Researchers studying whales in Frederick Sound this summer identified a male humpback that was first sighted 44 years ago near Lynn Canal. Old Timer's fluke is shown here during the recent, July 12 sighting (left), and the first sighting in 1978 (right) by researcher Charles Jurasz. Patterns and markings on the whale's flukes help researchers in identifying and documenting whales.
A humpback whale that was first sighted in Lynn Canal in 1972 was re-sighted by researchers earlier this month feeding off Cape Fanshaw in Frederick Sound. The 44-year span between the two sightings of the whale, dubbed "Old Timer" by researchers, is the longest re-sighting span of an individual humpback in the world.
Dr. Adam Pack, a marine mammal researcher at the University of Hawaii (UH) at Hilo, and photographer Jim Nahmens spotted the whale on July 12 while doing research aboard the M/V Northern Song.
In a press release, Pack said that the crew aboard the vessel high-fived each other upon recognition of the re-sighting. Old Timer was identified primarily by the markings on his tail flukes.
"Discoveries such as the re-sighting span of 'Old Timer,' are based on finding matches between photographs of the undersides of the whale's tail flukes, which are unique to individual humpback whales," according to Pack.
Old Timer was first documented in Alaskan waters by researcher Charles Jurasz in 1972. Subsequently, the whale's been sighted by UH researchers in 1990 and 2006, first escorting a mother and calf and later "as a principal escort defending its position next to a lone female from other competing males, indicating that 'Old Timer' is a male," according to the release.
The second longest re-sighting is of a male humpback known as Garfunkle. He was born in 1974 and has been documented by researchers over a 42 year span. Garfunkle's re-sightings have occurred as part of research and documentation efforts in Glacier Bay National Park, which is funded by the National Park Service and provides information about ocean habitat, whale migration patterns, female reproductive rates for humpback whales, and whale behavior.
Though the over 40 year re-sighting spans are among the longest in the world for humpback whales, the whales themselves can live much longer.
"Most humpback whales appear to live into their sixties and the oldest known humpback was 96 years old," according to Pack.
The whales that Pack studies and that spend their summers feeding in local waters may soon be delisted from their previous "endangered species" designation. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) proposed the delisting for several populations of humpback whales in April. A 90-day public comment period for the proposed change closed July 20.
In the release, Pack said the recovery of whales in years following their endangered species listing in 1970 is "good news" but that there are still "significant threats that individual whales face such as habitat degradation, anthropogenic noise, injury from entanglement in all types of fishing gear and vessel collisions."
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