Adopt a whale today and support ocean conservation.
Support our work to study and protect whales and other ocean wildlife by adopting a humpback whale today. Oceanic Society is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization and your tax-deductible symbolic whale adoption supports our ocean conservation programs.
Adopt a Whale for 1 Year: $60
For a tax-deductible whale adoption fee of $60 you will receive:
- Personalized adoption certificate with a photo and information about your whale.
- Free domestic shipping via USPS (note: international orders will receive a digital certificate).
- Email updates about whales and about your whale, if re-sighted, during the year of your adoption.
Adopt a Whale for 2 Years: $100
For a tax-deductible whale adoption fee of $100 you will receive:
- Personalized adoption certificate with a photo and information about your whale
- Free domestic shipping via USPS (note: international orders will receive a digital certificate).
- Email updates about whales and about your whale, if re-sighted, during the two years of your adoption.
Name a Whale: $1,000
For a tax-deductible donation of $1,000 you can become the patron of a whale and receive:
- A personalized certificate of naming with a photo and information about your whale.
- Free shipping worldwide.
- Digital copies of additional photos of your whale.
- Public acknowledgment in our Humpback Heroes Hall.
- Permanent recognition as the whale's patron in our fluke ID catalog that is shared with researchers and communities along the whale's pathway.
- Email updates about your whale (if available).
Whales Available for Adoption
Nickname: Picasso
ID: CRC-16043
First sighted: October 10, 2014
All sightings: https://happywhale.com/individual/4190
Picasso (CRC-16043) is a well-known whale along the California coast. A piece is missing from the tip of one of Picasso’s flukes (or lobes), making him/her easy to identify. Picasso was first photographed in October 2014 by whale watchers in Monterey Bay, CA, and has since been identified nine more times, as far north as the Farallon Islands, where we spotted it feeding in August 2016, and as far south as Cabo San Lucas and Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, where it travels to reproduce in the winter months.
Nickname: Lily
ID: SAYU-1.004
First sighted: January 14th, 2012
All sightings: https://happywhale.com/individual/4833
SAYU-1.004, known as Lily, is a humpback whale with beautiful white flukes that has been seen twice at the Farallon Islands off of San Francisco, CA. Humpbacks are known for being the most “acrobatic” whales, and during an Oceanic Society whale watching trip in May 2019 we saw Lily doing some spectacular breaching right near the Farallon Islands. Lily has also been seen twice near Banderas Bay, Mexico, which is where it was first spotted in 2012.
Nickname: Bubbles (Baja)
ID: CRC-17747
First sighted: May 11, 2014
All sightings: https://happywhale.com/individual/5060
Bubbles (CRC-10411) is a well traveled humpback whale that has been seen twelve times along the west coast of North America. Bubbles was first seen in the Gulf of California, near Loreto, Baja California Sur, in May 2014. Bubbles’s northernmost sighting was near the Kenai Peninsula in Alaska, and it has been seen as far south as Nayarit, Mexico—almost 3,500 miles apart! Although we’ve never seen Bubbles in California, this whale was photographed by Oceanic Society in February 2020 near Loreto, Mexico during an expedition in Baja California Sur.
Nickname: Waffles
ID: CRC-15939
First sighted: February 25, 2014
All sightings: https://happywhale.com/individual/1077
CRC-15939, known as Waffles, was a calf when first spotted in February 2014 near the town of Barra de Potosi, Guerrero, Mexico. Waffles has been seen 35+ times since 2014, and has been identified as a female from research by NOAA Southwest Fisheries Science Center. The most sightings of CRC-15939 have been in Monterey Bay, and we saw Waffles feeding near the Farallon Islands in August 2021. Waffles has a large jagged scar where her flukes meet the base of her peduncle. She also has multiple linear scars on the leading edge of her right fluke, likely from a killer whale attack!
Nickname: Cash
ID: HW-MN0501906
First sighted: August 24, 2019
All sightings: https://happywhale.com/individual/29646
HW-MN0501906, known as Cash, is a humpback whale that has been spotted three times in northern California. Cash is identifiable by the rake marks on its flukes, which are scars from an attempted predation, likely by a killer whale. Killer whales are one of the humpback whales’ only predators, typically attacking young calves and sometimes leaving lifelong evidence in the form of rake marks. Cash was first photographed by us in August 2019 on a whale watching trip near the Farallon Islands, and has also been seen twice in Monterey Bay.
Nickname: Silky
ID: CRC-10411
First sighted: September 25, 1993
All sightings: https://happywhale.com/individual/260
Silky (CRC-10411) is a humpback whale that has been seen 30 times, most frequently along the northern California coast. Silky was first photographed in September 1993 just south of Half Moon Bay, California. Silky frequents Monterey Bay during the summer and fall, and has been seen by Oceanic Society at the Farallon Islands during fall trips. During winter migrations, Silky has been spotted near Cabo San Lucas, Mexico and as far south as Punatarenas, Costa Rica. Silky has distinctive flukes that are nearly all white toward the sides and all black in the middle.
Nickname: Howard
ID: CRC-11815
First sighted: July 30, 2004
All sightings: https://happywhale.com/individual/3998
CRC-11815, known as Howard, is a humpback whale that visits the California coast in the summer and early fall, along with other humpbacks in the eastern Pacific population that regularly migrate between feeding areas in the north and breeding grounds in the south. Howard was first spotted in July 2004 near California's Año Nuevo State Park. Howard has been seen a total of 17 times, ranging from Monterey Bay, California and the Farallon Islands (where we identified it), to Puerto Vallarta and Oaxaca, Mexico.
Nickname: Eddie
ID: CRC-15510
First sighted: October 13, 2013
All sightings: https://happywhale.com/individual/1421
CRC-15510, known as Eddie, is a humpback whale frequently seen in California, and has been spotted a whopping 53 times since October 2013. Eddie's flukes are nearly all black, with some distinctive white markings that make it easy to match in the catalog. In California, sightings of Eddie have predominantly been in Monterey Bay. We saw Eddie in the Gulf of the Farallones, off of San Francisco, along with around 25 other humpbacks during a spectacular day in August 2016. Like other whales in this population, Eddie travels south in the winter to reproduce and has been seen in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico and Sonsonate, El Salvador.
Nickname: Augustin
ID: HW-MN0502402
First sighted: October 17, 2021
All sightings: https://happywhale.com/individual/73843
HW-MN0502402 is a humpback whale calf born in late 2020 or early 2021 by another whale known as CRC-18245 (below). We photographed HW-MN0502402 off of San Francisco on October 17, 2021, where it was seen alongside its mom, CRC-18245. This was the first reported sighting of this whale! HW-MN0502402 was seen a month later in Monterey Bay. Humpback whale calves typically spend their first year at their mother's side. Seeing these two side by side was a rare opportunity to match this calf to its mother.
Nickname: BORAHAE
ID: CRC-18245
First sighted: August 11, 2018
All sightings: https://happywhale.com/individual/41836
CRC-18245, known as BORAHAE, is a female humpback whale with beautiful, nearly all-black flukes. She is the mother of HW-MN0502402 (above) and has been sighted seven times since 2018, including when we saw her in October 2021 with her calf near the Farallon Islands. This was a rare opportunity to match mother and calf and allows us to better understand both whales’ life histories. BORAHAE has been seen four times near San Francisco and the Farallon Islands, and once in Monterey Bay, as well as on breeding grounds in Sonsonante, El Salvador with a newborn calf in February 2019.
Nickname: Alexis
ID: HW-MN0502559
First sighted: June 19, 2022
All sightings: https://happywhale.com/individual/81897
Alexis is a humpback whale born in late 2021 or early 2022 by Kharma (CRC-15904), a whale known to researchers since 2009. Kharma and Alexis were first seen together in El Salvador in February 2022, though it was not until June 19, 2022 that researchers photographed Alexis’ flukes in Monterey Bay, roughly 3,000 miles north. The photos also confirmed that Alexis is a female. The pair were seen together multiple times in summer and fall, including when we saw them near San Francisco on September 24, 2022.
Whales Available for Naming
The following humpback whales are currently available for naming. We can also choose a whale for you from our catalog—simply select the 'choose a whale for me' option during checkout. Visit our Humpback Heroes Hall to meet the whales that have been previously named through our Name a Whale program.
Nickname: Pending
ID: CRC-23072
First sighted: October 18, 2025
All sightings: https://happywhale.com/individual/136103
CRC-23072 is a humpback whale first identified in Baja California, Mexico, in February 2025, already with an impressive 10+ sightings on record. This whale's flukes are hard to miss — black with minimal white mottling, jagged leading edges, and distinctively upturned lobe tips. This whale has had a few noteworthy appearances, including one right in front of the Golden Gate Bridge, and another in the northern extreme of the Sea of Cortez. With sightings spanning both Mexican and California waters in a single year, CRC-23072 is clearly an active traveler, and we look forward to many more encounters in the years ahead!
Nickname: Pending
ID: CRC-15159
First sighted: September 14, 2009
All sightings: https://happywhale.com/individual/1531
CRC-15159 is a well-traveled humpback whale with a sightings history spanning more than 16 years in California and Mexico. This whale's flukes have a dramatic pattern of black and white with dense barnacle scarring. Over the years, CRC-15159 has given researchers a fascinating window into humpback behavior, having been observed multiple times participating in heat runs — energetic and competitive mating chases. In a more bittersweet encounter, this whale was also observed escorting an entangled mother and calf in December 2020, a poignant reminder of the challenges humpbacks sometimes face. We hope to see CRC-15159 again soon!
Let us choose a whale for you
We have many whales in our database and are happy to select one for you to name. Complete your adoption and select the option to "Choose a whale from your files," and we will follow up to select your whale and finalize your adoption and naming!