First baby humpback whale of season seen swimming with mom off Washington. See it
Big Mama was seen with her baby Wednesday, May 21, in the Haro Strait, northwest of San Juan Island, the Pacific Whale Watch Association said in a news release.
Also known as BCY0324, the mom whale has had at least eight calves in the past 30 years, the conservation group said.
The group estimates the newest calf is about 4 to 5 months old. It was seen in photos breaching from the sea.
The two were seen again Thursday, May 22, with the baby staying close to its mom.
Every year, humpback whales travel long distances to find warmer waters near Hawaii, Mexico and Central America to mate and give birth to calves, according to the association.
The marine mammals then travel thousands of miles to cooler waters in the summer to feed, though the journey isn't easy, the association said.
They have to make it past fishing gear, ship traffic and their predators, killer whales.
'It's a perilous journey, but one Big Mama has made many times before,' the group said in the release.
Big Mama was discovered in the Salish Sea in 1997, decades after commercial whaling ended in 1966, the nonprofit said.
Not only does she have eight calves, but she has seven 'grandcalves' and four 'great grandcalves.'
'We're always eager to see who the first calf of the season will be,' the association's executive director Erin Gless said in the release. 'And we're always anxious waiting for Big Mama's return. This year we got to celebrate both happy occasions at once!'
Last year, Black Pearl was the first humpback whale to be seen in the Salish Sea with her calf, McClatchy News reported.
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