OUR UNIQUE BLACK-FLIPPERED HUMPBACK CALLED FLATBREAD
One of the humpback whales that has been encountered in our bay during the last days is this pretty and unusual one with black pectoral fins, named Flatbread. This photo was taken yesterday morning by our guide Natàlia while it let the people on board our oak boat Faldur admire its whole body's beauty up-close.
Humpback whale individuals are relatively easy to identify thanks to that they all have a unique black and/or white pattern underneath their flukes, like our fingerprints. Scars and other marks might also help. This whale is easy to recognise by its black pectoral fins, while they on our other humpbacks usually are all-white.
Flatbread has been around our bay for a couple of days now and Gentle Giants' humpback whale researcher and guide Charla has matched photos from last year and can confirm that this very whale has visited us before.
Charla says there are several possibilities why its flippers are black. One is that it is a Pacific whale, or that its parents were one Pacific whale and one Atlantic whale, or that it is just genetically rare in the Atlantic. Whatever the reason, it is a very unique whale by us!
We have been so lucky with humpback whale encounters the last days. They are wonderful to watch as they, despite their size, often are acrobatic and curious – like Flatbread yesterday morning. Our guide Natàlia Amigó who captured these fabulous photos and video yesterday commented:
"It was an amazing sighting! Flatbread was super curious, as soon as we found it, it got closer to us and started exploring the boat, he/she expended more than 30 minutes swimming slowly around us, spyhopping and rolling over. After a long while some dolphins came and they were swimming around the whale, we were soooo amazed (passengers and crew)".
Maybe you will also meet this unique and curious humpback whale on a tour with us?
Text: Alexia Askelöf
Photos and video: Natàlia Amigó
