A Bermudan whale researcher has confirmed that a humpback photographed in Bermudan waters is “Hookie”, which has been spotted in Irish waters.
As The Royal Gazette reports, Andrew Stevenson of Whales Bermuda said this was not only the first match of a Bermuda whale to Ireland.
The Bermudan English language publication also quotes him as stating this is “also the first match between north America and the British isles”. [sic]
Humpback whales can be identified by the pattern on their flukes — the double lobes of the animal’s tails.
Whales Bermuda set up a programme in 2007 to document whales on their migratory route past the island to the Caribbean.
“Hookie”, a male humpback, was recorded in Irish waters back in January and February 2010, and was photographed off Bermuda in 2015 by Whales Bermuda crew member Camilla Stringer.
He was sighted in June and July 2013 off the French territory islands of St Pierre et Miquelon, just off Newfoundland, Canada, and visited Trinity in Newfoundland “numerous times in 2018 and 2021”, Mr Stevenson said.
Analysis of the signature pattern has now revealed that the Bermuda whale, No 1450, was the same animal as the Ireland sighting of Hookie, Stevenson has said.
He said it is believed that Irish and British Isles humpback whales migrate to Cabo Verde in the eastern north Atlantic.
“But Hookie shows us that the more we know, the more we don't know.”
He thanked Ms Stringer for the original Bermuda identification, along with Padraig Whooley of the Irish Whale and Dolphin Group, touring company Sea of Whales Adventures based in Newfoundland, and Roger Etcheberry and Joel Detcheverry in St Pierre et Miquelon.
Read The Royal Gazette report here
