National Seashore Program to Focus on First Named Humpback

COURTESY OF THE NEW ENGLAND COASTAL WILDLIFE ALLIANCE

EASTHAM – Residents and visitors on the Cape will have the chance to learn about the most famous humpback whale in the world early next month.

Carol Krill Carson will discuss the life of Salt, the first humpback whale to receive a name.

The Cape Cod National Seashore presents “Got Salt?” at the Salt Pond Visitor Center in Eastham on Tuesday, August 2 at 7 p.m.

Salt was named for the white scarring on the top of its dorsal fin.

She was first seen in the mid-1970s and returns each season to feed in the waters off Cape Cod.

Salt has given birth to 13 calves and now has 12 “grand” calves and one “great-grand” calf.

Carson will also share information about other marine wildlife that come to feed in New England waters each summer. She will present wildlife artifacts, including real humpack baleen, whale bones and examples of whale food.

Before the presentation, visitors can also explore the size of an adult humpback whale with the New England Coastal Wildlife Alliance’s life-size inflatable model of Salt.

The program is part of the “Tuesday Nights at Salt Pond” series which is held all summer long.