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May 14, 2026
Sometimes the biggest discoveries in whale research take years, or even decades, to come together. This January, we learned some truly special news: Divot, a humpback whale first seen in 2003, has now been officially confirmed as one of Big Mama’s calves. This confirmation was made by Mark Malleson, Prince of Whales’ skipper and whale researcher, in collaboration with Tasli Shaw of Humpback Whales of the Salish Sea.
We've long suspected that Big Mama's 2003 calf was Divot but a small seed of doubt remained, and more photographic proof was needed. Tasli Shaw, co-author and principal investigator of Humpbacks of the Salish Sea, recently unearthed my pre-digital photo archive of slides to resolve this slight doubt.
From within an old storage locker, I dug out binders full of my 35mm slides dating from 1997-2003. Most of the slides were of killer whales, as encountering Humpback whales in those days was relatively rare. But, one of the binders had the promising label of "2003 Humpbacks." Lo and behold, on the first page there was a negative labelled Humpback with calf - bingo! Tasli digitized this image and, together with several others in the set, confirmed that the slides indeed contain images of Big Mama with her baby, Divot! She even had her namesake "divot" in her fluke! Even though these pictures were taken over 22 years ago, I vividly remember that day when BCY0324, later named Big Mama, showed up with her first known calf that was later assigned BCX1057 and named Divot.
As we say "No pics-no proof"! Not only do I feel very privileged to have had the chance to document first hand the return of the Humpbacks of the Salish Sea but am also proud to have been so diligent over the last 3 decades with collecting this data.
- Mark Malleson
Big Mama’s Legacy
Big Mama is one of the most prolific humpback whales in the Salish Sea. First photographed in 1997, she was among the earliest signs that humpbacks were returning to these waters after being pushed to the brink of extinction by commercial whaling. Since then, Big Mama has been identified more than 300 times and has become known for her reliable, year-after-year appearances.
With Divot now confirmed as her calf, Big Mama’s legacy grows even stronger. She is known to have had eight calves, and through them has become a grandmother and great-grandmother. Altogether, at least 20 humpback whales in the Salish Sea can be traced back to Big Mama.
Even more impressive, Big Mama and her descendants account for an outsized share of sightings. While the family constitutes just 2% of identified whales in the central Salish Sea, they make up more than 11% of all documented humpback encounters in the area.
Divot’s confirmation also highlights the power of collaboration. This finding builds on decades of work by researchers and organizations including Humpback Whales of the Salish Sea (HSS), Marine Education and Research Society (MERS), Department of Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO), and others dedicated to understanding and protecting these whales. Without shared data and long-term monitoring, this family connection might never have been discovered.
Divot’s story is a reminder that responsible whale watching is more than just a thrill, it also plays an active role in conservation and education. Together, science, stewardship, and time are helping to ensure that humpback lineages, like Big Mama’s, continue to thrive.
If you want to learn more about Divot, Big Mama and the other Humpback whales of the Salish Sea, check out this recently published article by the Pudge Sound Institute
