Happywhale

Meet Aria! Known on Happywhale as CRC-20636, Aria is a female humpback whale whose story has been built one sighting at a time through the contributions of researchers, photographers, whale watch operators, and citizen scientists.

Over the years, thousands of photographs have helped reveal where whales like Aria travel, who they share their habitat with, and how their lives unfold across decades. Every encounter adds another piece to the story.

Today, Aria’s journey reaches far beyond the ocean. Her story has inspired art, education, research, and a deeper connection between people and whales around the world.

Explore Aria’s full StoryMap through our Linktree and discover how a single whale can connect communities across oceans.

If you enjoy following stories like Aria’s, please consider supporting Happywhale. Your support helps fund the technology, research, and human expertise that make these discoveries possible.

Aria’s Happywhale Profile:
https://happywhale.com/individual/81708

News Story Link:
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/protecting-whales-from-ship-strikes/

When people think of Happywhale, they might think of AI, but what many don’t realize is that every single whale encounter submitted to Happywhale is reviewed by a real person, with the help of AI!

Welcome to our new **Behind the Scenes at Happywhale** series, where we’re pulling back the curtain on what it really takes to identify whales, build one of the world’s largest whale photo-ID databases, and support conservation science around the globe.

In this first post, we’re following the journey of a whale photo, from the moment you click “submit” to the moment it becomes part of a whale’s life story.

Our AI helps narrow the search, but it’s our experienced data managers who carefully review every submission, compare identifying features, verify matches, and decide whether we’ve found a familiar whale or met someone new.

One thing we’re especially proud of is that our AI is designed to work with people, not replace them. Every match is carefully reviewed by our experienced data managers, and the AI that powers our search runs on Verda’s renewable energy-powered infrastructure. It’s another way we’re working to advance whale conservation responsibly, for both whales and the planet. We also just recently won the AI for Planet award, more about that soon!

Every submission matters.
Every photo tells a story.
Every contributor helps advance whale conservation.

Stay tuned for our next Behind the Scenes post! And if there’s something you’d like to learn more about, let us know in the comments, we just might make a post about it.

If you have whale photos waiting on your camera roll, we’d love to help you discover who you’ve met!

Meet Fran!

Known on Happywhale as CRC-12049, Fran is a female humpback whale whose story has been pieced together through years of photographs, sightings, and collaboration across the whale research community.

We will always remember Fran and the legacy she left behind. Fran’s death has brought so much awareness to vessel strikes and what we can continue to do to help make the oceans safer for whales.

Like every whale featured in our StoryMap Series, Fran is more than a sighting or a fluke photo. She is an individual with a history, a family, and a story that continues to unfold each time she is seen.

Her journey reminds us of the power of photo identification and citizen science. Every photograph contributes to a larger understanding of whale lives, migrations, and connections across oceans and generations.

Explore Fran’s full StoryMap through our Linktree and discover how decades of sightings help reveal the hidden lives of whales.

If you enjoy following stories like Fran’s, please consider supporting Happywhale. Your support helps fund the technology, research, and human expertise that make these discoveries possible.

Follow Fran here:
https://happywhale.com/individual/7

The infrastructure on the islands is basic and much of it is in disrepair, meaning waste is running directly into the ‘big blue bin’ – without treatment

🔴 Lucie Heath reports

Gray whales need our help!
Happywhale is launching a new initiative focused on understanding and protecting Eastern North Pacific gray whales through AI, photo identification, and collaborative research.

In partnership with Cascadia Research Collective, The Marine Mammal Center, and Oregon State University’s GEMM Lab, we are working to build a shared gray whale photo-ID database and AI matching system that will help researchers connect sightings, monitor individuals, and better understand population decline and recovery across the Pacific.
But the urgency is real. These gray whales have experienced dramatic population decline since 2019, and recent research highlights increasing mortality linked to vessel strikes and malnutrition in the San Francisco Bay Area. Read more about this research by visiting the link in this post.

Every whale photo helps tell a bigger story. Every sighting matters.

We are currently seeking supporters to help fund this project and protect gray whales for future generations.

Please go to the link in our bio or linktree to learn more about supporting this project.

https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/marine-science/articles/10.3389/fmars.2026.1775666/full

Every responsibly collected photo helps researchers better understand whale populations and contributes to conservation.

With every exciting whale season comes an important reminder: the best observations happen when whales are allowed to behave naturally. Whether you’re a whale watch operator, photographer, researcher, or citizen scientist, thank you for helping promote ethical wildlife viewing by giving whales, especially mothers and calves, the space they need to rest, nurse, travel, and care for their young. By respecting whales and following local viewing guidelines, you’re protecting these incredible animals and contributing to better science.

Ethical wildlife viewing is the foundation of good science!

Long live, Skipper!

In October 2025, Skipper, a young humpback whale calf born to Zig Zag earlier that year, was struck and seriously injured by a ferry in the Salish Sea. At just 9–12 months old, the outlook was uncertain.

When Skipper was seen again that December, there was hope.

Now, after what was likely a migration to warmer waters in Hawaii or Mexico, Skipper has returned. Sighted on June 26, 2026 off Washington, this resilient young whale appears healthy, strong, and remarkably well healed.

Stories like Skipper’s remind us that whales can be incredibly resilient, but they also highlight the very real threat of vessel strikes. Every successful recovery is worth celebrating, while also reminding us why responsible boating, slower speeds in whale habitat, and continued conservation efforts are so important.

Here’s to many more years of sightings, safe migrations, and new chapters in Skipper’s story.

You can follow Skipper’s journey on Happywhale and help us continue tracking whales around the world by sharing your whale photos.

Click the Linktree in our bio to learn more about supporting Happywhale.

Meet Zig Zag: https://happywhale.com/individual/4302

Meet Skipper: https://happywhale.com/individual/140468

⚠️ Content Warning: This post includes photographs of a whale recovering from serious injuries. Some images may be graphic, but they also tell an important story of resilience and hope.

Three awards, one mission: Meet the 2026 AI for Good Impact Awards winners As AI transforms industries and our daily lives at a rate never-before-seen, the question of whether it can be used to grapple with humanity’s greatest concerns has moved from aspiration to measurable fact. On 8 July, the AI for Good Impact Awards 2026 unveiled its winners during the Gala Dinner.

A new study shows what becomes possible when thousands of whale sightings are connected across years and oceans. By combining photo-ID records from many contributors, researchers gained new insight into the movements and abundance of depredating killer whales, another example of how shared data can power conservation science.

Towers, J. R., Tixier, P., Guinet, C., and colleagues (2026). Total Numbers and Movements of Photo-Identified Subantarctic (Type D) Killer Whales. Marine Mammal Science, 42(3), e70192. https://doi.org/10.1111/mms.70192

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/mms.70192