Humpback Whale Fluke with Possible Sunburn

This is an adult female humpback whale that repeatedly held her fluke above the surface of the ocean while resting in a head-down position, such that her body was oriented vertically in the water. There was significant peeling or shedding of skin from the fluke’s dorsal surface, as seen in this photo. Though the peeling was most likely due to normal sloughing off of skin, it was reminiscent of how human skin peels when sunburned. I speculate that another possibility could be that the whale may have had sunburn as a consequence of her resting behaviour. Date of encounter was 18 August 2017. See separate detail photograph of skin recovered from the fluke of this whale.

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Contained in galleries: Humpback Whale Activity

This is an adult female humpback whale that repeatedly held her fluke above the surface of the ocean while resting in a head-down position, such that her body was oriented vertically in the water. There was significant peeling or shedding of skin from the fluke’s dorsal surface, as seen in this photo. Though the peeling was most likely due to normal sloughing off of skin, it was reminiscent of how human skin peels when sunburned. I speculate that another possibility could be that the whale may have had sunburn as a consequence of her resting behaviour. Date of encounter was 18 August 2017. See separate detail photograph of skin recovered from the fluke of this whale.