2021 Breaks Record For Humpback Whale Calves In Salish Sea: PWWA

SEATTLE — It's a good year to be a humpback whale, as whale watchers logged a record number of humpback calves in the Salish Sea this season.

Naturalists and whale watchers with the Pacific Whale Watch Association have spotted a combined 21 humpback calves this year across inland Washington and British Columbia. The Center for Whale Research confirms: that's the most the region has ever seen in a single year, and nearly twice as many as 2020, when just 11 calves were documented.

“2021 has been a banner year for female humpbacks coming into the Salish Sea with new calves,” says Wendi Robinson, a naturalist with Puget Sound Express. “Calves only travel with mom for a year or so and then they’re on their own. Once they’re familiar with our waters, they will often return year after year to feed.”

Though its a record number of calf sightings for the Salish Sea, the whales aren't actually born up north. Every winter, humpback whales swim south to breeding grounds near Hawaii, Mexico and Central America, where they mate and give birth. They then return to the Pacific Northwest in the late spring.

“We’re not sure why there were so many calves this year,” said Erin Gless, Executive Director of the Pacific Whale Watch Association. “It’s possible the last two years had an abundance of food for the whales, or it could be as simple as the fact that as the number of adult whales in the population grows, so too does the number of calves we can expect to see each year.”

An adult humpback eats around 2,000 lbs of fish and krill each day, according to the PWWA, and fall is actually the peak of humpback whale sightings because the animals are busy gorging themselves and stocking up for the long journey south.

Humpback whales were listed as endangered back in the 80s, but downgraded to vulnerable and now their conservation status is listed as "least concern" as the whale population has rebounded to 84,000+ individuals.