Weekly Whale Feature: "Juneau"
Juneau is absolutely a wonderful whale and one of the easiest to identify. Why the name? Look for the "AK" marking on the tail. Plus, she makes her home in Juneau.
Name: Juneau / AK Juneau / AK Whale / Alaska Whale / Sasha / NOAA No. SEAK 1879
Gender: Female. (My guess is that Juneau is a female because of the way she acts and fact that she has made the waters around Juneau her home for the last six springs, summers, falls and part of winters.)
When to look: Early spring, through late fall, early winter. She has been here at least every year for the last six years.
Where: Waters near Juneau Alaska. This whale seems to prefer the waters around Shelter Island, in particular the waters between the sand spit and Favorite Reef.
Markings: Big black and white fluke with lots of marks. A big AK mark on the left underside of the fluke, a rope scar on the right side of the body from in front of the dorsal fin angling back towards the tail and the X-shaped rope scars just in front of the tail. There is also some type of scar on the left, upper side of the notch on her tail. Her dorsal fin is all black, it is oblong in shape and has a slight nick out of the top, back side.
Behavior: Juneau is a calm and predictable whale. Her dive times are usually from four to 10 minutes and her fluke (tail) usually comes high out of the water before a deep dive. One of her favorite areas is between the sand spit on the south west end of Shelter Island and Favorite Reef. Many days, during the spring and summer, I have enjoyed watching Juneau feed in this area. She is normally by herself, but I have seen her many times with another whale. Not always, however, with the same whale. I have only seen her breach two times in the past five years and seen very little other activity. I have seen her in a bubble feeding group only a few times. Juneau does do a fair amount of lunge feeding at the surface of the water in early spring and late fall, by herself and at times with another whale. If out whale watching, the odds are very good that you will get a great look at "Juneau."
Notes: What a great whale to have in the Juneau area! It's hard to believe a whale has the markings "AK" naturally occurring on the tail. When Juneau has breached it was in the waters near the sand spit and has done only one jump, not multiple. She then returns to regular dive patterns.
• The "Weekly Whale Feature" is compiled by Jay Beedle, a longtime Juneau resident who makes his home on Shelter Island. He is a photographer and co-owns Harv and Marv's Outback Alaska, which offers whale watching tours during summer months. This is the first in a series. It will appear every week through the month of August.