This newsletter is dedicated to our Whale Adoption Project with a complete round-up of last season’s whale sightings now available.
Adopt a Whale
If you would like to adopt a whale today to support WDCS’ work to protect these amazing animals please click here. Whale adoptions also make great gifts for your family and friends - you can be sure that a 40 ton whale will be the biggest gift they will ever receive!
If you already adopt a whale with WDCS, keep a look out for your newsletter in the post which should be with you any day now. We hope you will enjoy reading about a typical whale research boat trip and be interested to learn more about the threats faced by our adopted whales.
2007 adopted whale sightings are now in – did we see your favorite whale?
The whale season in the Gulf of Maine officially begins each year when we see SALT and, as usual, she was one of the first whales to be seen last season. SALT has such a big family now it’s almost a guarantee to see some of her calves such as CRYSTAL, who also appeared in the spring.
REFLECTION was spotted with a new calf in 2007, her first since BUZZARD in 2000. We’re happy to report that BATIK’s calf, FILAMENT, was also seen with a new calf as were RUNE, SCRATCH and SICKLE who returned with her 11th calf!
We waited a long time for IVORY to show up last season and when she did, she also had a new calf with her! PEPPER was also a Mom in 2007! Pepper was teaching her calf all the tricks in the book including breaching, flipper slapping and lob-tailing.
CAT’S PAW seems to favor a feeding area east of Cape Cod called the Great South Channel, so we did not expect her to show up in Canadian waters! Most humpbacks seem to be either northern or southern Gulf of Maine whales and stay somewhat loyal to their preferred feeding areas. PATCHES, ORION, CHURCHILL, HALFMOON and HAZE were all spotted in their preferred northern feeding areas.
Like QUIOXTE, CLOUD was also spotted in the Bay of Fundy, living up to his namesake when researchers found him among the very low cloud cover - thick fog!
Cloud’s sister SCYLLA also made an appearance and both of his brothers, LITTLESPOT and TIGRIS were seen last season. While all three used to hang out in northern waters, both CLOUD and LITTLESPOT made surprise appearances in the Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary, further south.
CLOUD’s mother ISTAR was also back in 2007 and whenever she was seen, she was almost always alone! MIDNIGHT was also seen alone last season, most likely as she didn’t have a calf last year.
Although we didn’t see MARS last season, PUTTER her son was spotted hanging out with ONYX in April. SEAL, another of MARS’ sons was also seen hanging out with an adult male named AGASSIZ when both SEAL and AGASSIZ were synchronized flipper-slapping!
MARS’ daughter NILE, returned with a calf last year making MARS a grandmother again!! ORBIT is also a grandmother as her 1986 calf, ISTHMUS, returned with a new calf! NILE’s new calf is quite active and curious and in June this baby was seen tail breaching, flipper slapping and approaching whale watch boats to get a closer look.
COLT was also up to his old tricks in June when he gave a whale watch boat one of his infamous close approaches! CORAL was first sighted last season in May and his brother PENINSULA was also spotted with SIRIUS in June.
Researchers saw SPOON last spring and her son, REGULUS, was back to his old tricks- he was spotted on June 18th, flipper slapping. Instead of hitting the water however - he was hitting himself!!
In May, CYGNUS was seen bubble-netting and feeding at the surface. LINER and BUCKSHOT were also spotted bubble-netting for fish together in June. COLUMBIA, BAT and MIRROR were also sighted last season.
For up to date photos of your whale and more whale sightings please visit our website at https://whales.org/adopt-east.aspx.
January Adoption Renewal Letters
If you were one of our dedicated whale adopters who recently received a renewal notice letter after you had already renewed your whale adoption - please accept our sincere apologies.
We had a problem with the database which we are happy to report has now been rectified. If you would like to avoid the need for renewal letters in future remember that you can always renew online at https://www.whales.org/renewal.aspx
Kind
Regards,
The WDCS Team
www.whales.org
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WDCS is the global voice for the protection of whales, dolphins and their environment.
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