WHIDBEY ISLAND, Wash. — After missing for almost seven months, Skipper, the humpback whale calf, was spotted off Whidbey Island June 25.
The one-year-old whale was struck by a Hullo ferry near Vancouver, British Columbia, Oct. 17, 2025.
According to a press release from the Pacific Whale Watch Association (PWWA), photos of the accident show Skipper with “a deep wound behind her dorsal fin.”
It was not present the day before the accident, so it was presumed she was the one who was hit.
Two months after on Dec. 6, 2025, Outer Island Excursions’ Sophia Madden photographed what seemed to be a healing Skipper close to Orcas Island.
Skipper then vanished once again.
Although humpback whales typically move to warmer waters in the winter, whale watchers worried that Skipper may have passed away from her injuries.
Her re-emergence this week eased those worries.
Skipper was seen “breaching and diving normally,” according to the PWAA.
The new photos also reveal Skipper may have been harmed by fishing gear at some point in her journey back.
“Ship strike and entanglement are the two primary threats to local humpback whales,” Erin Gless, executive director of the PWWA, said. “The fact that Skipper has likely dealt with both before reaching her second birthday is heartbreaking. We hope Skipper can continue to heal and grow while here in the Salish Sea.”
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