In over a decade of studying Moon, researchers never imagined she would return to Hawaii after experiencing the big bend in her spine.
A familiar whale has travelled from Canada to Hawaii, covering 5000 km (3000 miles). Moon is a humpback whale that has migrated south toward Hawaii, her birthplace according to experts.
Moon has been spotted on their radars every September for more than a decade. They were thrilled when they discovered she had given birth!
This time, they weren’t celebrating.
A drone photograph taken in September 2022 depicted Moon on her migration journey, but it wasn’t just she who was spotted. It was Moon with an extremely bent, S-shaped lower trunk. She was most likely hit hard by a ship during her migration journey.
It was a ‘Oh my God’ moment when we learned it was Moon. Janie Wray, CEO and lead researcher for BC Whales, said, “It wasn’t like she just developed scoliosis out of nowhere, but she was hit hard by something.” “In my life as a researcher, I have never seen anything like that.”
Wray and the researchers would lose sight of Moon, which is something they expected given her injury.
Without the use of her tail, it would be impossible to make that journey. To their surprise, Moon was spotted off the coast of Maui on December 1, 2022.
She probably came from Hawaii. And she goes back every year because her mother taught her that, and it’s part of their culture, their tradition. It’s something that’s passed down from mother to calf. She probably traveled all that way with her injury because of that.”
Since Moon could not feed herself, she most likely used up her fat stores to survive the trip down because she was emaciated and covered in whale lice.
“Despite not bulking up enough, she still migrated down. She seemed to consume a tremendous amount of energy, and with her injury, she probably wasn’t able to feed or bulk up, and she won’t be able to return because she won’t be able to fill her tank down there, Jackie Hildering, a humpback whale researcher and Marine Education and Research Society education lead, told Global News.
Due to the lack of food available in tropical waters, Moon had to rely on his fat reserves to survive in Hawaii during the winter. Even more deeply, this broke the hearts of whale researchers since they knew Moon’s days were numbered.
Their only option for lessening her pain is euthanizing her, but euthanizing her would require toxic drugs to be administered. It is likely that marine animals will be poisoned by her remains after she dies.
There is nothing they can do but wait.
Another thing they can do is continue to remind the crew and drivers of ships that they should be careful in the ocean. Despite the fact that most ship strikes are accidental, ships can still take some precautions to avoid hitting whales.
Wray requested everyone to slow down, especially in areas where whales are known to be present. It is simple – just slow down. We have school zones. We need whale zones,” he replied.
As of January 2023, there has been no sighting of Moon since December 10, 2022.
There’s no telling how long Moon will live since humpbacks can survive without food for long periods of time.
