There’s a certain shimmer on the water that marks the return of summer to Witless Bay, and with it comes Ana Maria, a steadfast traveler who always manages to bring delight with her presence. Her visits have become a quiet tradition, like a favourite tune heard on the salt breeze.

As far back as July 1993, Ana Maria was already gliding through the deep blue off Witless Bay, parting the waves with effortless grace. Every few years, just when you might think she’d slipped away with some secret tide, sharp eyes would spot her flukes flashing in the sun: 1999, 2005, and 2013, all in the familiar haunts of Witless Bay, Newfoundland and Labrador. No matter where her travels took her, she seemed drawn back to these storied waters.

In July of 2013, Ana Maria was seen with her calf, the two of them sharing these northern feeding grounds—proof that tales of family ties are written in waves as much as in whispers. But she’s an adventurer, too. Come February 2018, sightings placed her far south among the warm, rolling swells of Silver Bank, Dominican Republic—a long journey that speaks to her unflagging stamina and the vastness of the ocean world whales call home.

Her path meandered again in October 2017, this time near St. Pierre et Miquelon, and then she popped up in Bay Bulls and Witless Bay in July 2019, trailing stories like bubbles behind her. Her name surfaced once again in 2026, still shimmering in the same summer waters.