In the height of summer, when capelin flash silver and puffins wheel through the salt air, the sea around Newfoundland and Labrador comes alive with gentle giants like Haden. There’s a special sort of thrill when the crest of a humpback breaks the stillness, and that was the case with Haden, no stranger to these northern waters.

In July of 2018, Haden made his presence known near Witless Bay—a place where the ocean’s laughter mingles with seabird songs. Onward he drifted in early August, surfacing off Spaniards Cove. There’s a possibility he was drawn by a promising shoal or simply following an old, watery highway known best to whales.

By mid-August, he was sighted off Horsechops, sweeping his fluke through waters as deep and mysterious as a foggy cove at dawn. Not two weeks later, Haden graced Trinity Bight, rounding out his journey along the bustling coastal inlets. Summer was in full swing, and Haden seemed to follow the rhythm of warm tides.

Then, the tale picks up eight years later, up in St. Anthony, where icebergs drift lazily by like white castles on parade. It’s enough to make you wonder where Haden ventured in between—did he cruise Grand Banks or cross to far-off feeding grounds? Such gaps add a salty pinch of mystery, proving there’s plenty more beneath the waves than meets the eye.