Big Mama the Whale Back in BC with a Whole New Mini-Me 🐳👶

The Deets

Yooo, listen up! Whale watchers are going wild because Big Mama, straight up a legend in these waters, is back in British Columbia. And she ain't alone – she brought her new baby calf! 😭🌊

She was seen chilling in the Haro Strait, right off the coast of the Saanich Peninsula near Sidney Island. The whale experts are all like, "Yep, that's Big Mama alright!" She's been around since '97, so she's basically the matriarch of the humpback crew around here.

This little calf is estimated to be like, four or five months old. Big Mama’s got a whole squad of grandcalves and great-grandcalves - seven and four, respectively. She's building a whole whale dynasty!

Humpbacks are out here living that migratory life. They give birth in the tropical waters during the winter and then come up to the Salish Sea to chow down through the fall before heading back south when it gets cold. It's all about that #WhaleLife.

Sidenote: Big Mama’s calves "Divot" (born in '03) and "Moresby" (born in '22), have also been spotted in the Salish Sea this month. A whole pod of humpbacks was even spotted near Nanaimo earlier this month.

But it ain't always easy being a whale. They gotta dodge fishing gear, ships, and even watch out for orcas trying to cause beef. Conservation is key, fam!

Peep this: The Pacific Whale Watch Association has spotted over 500 unique humpbacks in the sea catalogue. They are still considered a 'species of special concern', according to the feddy.