Location: Ecuador
Humpback Whale #333’s first recorded sighting occurred July 1, 2002 — a year after PWF expanded research efforts to include crucial breeding grounds in Ecuador — when researchers observed HBW #333, now Peggy, swimming with a single companion off Isla de la Plata. On August 25, 2008, researchers spotted Peggy again, this time in a pod of three individuals. The following year, on September 30, 2009, Peggy was sighted traveling solo near Isla Salango. Peggy’s most recent sighting was September 20, 2013, off Isla de la Plata, in the company of another whale. Although data collected by the Ecuador Research team confirmed the whale’s advanced age, they are optimistic that we haven’t seen the last of Peggy.
Research activities conducted under permit from Machalilla National Park