Big Momma and 2025 calf!
May 21, 2025
The sad reality for humpbacks in the Salish Sea- constantly exposed to risk of vessel strike and physical disturbance from large commercial vessels, whale watchers, and recreational vessels.
Big Momma
Big Momma and her brand new 2025 baby
Big Momma
Big Momma’s 2025 calf!
On May 21, 2025 after spending the morning with Kelpie, Niagara, and the T019s, we got a report of a humpback in Haro Strait. We attended and observed the earlier reported mom and calf! There was one whale watcher with these whales and once they left the whales celebrated by tail lobbing, tail slapping, and breaching! During a tail lob, we got and ID photo to confirm the identity of this mother was Big Momma. Big momma is a special whale in the Salish Sea, as she was one of the first whales to return to our traditional territory after colonizers destroyed the trust of our relatives through commercial whaling. This is at least her eighth calf since returning to the Salish Sea. While she is a well respected whale, her celebrity status means lots of people want to see her, and as such, lots of whale watching vessels were on scene to see her and her new baby. This is disheartening for stewards and guardians like us, who are forced to watch our relatives be surrounded by vessels for hours and hours- there were vessels with big momma and her calf for at least 7 hours. While we were with them, there were 18 vessels watching her and her calf. We must question the sustainability of this type of whale watching.
It is important to remember that big momma and her calf have just completed a 2,500km journey from the tropics and she has not eaten since she left the Salish Sea in the fall of last year. This whale has experienced a massive effort of carrying a calf, giving birth, nursing, and travelling to and from Hawaii all while not eating for at least 7 months. Now she has returned to her foraging grounds to refuel and is swarmed by whale watching and commercial vessels, putting her and her calf at increased risk of vessel strike, and causing physical disturbance. This is the sad reality for humpback mothers in the Salish Sea and why we advocate for change to the commercial whale watching industry.
All photos are taken with a 200-600 zoom lens.