Our celebrity humpback whales
- Elding's research team
- 5 days ago
- 7 min read
Humpback whales are always on the move. Each year they travel thousands of kilometres from their mating grounds in the tropics to their feeding grounds in the Arctic or Antarctic. While these mighty animals are always travelling, some do seem to have their preferred hangout spots. Lucky for us, our bay Faxaflói is a favourite among humpbacks! While many pass by each year, some frequent visitors managed to steal the hearts of crew and passengers alike. So much so that we compiled our favourite humpback whales in a blog post!
Before we dive into the specific individuals, we’ll get a bit more into these whales’ social life, behaviour and anatomy. This allows us to get as much of an understanding of their life as possible. With all pictures in this blog taken on our tours, you’ll get a glimpse into the intricate life of Faxaflói’s favourite humpback whales.
Social life of a humpback whale
Like all baleen whales, humpbacks tend to be mostly solitary. They are however incredibly social and emotional animals as non-related whales are known to closely interact even outside of the mating season. They might for example help eachother rounding up food and some whales do seem to have their favoure group of friends with whom they interact more often. They can however portray more altruistic behaviour as well. Humpbacks have been documented coming to the rescue of a non-related calf harassed by sharks or even more amazing; they have aided other species of cetaceans and even humans to escape predators! Even though the waters around Iceland are the humpbacks' feeding grounds and they tend to be very pre-occupied feeding, our humpbacks do clearly value eachothers company outside of lunchtime and are often keen to socialise with other individuals. Perhaps they are catching up on the latest whale gossip? Humpback whales are very chatty, they communicate through whistles, moans, chirps and many other sounds. They also know very well how to use the water surface to make a lot of noise! Breaching, tailsapping, pec slapping or peduncle throws could all be potential means of communication. Male whales also sing, primarily in the winter and in warmer waters. This is thought to part of courting behaviour but some individuals have been recorded singing even in Iceland so perhaps it serves other purposes too.
Anatomy of a humpback whale
Humpback whales are among the largest whales, with a length reaching up to 18 m and weighing up to 40 tonnes. They have received their name from the hump right in front of their dorsal fin. But this is not the only peculiar visual feature these whales have! For starters, their pectoral fins (front flippers) are very long, averaging one third of their body size (this means for the biggest humpback whales, each pectoral fin can reach over 5 meters long!). On top of their head, humpback whales have little bumps. These bumps are tubercles; hair follicles that function as a sensory organ, filled with magnetobacteria that are hypothesised to help these whales orient themselves along earth's magnetic field, aiding in migration. Also unique for humpbacks is the colour pattern on the underside of their flukes (tailfins). The pigmentation can vary a lot and while some will be mostly white, others are a lot more black. Sometimes we do see some yellow or orange colouration on their fluke too. This is however temporary and comes from diatoms. All this means the fluke pattern to a humpback whale is as unique as a fingerprint to a human!
Photo-ID of a humpback whale
Photo-ID is a low cost, non-invasive and relatively easy method for identifying and tracking individuals. If we have a picture each time we see an individual we can follow where they travel, how they behave and how sociable they are. As humpbacks are a migratory species it also means we can see how often they come back to Faxaflói. Once photos are processed, the comparison begins. There are many ways to ID a humpback; the easiest way being their unique fluke pattern. We also photograph any other distinguishable features like notches, nicks and indentations in the dorsal fins of whales. Less permanent features like scarring or algea and barnacle growth can help as well. Scars can have many origins; human-caused by shipstrikes or entanglement in fishing gear, predator-caused by orcas or sharks, parasite-caused by barnacles, whale lice or cookie cutter sharks or not-so-friendly interactions with other whales. Furthermore, scraping over reefs or skin diseases can leave their markings as well. Each complexion is a thread in the tapestry of each whales' life story and allows us to paint a picture of what they have been going through over timeíWe have collected and catalogued photos since 2007 and compare each new photo we take to our old ones. Sometimes we find what is called "a match", so the new photo is of an individual we have seen in the past, and other times we have a "no match". Then we add this new individual to our catalogue. Needless to say, the catalogue keeps growing daily!
Surface behaviour of a humpback whale
Humpback whales can be true acrobats, performing all sorts of stunts at or near the surface. All very entertaining for us, surely, but all these behaviours are well thought out and each serve their own purpose, ranging from socialising to agression and from to feeding at the surface to help reaching the depths of the ocean.
But now, on to our celebrities:
humpback whale: Aang ID: MN22051100
Individual info:
Sighted since: 2019
Sex: male
Social life: frequently interacts with Davy Jones II and Happy
Fun fact: Aang is an expert water and air bender but fire bending remains an issue.
Observed surface behaviour: breach, lunge feed, pec-slap, rol
humpback whale: Bubbles ID: MN0103163
Individual info:
Sighted since: 2024
Sex: unknown
Social life: frequently interacts with Davy Jones II and Hooker
Fun fact: Bubbles will almost always treat you to a nice and steep fluke dive
Observed surface behaviour: breach, pec-slap, tail slap
humpback whale: Calamity ID: MN0103163
Individual info:
Sighted since: 2023
Sex: unknown
Social life: frequently interacts with Pongo
Fun fact: Calamity is one of 2023/2024 and 2024/2025’s winter whales!
Observed surface behaviour: breach, pec slap, rolling
humpback whale: Davy Jones II ID: MN21051600
Individual info:
Sighted since: 2021
Sex: male
Social life: incredibly social whale, frequently interacts with Neila, Aang, Happy, Hooker, Bubbles and many more!
Fun fact: Davy is an incredibly social and curious whale who likes to interact both with other whales and whale watching boats. He also has taught many other humpbacks on how to create the perfect bubblenet!
Observed surface behaviour: breach, bubble-net feed, lunge feed, pec-slap, spy-hop, tail-slap
humpback whale: Ekki ID: MN23123100
Individual info:
Sighted since: 2023
Sex: unknown
Social life: frequently interacted with Frodo
Fun fact: Ekki is one of 2023/2024’s winter whales. They are a very fluke-shy whale and rarely ever lift it out the water when they dive. The complexion on its body might be a result of Tattoo Skin Disease (TSD), caused by a pox virus.
Observed surface behaviour: breach, pec slap, roll, tail slap
humpback whale: Flak ID: MN22120600
Individual info:
Sighted since: 2022
Sex: unknown
Social life: Flak is a whale that likes to be by themselves and rarely interacts with others
Fun fact: Flak is one of 2022/2023’s and 2023/2024’s winter whales!
Observed surface behaviour: breach, lunge feed, pec-slap, tail-slap
humpback whale: Frodo ID: MN23031600
Individual info:
Sighted since: 2024
Sex: unknown
Social life: Frequently interacts with Ekki and Pongo
Fun fact: Frodo is one of 2023/2024’s winter whales! He got his name from the big, round ring shape on his left flank
Observed surface behaviour: breach, roll, tail slap
humpback whale: Happy ID: MN0102491
Individual info:
Sighted since: 2021
Sex: unknown
Social life: frequently interacted with Aang and Davy Jones II
Fun fact: notice the little smiley face on the right side of the fluke :)
Observed surface behaviour: breach, bubble net feed, roll
humpback whale: Hooker ID: MN21073000
Individual info:
Sighted since: 2021
Sex: unknown
Social life: frequently interacted with Davy Jones II and Bubbles
Fun fact: this whale’s name is derived from it’s hook-shaped dorsal fin (What did you think it meant, naughty brain)
Observed surface behaviour: breach, pec slap, roll
humpback whale: Mariupol ID: MN0102486
Individual info:
Sighted since: 2021
Sex: Male
Social life: frequently interacted with Neila
Fun fact: In 2023 Mariupol came back to faxafloí again, now with big entanglement scars
Observed surface behaviour: none noted
humpback whale: Neila ID: MN21051401
Individual info:
Sighted since: 2021
Sex: female
Social life: frequently interacted with many whales, including Davy Jones II, Mariupol, Pep and Bubbles
Fun fact: Neila spelled backwards is Alien, derived from the scarring in the middle of her fluke, making it look like an alien face
Observed surface behaviour: breach, pec-slap, roll, spy-hop
humpback whale: Pep ID: MN21090300
Individual info:
Sighted since: 2021
Sex: female
Social life: frequently interacted with Neila, often curious towards people as well
Fun fact: Pep is a very gentle, gracious whale, moving calmly and leaving no ripples behind.
Observed surface behaviour: breach, pec slap, tail slap
humpback whale: Pongo ID:
Individual info:
Sighted since: 2024
Sex: unknown
Social life: frequently interacted with Calamity and Frodo
Fun fact: Pongo is one of 2023/2024 and 2024/2025’s winter whales! They were named after the famous dalmatian due to the many white speckles on his back.
Observed surface behaviour: breach, roll
As we've reached the end of our list, I hope you learned a thing or two about our most favourite whales; how to recognize them, their personalities and their lives. There are many things we do not know about these animals, and yet we feel connected to each individual. The little time we get to spend with each of them is unique and magical over and over again. Hopefully this blog allowed you to connect a little bit with each one of them as well and who knows, maybe you'll be able to meet some of them out there in the wild as well!
Take care!
Milan Vansteelandt
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