Record number of calves born to Salish Sea humpback whales this year

SEATTLE, WA & VICTORIA, BC — A record number of calves have been born to Salish Sea humpback whales this season, the Pacific Whale Watch Association said Friday.

The organization said 21 calves have been documented and photographed by whale watchers and researchers throughout inland Washington and British Columbia. It’s the highest annual number on record so far for the region, and nearly twice the number reported in 2020, according to Mark Malleson of the Center for Whale Research.

PWWA naturalists said humpback whale activity peaks in fall, when the whales feed before traveling south for the winter. An adult humpback whale can eat about 2,000 pounds of fish and krill each day.

The Salish Sea humpbacks will swim to grounds near Hawaii, Mexico and Central America to mate and give birth, returning in late spring.

“We’re not sure why there were so many calves this year,” Erin Gless, executive director of the Pacific Whale Watch Association, said. “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.”

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