine Van Der Linden, 10:30.

Photo by Janine Van Der Linden, 3:30.

Photo by Val Watson, 3:30.

Photo by Val Watson, 3:30.

Photo by Janine Van Der Linden, 10:30.

Photo by Vanessa Vereschahen, 3:30.

Photo by Vanessa Vereschahen, 3:30.

Photo by Janine Van Der Linden, 10:30.

Photo by Vanessa Vereschahen, 10:30.

Photo by Janine Van Der Linden, 10:30.

Photo by Janine Van Der Linden, 10:30.

Photo by Vanessa Vereschahen, 3:30.

Photo by Vanessa Vereschahen, 3:30.

Photo by Janine Van Der Linden, 3:30.

Scritch scratch! Photo by Janine Van Der Linden, 3:30.

Photo by Janine Van Der Linden, 3:30.

Photo by Janine Van Der Linden, 3:30.

Photo by Janine Van Der Linden, 3:30.

Photo by Janine Van Der Linden, 10:30.

Photo by Janine Van Der Linden, 3:30.

Photo by Vanessa Vereschahen, 3:30.

Photo by Vanessa Vereschahen, 10:30.

Photo by Janine Van Der Linden, 10:30.

Photo by Janine Van Der Linden, 3:30.

Photo by Janine Van Der Linden, 10:30.

Photo by Janine Van Der Linden, 10:30.

Photo by Vanessa Vereschahen, 3:30.

Photo by Vanessa Vereschahen, 3:30.

Mt. Baker. Photo by Janine Van Der Linden, 3:30.

Jilann LechnerComment