Midnight the Humpback Whale
Her Story
Midnight is a female humpback whale who spends spring, summer and fall feeding in the waters of Stellwagen Bank within miles of Cape Cod shores.
In December she migrates to the warm Caribbean waters for the breeding and calving grounds. If she becomes pregnant there, she will gain 24,000 pounds in weight over the next twelve months to provide 50 gallons of milk each day to her new calf! Midnight was sighted in 2018.
But there is much more to Midnight’s story. Midnight’s fluke is black with just a little white near the top.
Midnight was first sighted in 1979. She spends quite a bit of time on Stellwagen Bank as she has been identified almost every year since that first sighting.
She has brought nine calves back to the feeding grounds. The first born in 1986 and the last in 2010. Midnight has calves every two to four years so she may bring her tenth calf back next spring.
Perhaps her most famous calf is Clapton born in 1989. (See the family tree below)
Clapton is one of the few whales named after a person. Eric Clapton released a song titled “After Midnight” and since this calf’s mother was Midnight, it just seemed appropriate. Clapton came after Midnight!
Midnight’s Background
(WDCS NA/ WDCS UK Adopt A Whale)
Midnight was named for her mostly all black tail pattern. Luckily there are small white patches on both tips of her fluke and near the center. This coloring helps identify Midnight from the other humpbacks with mostly black tails. Midnight also has a very small dorsal fin compared to most of the other humpback whales.
Pictures of Midnight (from her DVD)
Many humpback whales have very distinctive feeding styles and Midnight is no exception. Midnight begins by swimming under a school of fish and blows very small columns of bubbles in a circle around the school. When the circle is completed, Midnight quickly lunges at the surface with her mouth wide open.
Midnight’s History
| Mother: Unknown | First Sighting: 1979 |
| Year Of Birth: Unknown | Last Seen: 2018 |
Midnight’s Family Tree
| Calves | Year of Birth | Interesting Facts |
| Sombrero | 1986 | |
| Clapton | 1989 |
Clapton named for Eric Clapton’s song “After Midnight” |
| Abalone | 1991 | |
| Bowtie | 1996 | |
| Gloaming | 1998 | |
| Minuit | 2000 | |
| Unnamed | 2003 | |
| Unnamed | 2006 | |
| Unnamed | 2010 | Calf in 2017 too |
New: Midnight on DVD reg $25.00
On sale now $18.99
If you adopted Midnight from any of the Adopt A Whale Programs in the US or UK, you can meet her!
You will be delighted to spend 20 minutes with Midnight including one of her calves, Clapton. You will see Midnight’s distinctive bubble-net feeding. Midnight also brings Clapton to the boat and begins hitting the water with her flippers.
A sample clip from the Midnight DVD
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