"Poptart" and her first calf. (Anthony Kaulfuss, Prince of Whales)
SEATTLE - The Pacific Whale Watch Association(PWWA) announced Thursday that the first humpback whale moms and calves of the 2023 whale watching season have arrived in the Salish Sea!
"We’ve been eagerly awaiting news of the season’s first humpback calves," said PWWA executive director Erin Gless. "We celebrate every whale’s return, but it’s doubly special when they have a new calf in tow."
Among the news moms are BCY0523 "Graze", BCX1675 "Strike", and BCY1404 "Poptart". Both Graze and Strike gave birth to calves in 2019 and 2021, but this is the first calf for Poptart, who was born in 2016 to the Salish Sea humpback BCY0324 "Big Mama".
"Big Mama" and young "Poptart in 2016 (Brooke Mckinley, Outer Island Excursions)
While young, Poptart was often seen breaching completely out of the water, reminding the whale watchers of the popular breakfast item that pops out of a toaster and the name stuck, PWWA said in a news release. She has become one of the most popular humpback whales in the region.
"Thanks to modern technology, we already expected a few of these whales to show up with calves this season, but it’s nice to get confirmation, and to know they’ve completed the journey safely," says Gless. "We’ve notified researchers of their arrival here on the feeding grounds."
Local humpback whales don't give birth in the Salish Sea, but travel up with their newborn calves after giving birth in warmer waters near Hawaii, Mexico and Central America. Strike has been seen off Isla Socorro, Mexico during the winter and both Graze and Poptart have been photographed by the Hawaiian Islands.
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The Pacific Whale Watching Association (PWWA) is calling 2022 a record-breaking year for whale sightings in the Salish Sea.
The community science platform Happywhale.com alerted the PWWA that both Graze and Poptart had been spotted with potential calves off Maui earlier this spring. Baby humpbacks seen in the Salish Sea are typically born between late December and February, making these three calves between four and six months old.
Humpback whales feed on krill and small fish, such as herring and candlefish, and typically remain in the local waters through late fall. Last year, a record 34 humpback whale calves were reported throughout the Salish Sea by researchers with the Canadian Pacific Humpback Collaboration.