A Whale Named Salt

Learn about Salt, the most famous Humpback Whale in the world!
Captain Al Avellar pioneered whale watching in New England and he saw one whale coming back to Cape Cod year after year. This whale had a unique white pattern on her dorsal fin that reminded him of a sprinkle of salt- and that became her name. Salt is the first whale, in fact one of the first wild animals on earth, to be given a name instead of a number. She has returned to the northwest Atlantic and the coast of New England every year since 1975, and during that time has given birth to 13 calves and is now even a grandmother. Today over three thousand humpback whales have been named and are tracked by scientists as they travel from the Caribbean to their summer feeding grounds. Salt and her family are still named by the Avellar family. Today Captain Chad Avellar and his young daughter, Kupala, take visitors out on the Dolphin Fleet whale watching boats, and sometimes, Salt pops up to say hello.