Echo  # 0805

Echo's first recorded sighting on Stellwagen Bank was in 1988.  She was fairly young, probably born just a few years earlier.  We know nothing about Echo before this, although she could have been hanging around here since her birth.  Calves do not always cooperate with researchers.  Very often calves will not raise their flukes out of the water and an identifying photo cannot be taken.  Her mother is quite possibly very well known in these parts.  Calves usually revisit the feeding grounds to which their moms first bring them.  But there is always the possibility that she only briefly visited this area with her mom before heading to a different feeding ground.  

Stellwagen Bank is a relatively compactl feeding ground with an average of 200-350 individual whales visiting per year.  Other frequently visited feeding grounds on this side of the Atlantic are Jeffreys Bank, Platts Bank, Cashes Ledge, Tillies Bank, Schoodic Ridge, Bay of Fundy, Georges Bank and the Grand Banks of Newfoundland.  The cold, fish-rich area off Newfoundland is among the largest known feeding ground for humpback whales.  This area averages well over 1,000 individual whale sightings per year.  Wherever Echo is from, she seems to prefer our area, for she is often seen here and has begun bringing her own calves.

Since the time of her first sighting, Echo has had at least two calves (See Echo's Family Tree).  Monogram was her first in 1993 and her daughter, Beacon, came 5 years later.  

 Echo has a great tail to identify.  Her left and right flukes are very similar in pattern, however, on the left fluke near the leading edge is a very distinguishing mark.  This mark reminded researchers of the depiction of an echowave from a dolphin or bat.  And so, she was given the appropriate name of Echo.  This mark may have been caused by an attacking orca whale.

 

Echo's Family Tree
Echo- F --- fs: 1988	Monogram yob: 1993 Beacon- F yob: 1998