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.

His trail first surfaced at the end of August 2017, close to Trinity Harbour, right off the familiar shores of Trinity Bay, Newfoundland and Labrador. The feeding season was still in full swing, the sea thick with capelin and birds always overhead. The very next day, he was seen again, further down by Horse Chops—a rugged stretch of coastline where the ocean seems to meet the cliffs in a constant conversation.

But by March of 2018, Boyd had made a surprising leap—more than 2,400 kilometres over open ocean—arriving among the central islands of the Azores. Those temperate waters are a crossroads for many whales, a stopover rich in life before the journey south or north. Maybe Boyd paused there to rest, or maybe he just liked the cool Atlantic breezes.

By August 2020, he was right back in Trinity Bay, this time near Trinity Bight. No long absence for him; he seemed to know his way home. In July 2022, Boyd was spotted off Salvage Head—a headland rimmed by spruce and battered by summer winds. Most recently, he popped up in July 2023 near Point Leamington, up the coast—a reminder that Boyd’s story isn’t about staying put.

Boyd’s pattern isn’t predictable, but he’s never too far from these Newfoundland and Labrador waters. He’s a traveller with a good memory for home.