| Black Barnacle |
Weekly Whale Feature: 'Black Barnacle'
Posted: Friday, June 25, 2010
By JAY BEEDLE
This whale is named for the white circle marks on her tail. It looks like barnacles may have been there in the
past.
Courtesy Of Jay Beedle / For The Juneau Empire
Name: Black Barnacle / Barnacles / NOAA No. SEAK 2070.
Gender: Female.
When to look: Black Barnacle has been seen in local waters at least every year for the last five years. She can
be sighted as early as May and usually stays in surrounding waters into the fall.
Where: Anywhere in the Juneau area, but North Pass seems to be a popular place to see Black Barnacle.
Markings: This whale has a black tail with some small white scratches on it. But, the identification marks that
give her away are the numerous round white circles on her tail. Her roundish dorsal fin is all black.
Behavior: Like many of the regular whales seen in the Juneau area, she is fun to watch. Her dive times are
typically from four to 10 minutes long and her fluke usually comes high out of the water before a deep dive. She
has only been photographed a few times bubble feeding. Other special activity includes a small tail flip at 1:13
p.m. on July 2 in 2007 on the east side of Shelter Island. Other than this, she has shown very little additional
special activity. Based on my observations, I think she enjoys other whales in the area with her, especially when
she is feeding in North Pass. She can be seen swimming together with whales such as, Raven, Spot, Poisson
and Flame. She can also be spotted alone.
Notes: Black Barnacle had a calf in 2009. From pictures I took of Black Barnacle in 2008 she had a number of
whale lice in the area between her dorsal fin and tail.
• The "Weekly Whale Feature" is compiled by Jay Beedle, a longtime Juneau resident who makes his home on
Shelter Island. He is a photographer and co-owns Harv and Marv's Outback Alaska which offers whale watching
tours during summer months. For more information about his photography contact Gretchen Pence at
gretchenpence@islandimagesalaska.com or at 789-0089.
Posted: Friday, June 25, 2010
By JAY BEEDLE
This whale is named for the white circle marks on her tail. It looks like barnacles may have been there in the
past.
Courtesy Of Jay Beedle / For The Juneau Empire
Name: Black Barnacle / Barnacles / NOAA No. SEAK 2070.
Gender: Female.
When to look: Black Barnacle has been seen in local waters at least every year for the last five years. She can
be sighted as early as May and usually stays in surrounding waters into the fall.
Where: Anywhere in the Juneau area, but North Pass seems to be a popular place to see Black Barnacle.
Markings: This whale has a black tail with some small white scratches on it. But, the identification marks that
give her away are the numerous round white circles on her tail. Her roundish dorsal fin is all black.
Behavior: Like many of the regular whales seen in the Juneau area, she is fun to watch. Her dive times are
typically from four to 10 minutes long and her fluke usually comes high out of the water before a deep dive. She
has only been photographed a few times bubble feeding. Other special activity includes a small tail flip at 1:13
p.m. on July 2 in 2007 on the east side of Shelter Island. Other than this, she has shown very little additional
special activity. Based on my observations, I think she enjoys other whales in the area with her, especially when
she is feeding in North Pass. She can be seen swimming together with whales such as, Raven, Spot, Poisson
and Flame. She can also be spotted alone.
Notes: Black Barnacle had a calf in 2009. From pictures I took of Black Barnacle in 2008 she had a number of
whale lice in the area between her dorsal fin and tail.
• The "Weekly Whale Feature" is compiled by Jay Beedle, a longtime Juneau resident who makes his home on
Shelter Island. He is a photographer and co-owns Harv and Marv's Outback Alaska which offers whale watching
tours during summer months. For more information about his photography contact Gretchen Pence at
gretchenpence@islandimagesalaska.com or at 789-0089.
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