Wednesday July 20 on the Atlantic Queen

Mudskipper's calf - showing the dorsal fin and white flippers under the water

Another nice day on the ocean. Today we spent lots of time with Mudskipper and her calf. The calf was pretty adventurous today, as it has been each time I've seen this pair.  At one point, we watched Mudskipper surface several times, without seeing the calf for 9 minutes!  Another time, mom and calf got separated and Mudskipper did a surprise tail breach - soon after, they were reunited!  Was that a way for her to call Mudskipper back to her?

Mudskipper's calf cruising around the boat

The name Mudskipper might seem unusual - indeed, lots of whale names are, as scientists have to get pretty creative when we name whales based on their natural markings.  A mudskipper is an amphibious fish that walks on land with its pectoral fins (you can see a video on National Geographic here). Mudskipper has a marking on her left fluke that sort of... maybe... looks like one of those fish...

Mudskipper's left fluke, showing the "mudskipper" marking

Mudskipper's fluke

Yet another low fluke from Mudskipper!

After many great looks at Mudskipper and her calf, we moved on to some looks at a fin whale. This whale wasn't spending much time at the surface, but we did get one terrific look right near the boat before we headed home.

Fin Whale

Thanks to everyone who joined us today, and congratulations again to newlyweds Greg and Becky and Marsha, who won the adoption of Satula in our raffle!

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