Taylor Sahl: Voyage Journal

Transcript

Date:  July 11, 2014  Page Kept By: Taylor Starr Sahl, English Teacher at the Oxford Academy and Whale Enthusiast

Location: Stellwagen Bank, South East Corner

Sightings:

1 Minke Whale

14-18 Humpbacks within a 2 mile radius- surface and subsurface feeding

A few close looks at some feeding whales, including “Pepper”

Some information on  Pepper

• Age unknown; mature female humpback.
• Grandmother
• Mother of at least nine calves, including:
  • Habeñero
  • Zenith
  • Paprika
  • Bishop
  • Tadpole
  • Siete

• Pepper frequently hangs out with Nile and Cardhu-both mature females- but her oldest and best friend is Salt. The two of them first seen together in 1976, and incidentally, were the first two to be named and added into the Humpback Catalog.

• Pepper tends to use the left side of her jaw while scuffing. She is a lefty!

• Her calf of ’98 was struck by a vessel and never seen again.

• She tends to spend more time with her calves than most other humpback mothers do.