‘Humpback Comeback’ Continues in 2021 as Whales Return to Salish Sea
Pop Tart, a sibling of Big Mama, lunge feeding at the surface. Nicknamed because he/she loves to "pop" out of the water and is known for lots of breaching ever since a baby. Pop Tart has a reputation for being mischievous.
Photo by April Ryan/Maya’s Legacy/PWWA
In Rare Event, Three Sibling Humpbacks Spotted Near One Another
FRIDAY HARBOR, WA and VICTORIA, BC (June 22, 2021) – Whale watchers are calling it a “Humpback Comeback” as hundreds of humpback whales now regularly return every year to the Salish Sea, including this year. Driven by the return of famed humpback whale “Big Mama,” as well as rare sightings of three of her calves in close proximity, 2021 has naturalists and researchers abuzz.
Since whale researchers first documented just a single humpback whale in 1997 the humpback whales that migrate each summer to feed in the nutrient-rich waters of the Salish Sea now number in the hundreds.
A pioneer and significant contributor to this population increase, Big Mama has given birth to six calves that have each returned to these inland waters at one time or another. Whale watchers reported seeing her traveling with her first calf in 2003. Big Mama has since had calves in 2006, 2010, 2012, 2014, and 2016. With so much breeding success, the nickname Big Mama has really stuck.
When Big Mama arrived in late April 2021, the whale watch community was extremely excited to see her return, as she often marks the beginning of the humpback whale watching season throughout the region. Dozens more humpbacks have arrived since then, and this past week, something happened that had the whale watch and research community abuzz.
THREE HUMPBACK SIBLINGS SIGHTED
Three calves of Big Mama were sighted feeding within a few hundred meters of each other in waters off Port Angeles, Washington last Saturday. Humpback whales are not known to have close family ties, leaving their mothers at less than a year old. The fact that three siblings were seen in such close proximity to each other has piqued the interest of humpback whale researchers. The three whales were identified by the whale watching community as Split Fin (2006), Tulip (2012), and Pop Tart (2016), her most recent calf.
“We arrived on scene to find three beautiful humpback whales actively lunge feeding in glass-calm conditions under the snow-capped peaks of the Olympic Mountains, just outside of Port Angeles,” said naturalist Samantha Murphy aboard the Island Explorer 5, based in Anacortes. “All three humpbacks were within close proximity to one another, but focused on foraging for bait-fish within separate current lines. As we visited each whale and started to gather ID photos, we were shocked and elated to realize that all three whales were siblings!”
“Not only did we get to witness the power and grace of these feeding giants,” added Murphy, “Pop Tart showed off how they earned their name by fully breaching right in front of us! To say it was a magical evening is an understatement. This trip will go down in the books for the 2021 whale watching season.”
BIG MAMA’S HISTORY IN THE REGION
To whale watching professionals, she is known as Big Mama; to passengers, she is a blow and a pair of flukes; and to the ecosystem, she’s a game-changer.
In 1997, Big Mama was sighted for the first time by Mark Malleson, a seasoned professional zodiac skipper with Prince of Whales Whale Watching in Victoria, BC. He didn’t know she was Big Mama at the time of course. She was simply one of the first humpback whales to be spotted in the Strait of Juan de Fuca in nearly 100 years.
When Mark’s friend, fellow whale watcher and photographer, Brian Glennon submitted a photo of the humpback to the Victoria Times Colonist newspaper, he was told they would not print it because they didn’t accept photoshopped photos. The photo of course,was unaltered, they just couldn’t believe that there was a humpback here. No one had ever heard of such a thing. Mark said “The very first humpback that I ever saw was Big Mama near Race Rocks in the fall of 1997. I saw her again in 1999 and then not again until 2003. She has not missed a year since then to return to these waters.”
In recent years over 500 individual Humpback whales have been documented and cataloged in the Salish Sea.
BIG MAMA’S OFFSPRING
Unnamed (b. 2003). Big Mama’s first known calf, and one of the first calves to return to the Salish Sea as a summer feeding ground.
Split Fin (b. 2006). (present Saturday, June 12) Presumed male since has never been seen with a calf. Nicknamed because he has a split down his dorsal fin likely from an injury. He has been matched to winter breeding grounds in Hawaii.
Canuck (b. 2010). Sadly presumed deceased after being entangled in 2011. Entanglement remains a significant threat to these beautiful, slow-moving leviathans.
Tulip (b. 2012). (present Saturday, June 12) Nicknamed for a mark on her tail that looks like a tulip. A known female, she gave birth to her first known calf last year which officially makes Big Mama a grandmother.
Beak (b. 2014). Not much known but still seen regularly in the Salish Sea.
Pop Tart (b. 2016).(present Saturday, June 12) Nicknamed because he/she loves to "pop" out of the water, and is known for lots of breaching ever since a baby. Has a reputation for being mischievous.
