Every humpback's journey is as unique as their tail.
And one photo of that tail is enough to reveal their real life story. Upload one below to meet the whale you spotted.
Start typing a name to see the closest matches.
Where else would a whale tell you their life story?
Every year, Newfoundland and Labrador hosts the world's largest population of humpbacks. So we've gotten to know them pretty well. How's that? A humpback's tail (or "fluke") markings are as unique as our fingerprints. Which means all it takes is a photo to know exactly who they are — and everywhere else they've been identified.
Upload your fluke photos to take a deeper dive into the world of humpbacks. Learn their name, their story — and even contribute to citizen science.
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Top Whale Tales
Say hello to some of the most interesting visitors to our coasts.
Esker
Last spotted August 19, 2018
When the world still slumbers through icy February, most folks in Newfoundland are dreaming of escape from winter winds, but Esker has a different idea. Far, far south where the water’s lively and warm, this wise old female finds her place under the sun—her journeys a quiet reminder that the North Atlantic is more connected than we sometimes remember.
Micheal
Last spotted July 27, 2022
On an ordinary July morning in Labrador, when the chilly breeze turned the sea glassy and clear, there was a ripple of something special—Micheal had returned to northern waters. There’s a peculiar kind of magic in these bays, best described by the way a whale like Micheal slides through them, as if the salt and spray know his name better than most.
Eunice
Last spotted June 19, 2013
A patch of silver mist lingered over Witless Bay as Eunice, a grand lady of the sea, swept gracefully through the kelp-draped waters, her presence as familiar to the returning capelin as the seabirds overhead.
Ryan
Last spotted July 14, 2025
Beneath a patchwork sky of gulls and shifting clouds, a certain lady of the sea has made her mark across half the North Atlantic, leaving a trail of wonder and a sprinkle of curiosity wherever she goes. Folks in Newfoundland sometimes call her Ryan, though she’s not one for fishing lines or tall tales—she lets her journeys across the waves do the talking.
Courtney
Last spotted August 14, 2020
With a playful slosh and a flash of white, Courtney, the ever-bold matron of the bay, spent her summers turning Witless Bay’s calm into a lively stage. There's a thrill that comes with spotting her, like stumbling upon a secret cove or a hidden trail only whispered about between old friends.
Boyd
Last spotted July 2, 2022
Boyd carries with him the kind of wanderlust only a few ever truly know. One year he’ll make a grand appearance in Trinity Bay, then the next—he’s halfway across the Atlantic. There’s no real pattern you can draw, just a sense that Boyd is always looking for what’s next.
Lilly
Last spotted July 5, 2025
It was a glorious summer morning when Lilly surfaced, her sleek form cutting a gentle arc through sun-speckled waters. There’s something about the bays of Newfoundland—a patchwork of deep blue and rolling fog—that makes each whale’s arrival feel like an old friend’s greeting, and Lilly’s visits have been just that: a splash of joy amid the salt-scented air.
Joe
Last spotted July 16, 2025
Not every day on the water feels the same; some hold a promise of surprise—a flash of a fluke or a curious spout where least expected. On a quiet August day in Witless Bay, there was Joe, cutting through the cool saltwater like he had all the time in the world.
Marnie
Last spotted June 7, 2022
On a day when sunlight glimmered like scattered coins across the South Arm, the sea played host to a remarkable sight. Among the kelp and rolling breakers, Marnie swept her tail with a nonchalance only a seasoned traveller could muster.
Cannon
Last spotted June 1, 2017
Some mornings, the North Atlantic dons its best suit—a mirror to the sky, sun gleaming off cold water like bits of scattered treasure. That’s when Cannon, a true wanderer by heart, made his entrance near Twillingate.
A humpback's tail is a wide, powerful fin. It's what makes them such great swimmers, and they typically raise them out of the water right before they dive deep. What makes their flukes special among other whales are the markings on the underside: a mix of dark and light shapes that are speckled, splotchy, or otherwise unique. Those markings, combined with the tail's shape, are what make every humpback individually identifiable.
Newfoundland and Labrador is one of the best places in the world for whale watching. Especially humpbacks, who visit every year from May-September. They can often be seen from land, or get even closer with one of our many whale watching boat tours. Discover the best places in the province to spot them or start planning your trip today to see the magic in person.
Yes! One of the most exciting things about Hello Humpback's collaboration with our partner, Happywhale, is that no humpback's story is ever complete. Once you read a whale's story, submit your photo. It will become part of their sighting data and add another chapter. You can even follow a whale for updates when your sighting gets added — as well as those from anyone else who spots that same whale in the future!
Yes, please do! You can upload fluke photos from any year, even decades ago. When you submit your sighting data (the year and general location are all that's needed), your encounter will be written into the whale's story — and maybe even fill in some missing details! Past data also helps researchers track individual whales, uncover migration stories, and reconnect with whales that may not have been seen for years.
Every year, Newfoundland and Labrador welcomes minke, fin, pothead, sperm and even orca whales into our waters. But with more than 10,000 humpbacks, it's hard not to spot one. That's why we're called the "Humpback Capital of the World."
And while Happywhale does identify several whale species, their most robust database is for humpback whales. Got a great shot of a tail, but not sure if it's a humpback fluke? Upload it anyway — you may be able to say "hello."
A citizen scientist is anyone who voluntarily contributes to science by collecting data, making observations, or reporting findings, often by collaborating with scientific institutions or professionals.
Citizen science allows everyday people to participate in actual research, like identifying whales and their sightings. When you upload your photos to Happywhale, you help researchers learn more about individual whales and their movements, which makes you a scientist — no lab coat required!
Happywhale and Hello Humpback are partners, and both empower anyone to learn more about whales and contribute to whale science.
Happywhale.com is a global platform where users upload photos of marine mammals (especially humpbacks) to identify individuals and log their movements through the world's oceans. Image recognition technology compares fluke photos to their database of more than 20,000 humpbacks, with records dating back to the 1970s.
HelloHumpback.ca inspires travellers to upload whale tail photos taken in Newfoundland and Labrador, and tells the real stories of the whales spotted here based on their sighting history in Happywhale's scientific database.
Every encounter with a whale is a gift. To protect these incredible creatures and their habitat, we ask all whale watchers to do so responsibly. Keep your distance, minimize noise, and never feed or touch wildlife. Choose a whale watching tour operator that is registered and listed on NewfoundlandLabrador.com. Responsible tourism ensures whales remain safe and future generations get to enjoy them too.
Hello Humpback's stories are written by a meticulously trained AI model. Our story generator has lots of practice interpreting real dates and locations within Happywhale's scientific database, and uses that data to craft the unique, true story of every individual humpback spotted here in Newfoundland and Labrador.
Hello Humpback also accesses the same image recognition technology used by Happywhale's own researchers to analyze travellers' fluke photos to find a match among the thousands of whales logged in the database.
Turning travellers into citizen scientists.
Hello Humpback is a collaboration between Newfoundland & Labrador Tourism and Happywhale, an organization collecting and organizing sighting data to help the world's ocean be better understood, appreciated, and protected through accessible science. Together, we're using creative technology to connect researchers and whale enthusiasts.
Each whale's story is based entirely on real sighting dates and locations. Some details are added by our AI story generator, like assigning pronouns to whales logged without a specified gender, or if the sea was calm or rollicking on a given day. Because around here, we never pass up the chance to comment on the weather.
