Snowball
Humpback Whale
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ID number
H710
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Sex
Female
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Year of birth
Unknown
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Known Since
2007
Distinctive traits
Snowball gets her name from the two white spots on her almost entirely black tail fin. The rectangular notch in the serrated edge of her tail also makes her easy to recognize.
Life history
The first encounter with Snowball was in 2007. She is well known to the team at the Mingan Island Cetacean Study. She is mainly found in the Gaspé Peninsula. She has been observed only once in Mingan and once in the estuary. In June 2017, Snowball was observed entangled in rope in Gaspé Bay. She was dragging long ropes and two buoys behind her. The equipment was used for snow crab fishing. A rescue operation was prepared, but the animal disappeared.
A year later, she was spotted again in Gaspésie, with well-healed scars! Did she free herself? In 2019, it was revealed that a team from the Center for Coastal Studies in Cape Cod had performed a disentanglement operation on Snowball in July 2017, just one month after she was spotted in the St. Lawrence River.
Observations history in the Estuary
Years in which the animal was not observed Years in which the animal was observed
Latest news from the publications Portrait de baleines
Some whales seem to show an attachment to a particular region and return there year after year. This is called philopatry, or site fidelity. For Snowball, the Gaspé region seems to be her favourite summer feeding area. The team from the Mingan Island Cetacean Study has seen her in this region every year since 2007, with the exception of one observation in the Mingan Archipelago sector. To date, Snowball has never been seen with a calf. This season, she was spotted in the Estuary. In June 2017, Snowball was observed entangled in fishing gear. Weather conditions prevented the response team from attempting to free her. She was seen again in the Gaspé in July 2018, this time unencumbered by any ropes. Her scars have healed well. Photos taken this year will help us refine our understanding of the healing process in humpbacks.