Columbia the Humpback Whale
Her Story
Columbia was first sighted in 1980 and from her size was thought to be just one or two years old at that time. Columbia has faced several trials in her life. Her fluke has rake marks which tell a tale of being attacked by killer whales at some point in her life. She also was sighted entangled in fishing gear in 1986. She wasn’t seen again for three more years and scientists thought that perhaps she died from the entanglement.
What a surprise when she returned in 1990 free of gear and with a new calf! The calf was named Shillelagh and the whale above to the right of Columbia is Shillelagh. Below is Columbia and Shillelagh flippering together. Notice the difference in size of their flippers. Columbia’s (on the right) flipper is probably 15 feet in length.
Columbia’s History
| Mother: Unknown | First Sighting: 1980 |
| Year Of Birth: Unknown | Last Seen: 2017 |
Columbia‘s Family Tree
| Calves | Year of Birth | Grandcalves |
| Splinter | 1984 | Unnamed 1989 (Splinter) |
| Shillelagh | 1990 | Shards 1991 (Splinter) |
| Unnamed | 2004 | |
| Unnamed | 2006 | |
| Unnamed | 2008 | |
| Unnamed | 2010 |
New: Columbia on DVD reg $25.00
On sale now $18.99
If you adopted Columbia from any of the Adopt A Whale Programs in the US or UK, you can meet her!
20 minutes of footage of Columbia and her calf Shillelagh. Columbia and calf are flippering together and then the calf breaches out of the water. Later, Columbia begins kick-feeding and lunges with an open mouth. Shillelagh isn’t eating solid food yet, so he just watches and learns from Columbia.
A sample clip from the Columbia DVD
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