We came across a humpback with legendary status in the Salish Sea

Yesterday while on the water with our Bigg's 201 class we came across a humpback that has attained legendary status in the Salish Sea: a 4 year-old whale that is nicknamed Schooner.

Schooner was born in 2021 to BCX1193 Zigzag. In June of 2024, Schooner was reported in the Canadian Gulf Islands possibly entangled in fishing gear and also showing wounds consistent with a vessel strike. DFO's disentanglement team was keeping an eye out for the whale to try and assist if needed, but Schooner wasn't seen in July as far as we know. By August, when Schooner was photographed again, they had completely lost their left tail fluke. This could have been caused by the vessel strike or potentially also by entanglement.

According to Happywhale, Schooner was seen in the Salish Sea through October, and then in February had their first breeding ground match to Hawaii. Amazingly, just 44 days later Schooner was one of the first humpback whales to return to the Salish Sea. That's a distance of about 2680 miles, or approximately 60 miles a day.  Not bad for a humpback with only one tail fluke!

It was an honor to meet this courageous whale, and Schooner's story carries with it several important reminders: the risk vessels and fishing gear can play to humpback whales, the resilience of nature, and the incredible power of community scientists to help piece stories like this together!