Weekly Whale feature: 'Snow White'
This particular humpback whale is a beautiful whale with lots of white on her fluke.
Name: "Snow White" / NOAA # SEAK 0455.
Gender: Female.
When to look: From early spring through the middle of December. She has been sighted in local waters every year for the last six years.
Where: Waters near Juneau, though she seems to prefer the waters around Shelter Island. In late July and August, North Pass is a good place to look for Snow White.
Markings: Snow White is a beautiful whale! Her large tail has black around the edges and lots of white on the main area of the fluke. A black scratch on the lower left part of the right side of the fluke and the letter "H" scratched into the outer left side of the left fluke are keys to identifying this whale. Her dorsal fin is all black with a small white line that runs down the backside, it is kind of oblong and angles back (it looks similar to the whale "Juneau's" dorsal fin, but without the slight notch out of the top back side).
Behavior: Snow White is fun to watch. Her dive-times are usually from four to 10 minutes and her fluke typically comes high out of the water before a deep dive. I have never seen her involved in a bubble feeding group, but have watched her lunge feeding many times with one to two other whales. It seems Snow White enjoys being around other whales.
Notes: Snow Whites mother is "Electra" (NOAA# SEAK 0276). Snow White is often confused with her daughter, "Smudge" (also known as "Flame" or NOAA# SEAK 1538), because their tails are very similar. Snow White has been a regular in the Juneau waters for many years. However, in 2008 she had a calf and was not seen as frequently that year. In 2009, she spent a lot of time in these waters. That year, I took pictures of her lunge feeding in front of our cabin in late March and then in early December, I was able to identify her again. This year, she was back in Juneau waters on March 24.
Quick fact: It takes about 35 days for a Humpback whale to swim to Hawaii, which is what many do every year as part of their migratory patterns. But consider this: If Snow White left Juneau for Hawaii (about 3000 miles away) on December 10, 2009 then she likely arrived in Maui around Jan. 15. Based on recent sightings, she likely departed Hawaiian waters 30 days later on February 15 headed for Juneau. Three thousand miles later, she arrived back in Alaska on or around March 24. She will have lost about 30 percent of her body weight during the journey.
• 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. For more information about his photography contact Gretchen Pence at gretchenpence@islandimagesalaska.com or at 789-0089.