580 burst upon the Juneau scene the summer of 2012 and has been a major player ever since.I first spotted the whale on July 7, 2012 near Eagle Reef in Favorite channel where the whale debuted its high-tail dive habit. The broad, black tail sports something of a division sign on the right fluke that is usually obvious. Scallops on the trailing edge near the tips are often the only obvious features at a distance on a rainy day while a closer view shows the edge full of small, open and rounded scallops with two large but shallow on the left fluke and one deep but small “U” on the right fluke. The central notch is a small, diverging “U”. The tips, while not pointed, are elongated and prominent in nearly any view.

The whale is a major player in bubble netting and many of my photographs include other whales as the group dives in their search for schools of herring. Being a high-tail diver, it often visually dominates the other whales in the group and I accuse it of being a “camera hog”! It can be found in all of our waters. In early July of 2014 it was with a group of 7 to 11 whales actively bubble netting in Young Bay where the large photo was taken on July 11, 2014. In 2012 it was here all of July and August; in 2013 it was only here in June; in 2014 June and July (as of this writing in mid-July).