Named Whales and Their Patrons
Meet the humpback whales that have been named through Oceanic Society's name a whale program, as well as the generous patrons who sponsored each naming.
Nickname: Lily
Patron: Lily's Ocean
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: Muvi
Patron: Robert Wolpe
ID: CRC-12028
First sighted: September 24, 2005
All sightings: https://happywhale.com/individual/906
CRC-12028, known as Muvi, is a humpback whale often seen along the California coast, including twice at the Farallon Islands during Oceanic Society whale watching trips. Muvi was first photographed in September 2005 in Monterey Bay, California and has been spotted 12 times altogether from as far north as Mendocino, California south to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. Humpbacks in the eastern Pacific population regularly migrate between northern feeding areas and southern breeding grounds.
Nickname: Ashlynn–Madeleine
Patron: The Craft Market family
ID: CRC-10168
First sighted: October 26, 1990
All sightings: https://happywhale.com/individual/781
CRC-10168, known as Ashlynn-Madeleine, has been seen multiple times over a span of more than 25 years, with the first sighting near California’s Farallon Islands in October 1990. Recorded sightings of Ashlynn-Madeleine have ranged from Eureka, California in the northern down to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico in the south. Oceanic Society has seen Ashlynn-Madeleine twice near the Farallon Islands, in May and September of 2017. This whale can be easily identified by the large chunk missing from its right fluke, an injury that happened sometime between the first sighting of this whale in 1990 and the next one in 2009.
Nickname: Howard
Patron: InvestAnswers
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: Saylor
Patron: InvestAnswers
ID: CRC-15384
First sighted: September 5, 2011
All sightings: https://happywhale.com/individual/626
CRC-15384 is a humpback whale that was first identified in September 2011 near the California/Oregon border, and has been seen two more times since. We spotted CRC-15384 near the Farallon Islands during a whale watching trip in July 2016, and it has also been photographed in the Gulf of California near Los Cabos, Mexico. Through future sightings of CRC-15384, we might be able to determine whether this whale is male or female.
Nickname: Eddie
Patron: Dave & Teri Dayton
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: Cash
Patron: Tomiko & Larry Ebright; Marry & Jerry Bradley
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: Augustin
Patron: Alena Eckhardt
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
Patron: Australia4Taehyung
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: Woody
Patron: Wood Shapers
ID: CRC-12260
First sighted: October 2, 2006
All sightings: https://happywhale.com/individual/214
CRC-12260, known as Woody, was first identified in October 2006 when it was photographed in Monterey Bay, California. Woody has been spotted a total of nine total times, including by Oceanic Society in October 2021 off of Point Reyes National Seashore north of San Francisco. Woody has been seen in multiple areas of California, including Bodega Bay, Half Moon Bay and off of San Francisco. This beautiful humpback whale has dark, rounded flukes that are more compact than those of most other humpbacks.
Nickname: Hammer
Patron: InvestAnswers
ID: CRC-12543
First sighted: August 16, 2016
All sightings: https://happywhale.com/individual/5113
CRC-12543 was first seen in August 2008 in Morro Bay, California, and has been seen 20 times since, most recently by us near the Farallon Islands in September 2021. CRC-12543 has been seen as far north as the Farallon Islands, and as far south as Mexico’s Banderas Bay, off the coast of Puerto Vallarta, as well as off the tip of the Baja California Peninsula near Cabo San Lucas! CRC-12543 has dark flukes with barnacles and barnacle scars along the leading edge of both lobes, as well as some linear scars across their flukes.
Nickname: Holo
Patron: Jae Yoon Lee
ID: CRC-15580
First sighted: May 6, 2012
All sightings: https://happywhale.com/individual/913
CRC-15580, known as Holo, was first spotted in May 2012 in Monterey Bay, California and has been spotted 13 times in all, between Mendocino, California and Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. There were four sightings of Holo in 2021, in Baja California Sur, Monterey Bay, and by us at the Farallon Islands in July 2021. Holo has distinguishable flukes that are black with huge white patches towards the trailing edge of both fluke lobes.
Nickname: Jerry Best Life
Patron: Best Life & Co
ID: CRC-17797
First sighted: May 2, 2018
All sightings: https://happywhale.com/individual/15382
CRC-17797, known as Jerry Best Life, was first spotted in May 2018 and has been seen an incredible 43 times since, with the first and most recent sightings in Monterey Bay, California. Jerry Best Life has been seen as far south as Corral del Risco, Nayarit in the Pacific Ocean and as far north as the Farallon Islands, California, where we saw it in July 2021. The lobes of CRC-17797’s flukes are mostly white starting from the tips to about 75% down the lobe before fading into dark gray in the middle where the lobes meet.
Nickname: Pending
ID: CRC-15228
First sighted: August 25, 2010
All sightings: https://happywhale.com/individual/417
CRC-15228 has been seen an impressive 28+ times since the first sighting in 2010 near the Farallon Islands, California, where we have also seen this whale in 2016 and 2021. Most sightings of CRC-15228 have been in Monterey Bay, a key feeding ground for this population of humpbacks. CRC-15228 has also been seen multiple times in Banderas Bay, near Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, during the winter. CRC-15228 has black flukes with large, white patches on both lobes, with linear and barnacle scars across their flukes.
Nickname: Waffles
Patron: Tamarra Kemsley
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: jaba
Patron: InvestAnswers
ID: CRC-17654
First sighted: February 7, 2017
All sightings: https://happywhale.com/individual/6757
Jaba (CRC-17654) was first spotted in February 2017 in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. Jaba has been spotted a total of 7 times, with the northernmost in Oregon, southernmost off Cabo San Lucas, with the remaining split between the Farallon Islands and Monterey Bay. Jaba has nearly all-white flukes, with a distinguishing circular scar nearly in the middle of the left lobe. Jaba has also been photographed with (harmless) diatoms (algae) on their flukes, which appear as orange-ish splotches.
Nickname: Alexis
Patron: Alexander Jahan Cosmopulos
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.
Nickname: Domi's Wunda
Patron: Dominic Thiem
ID: CRC-15635
First sighted: July 5, 2012
All sightings: https://happywhale.com/individual/3293
Humpback whale CRC-15635, known as Domi's Wunda, has beautiful, distinctive flukes that help her stand out from the crowd. Domi's Wunda has been sighted 18 times in Mexico and California dating back to July 2012. This whale was confirmed to be a female when she was seen with her calf in Monterey Bay, California on May 3, 2021. Domi's Wunda was most recently seen by Oceanic Society on October 5, 2024, off of San Francisco, the first time she has been found in this part of California, where humpbacks gather to feed.
Nickname: Sarafinny
Patron: Sarafina Fiber Art, Inc.
ID: CRC-17130
First sighted: April 20, 2014
All sightings: https://happywhale.com/individual/3241
CRC-17130, known as Sarafinny, is a fixture in Monterey Bay, where it has been seen more than 45 times since it was first identified in April 2014. Outside of Monterey Bay, Sarafinny has also been seen near Santa Cruz and Half Moon Bay, and near the Farallon Islands, where our whale watching team photographed it in September 2021. Sarafinny has very dark flukes with some linear scarring and minimal barnacle scars.
Nickname: 星河 (Galaxy)
Patron: 禹宙中欣 (Esther & Ryan)
ID: CRC-21181
First sighted: April 1, 2023
All sightings: https://happywhale.com/individual/93962
Humpback whale CRC-21181, known as Galaxy, was spotted an impressive 44 times within just two years after it was first identified on April 1, 2023, in Monterey Bay. Our team first spotted Galaxy off of San Francisco on July 13, 2024, during a whale watching trip to the Farallon Islands. At the time, this was the only sighting of Galaxy outside of Monterey Bay. We hope to learn more about this beautiful whale through future re-sightings in California and beyond.
Nickname: Nanners
Patron: Nancy Snyder
ID: CRC-15006
First sighted: January 6, 2006
All sightings: https://happywhale.com/individual/246
Humpback whale CRC-21181, known as Galaxy, was spotted an impressive 44 times within just two years after it was first identified on April 1, 2023, in Monterey Bay. Our team first spotted Galaxy off of San Francisco on July 13, 2024, during a whale watching trip to the Farallon Islands. At the time, this was the only sighting of Galaxy outside of Monterey Bay. We hope to learn more about this beautiful whale through future re-sightings in California and beyond.
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