The tail is the key!

Meet Splash, The Beloved Whale of Our Tours. Splash is a Whale that everyone loves! Our Guides and visitors have been spotting her since 2014. The last time we saw her was in 2022, when she was energetically flapping her unmistakable tail. This year, we were lucky to find her again, with her calf, confirming that Splash is a female.

Meet Flopsy, a female First recorded in 1986 in California, United States. Flopsy got her name because of her unique floppy dorsal fin, records suggest that she exhibits distinct entanglement scars, likely causing nerve damage that makes her fin floppy. This season, we spotted Flopsy with her calf, accompanied by a juvenile whale. on Happy Whale, Flopsy has a history of long migrations to her breeding areas, She was seen in Costa Rica in 2005.

Meet Carlos (Banderas) a whale named in honor and memory of Carlos R.Godinez, who was a member of RABEN(Red de asistencia a Ballenas Enmalladas) and a very active figure in ocean conservation in Mexico. On Happy whale, Carlos was recorded in Alaska, Bering Sea, in its feeding area, and in Mexico it’s often seen between Baja California Sur and Nayarit. This year, Carlos was spotted along with a pod of 4 whales.

Introducing UABCS-MN1-12B0157, a whale first recorded in 2012 in Baja California Sur by the PRIMMA-UABCS team. Towards the end of this last season , we encountered this whale accompanied by her calf. They were quite active, with the mother seemingly teaching the calf how to tail slap. So far, this whale has only been recorded in Baja California Sur, showing her loyalty and preference for this area for mating and giving birth. The calf tends to follow the same migratory pattern as its mother.

Calf of UABCS-MN1-12B0157

Meet CRC-11797, a whale that clearly survived predator attacks when it was younger. In the photo, you can see the scars—parallel lines left by orca teeth—that have deformed its tail.

Calf Whale HW-MN0523564. It is a baby tail, which the color usually changes dramatically during the first year of life. We look forward to encountering it in future seasons. 

Introducing CRC-10744, this whale has been known in Mexico since 1985. Cabo Trek first sighted it in 2017. During this season, it was observed within a competitive pod of at least 4 whales. It appears to be a male.

• Albino is a known whale on HappyWhale for migrating between Alaska ( its feeding area) and Mexico (Breeding ground). This Season, we spotted this whale in the Bay of Cabo San Lucas, and she was very active, slapping her tail along with her calf. This confirms that she is a female. 

• SEAK-1671 is also named Twin Peaks; it is known to be a female humpback whale based on genetic ID from the OSU Cetacean Conservation Genomics Lab and from the SPLASH study.  Since 2001, Twin Peaks has been sighted 32 times, exploring Alaska as a permanent feeding ground and Mexico, precisely, in Bahia Banderas, Socorro Island, and Cabo San Lucas, exploring Mexican waters as Breeding grounds.  Cabo Trek’s last encounter with Twin Peaks was on 2022-03-10. 

• CRC-15832, also named Mufasa, has been Sighted 14 times. The first sighting was in California, United States, in 2013. In 2016 and 2017, Mufasa was seen in British Columbia, Canada. This Season, Cabo Trek sighted it 4 times. On 2022-02-08, we observed a Mufasa whale swimming with a mother, calf, and 1 whale. Mufasa was checking us, swimming right close to the boat when we could see scars all along its body. The whale was injured at the top of the read, peduncle, and tail. The injuries seem to be from a fight. One day late in 2022-02-09, Mufasa was escorting a Female and calf. The last time that Cabo Trek was seen, on 2022-02-10, Mufasa was in a competitive pod of 4 whales. In March, one month later, Mufasa was watched in Banderas Bay, Nayarit. 

FIBB-5BB752 is known as a female from observation with a calf (Mother of 2021-2022 calf of FIBB-5BB752) from the Cabo Trek whale-watching cruise. Mother and calf were seen over and over for one month nearby Los Cabos coast waters during this season.

We could say that FIBB-5BB752 is a Mexican Whale because it has been sighted 12 times in Mexican waters, the first time in 2014 at the Bay of Banderas and the last time in 2022-03-10 at Cabo San Lucas.

Photo identification in 2021-2022 of the calf of FIBB-5BB752, observed 3 times in March 2022 by Cabo Trek. We have seen it playing with its mothers close to the Cabo San Lucas bay. In the picture you can observe serrated marks on both lobes of its tail, probably it survived an orca attack.

CRC-11300 is known from research conducted by ECOBAC, based on the photo-identification catalog of humpback whales in Banderas Bay, Mexico (FIBB catalog).
This whale is known as a female because the naturalist Tim Huntington observed it with a calf in May 2021 in California, United States.

One year later, in April 2022, Cabo Trek spotted CRC-11300 in Cabo San Lucas with her calf. This means that mother and calf have traveled together between feeding and meeting grounds twice over the last two seasons. It sounds like the mother whale was teaching her calf how to travel between Mexican and Californian waters to reproduce and feed.

Another interesting fact about these whales’ migration track is that in January 2022, that whale was seen in California, and two months later, in April 2022, here in Mexico. They took two months to be watched between feeding and mating grounds. In total, she has been sighted 52 times; it is believed she is at least 23 years old from observation since 1999 in California.

Entropy IDCRC-17608 has been sighted 18 times since 2017 in Washington.
This whale is known as a female due to an observation with a calf in March 2022 by Cabo Trek, the Mother of the 2021-2022 calf of Entropy. In the pictures, we can see mother and calf playing together right close to the shoreline in Cabo.

2017-2018 calf of Nanook IDCRC-18224, Also Known as HW-MN0501282. This whale has been known as a calf since August 2018, when it was first sighted in Monterey Bay. In October 2021, she was seen with many whales feeding in San Francisco. In the last season, in January 2022, Cabo trek spotted it twice, the whale was observed very active slapping its tail, showing the head, Peduncle Thrown, and socializing into a pod of, at least, 3 whales.

First: 2018-08-20 – Calf Tail.
California, United States (From Happy Whale)
New calves are not named because their coloring and scarring often change dramatically during that first year.

Last: 2022-01-27,

Baja California Sur, Mexico

It Is believed this whale is around 5 years old. In the images you can see how the tail coloration patter changes a lot at the fist years. 

• BREE-801: This whale from Alaska is known from the long-term research efforts of the Marine Advisory Program (MAP) based at the University of Alaska Fairbanks (UAF) first seen in 2009. This season Cabo Trek sighted it twice! Once on January 30th and the last time on March 11th

• CTHW#329: This whale has been known in Mexican waters since 1996 by the FIBB catalog, but in California, its feeding zone, it has been known since 1985. She survived a killer whale attack, which is why she is missing 3/4 of her left lobe and has serrated marks on the right lobe of her tail. She was seen by Cabo Trek in 2017 2018 and 2019. It was also seen in Cabo this season (2020). It is over 35 years old and apparently is a male.

• HW-MN0501145: Believed to be female from observation with 2016-2017 calf. I was seen by Cabo Trek in 2019 and 2020. I was sighted for the first time in California in 2018.

• GWAK-P124: This whale was sighted for the first time in Mexico´s Revillagigedo Archipelago in 2005 by PRIMMA/UABCS. The Gulf Watch Alaska sighted it in 2008 in Prince William Sound, Alaska. This season Cabo Trek sighted GWAK-P124 in Los Cabos. This whale is a female that was spotted with its calf.

• CTHW#204: Gnarly is a well-known whale in the Salish Sea, between Washington state and British Columbia. Its gender is still unknown but it has been sighted on Cabo in 2016, and 2020. Other sightings in México have been reported on Nayarit, Jalisco, and Guerrero. At the last sight in Cabo, Quinn was observed on an “Escort” behavior among another individual and her calf.

• CRC-16151: Named Hopper because he or she spy hops a lot. It has been sighted 81 times between California – Los Cabos – Puerto Vallarta since 2014. Cabo trek sighted Hopper in 2019 and 2020. Most sightings were in Monterey Bay (76 times). This whale is known from research conducted by Cascadia Research Collective and collaborators.

• CTHW#598: This whale was sighted for the first time in 2013 in San José del Cabo by PRIMMA/UABCS, the second time in 2014 in Puerto Vallarta by ECOBAC, and than Cabo Trek in 2017 sighted it and this year we got a resighting! Over the years, Photo-identification has provided important information about population structure, demographic parameters, site fidelity and occupancy, and migration.

• CTHW#646: Gem (TMMC) from California is known since 1999. This whale was sighted for the first time in Los Cabos in 2017 by Cabo Trek escorting a mother and her calf. She has also been sighted in Puerto Vallarta.

• CTHW#607: CRC-12525 has been sighted since 2012 in Mexican waters. I was sighted in Guerrero Negro on January 25^th,2017, and in Los Cabos on March 16^th,2017 by Cabo Trek. This whale is from California and is known for the long-term research efforts of the PRIMMA/UABCS.

• CTHW#911: CRC-16004 is from British Columbia, Canada, and has been sighted since 2010. Cabo Trek got the first sighting of this whale in 2018. It was also sighted in Nayarit and Puerto Vallarta, Mexico.

• CTHW#1271: CRC-11705 is from California and was sighted for the first time in 2009. In Mexico this whale was sighted only in Los Cabos. The first sighting in Mexican waters was in 2017 by Cabo Trek.

• CTHW#652: CRC-12399 also Known as Popcorn’s mom has been sighted since 2010. It is from California and Cabo trek sighted it in 2017. It was the only time this whale was sighted in Mexico. UPDATE: This whale was sighted with her calf (Popcorn) in 2020 in California.

• CTHW#315 is still our oldest whale with Happywhale considering both breeding and feeding grounds.

• CTHW#329 this whale is the oldest if we take into consideration only the breeding ground. Match with the Universidad Autonoma de Baja California Sur.

• CTHW#496 up to date this whale is still the one that travels the most.

• CTHW#519 has no updates to report.

• CTHW#536 has no updates to report.

• CTHW#315 is our oldest whale. It was sighted for the first time in July 1990 in the Gulf of the Farallones, California and in January 2017 was re-sighted in Cabo San Lucas.

• CTHW#329 is a whale that survived an orca attack that carried away most of his or her left fluke. This whale was sighted for the first in November 1993 in the Gulf of the Farallones, California; it was sighted twice in 2009 in Santa Barbara Channel, California; it was sighted twice in 2015 in Monterey Bay, California; in 2016 was sighted once both in Monterey Bay and Moss Landing, California; and in January 2017 was sighted in Cabo San Lucas.

• CTHW#496, also known as Krusty, is our furthest match. It was sighted once in September 2011 in Kodiak Island, Alaska and in February 2017 in Cabo San Lucas.

• CTHW#519 is our whale that was re-sighted more times. This whale was seen for the first time in August 2009; in 2010, it was sighted six times; in 2011 three times; and in 2012 nine times, always in Santa Barbara Channel, California, or nearby this area. In February 2017 was the first sighting in its breeding ground.

• CTHW#536 was sighted for the first time in August 2009 in the Gulf of the Farallones, California. In May 2012, this whale was part of a killer whale/ gray whale calf predation. A pod of orca was trying to predate a calf gray whale and few humpback whales were sighted in the same are trying to help the mother and calf gray whale. One of the humpback whales sighted this way was also sighted in Cabo San Lucas in March 2017.