Humpback whale "Salt"

Salt was the first Gulf of Maine humpback whale to officially receive a name. She is considered the 'Grande Dame' of Stellwagen Bank because of the frequency with which she has been seen there. Unlike most humpbacks which are named for features on their flukes, Salt was named for white scarring on her dorsal fin that looks like a layer of salt.  In addition to her continuous sighting history in the Gulf of Maine, we have observed Salt during our breeding ground research in the West Indies. 

Over the years, Salt has had many calves, two of which have had calves of their own. Their names and birth years are shown below. Genetic samples that we collected from her and her calves have proven that female humpbacks are promiscuous (their calves do not have the same fathers).  For more details, see our scientific publication on this subject (Clapham and Palsbøll 1997).