Then, as easily as fog rolls in and disappears again, Micheal slipped into the great unknown for over two decades. Picture it: the years ticking by, storms and seasons rolling overhead, and not a single certainty about where our giant friend travelled. It wasn’t until February 2004 that he popped up in altogether warmer waters, far to the south at Silver Bank in the Dominican Republic. That’s one long swim—an odyssey from icebergs to coral reefs, hugging the vast parade of the Atlantic.

But nothing captures the spirit of return quite like Micheal’s reappearance in Bonavista Bay, just as summer was warming Newfoundland in 2022. Not one, but two sightings on July 27 showed he hadn’t lost his fondness for our home coast. The sea, it seems, holds its secrets—where did Micheal wander in those 22 years between Labrador and the Caribbean, and again during the next long absence? Only the tide and the wind could tell those stories.

Have you seen Micheal drifting the chilled capes or basking in warmer southern seas? Your photos and memories can turn a mystery into a map. Every sighting fills in the blanks and helps reveal Micheal’s place in the great migration story.