Accra is Rounder’s daughter and is the ‘middle calf’ in the trio of offspring born between 2016 and 2018. As a yearling she was often observed swimming with her mother or caretakers, but she was nearly always in the presence of her two similarly-aged calf mates. She and the youngest calf Ariel regularly engaged in close, tactile play.

When we first met Accra in 2018, she was gregarious and confident, boldly approaching researchers and vying for attention along with the other calves. The following year, she was noticeably more reserved. She still played enthusiastically with her calf-mates but was far less interested in humans. However, she did participate in one encounter where she and her companions stopped to log at the surface in a tight row, tilting their bodies and inching towards us for a closer look with open mouths and audible creaks.

In 2021, the little juvenile had begun to breach along with her constant companion and best friend Aurora. She also spent plenty of time with young Ariel and often accompanied her mother Rounder when the group traveled. 

The following year, Unit A had separated into two definite subgroups who were seen separately on different days and in different parts of the island. As part of Unit A1, Accra and Aurora are closer than ever, particularly after the unfortunate death of the two newest calves in their subgroup who perished sometime in 2022 before our field session.

Accra had indeed matured and was more expressive when we observed her in 2022. One one encounter while her family was sleeping, Accra positioned herself close to the surface to nap. The social group rested peacefully in place for about 20 minutes until a film crew arrived and began crowding close to Accra as she slept. In order to keep his camera steady, their videographer dangled his feet beneath him and kicked his long fins at Accra’s eye level, within feet of the sleeping juvenile. She roused from sleep, looked up to see who was causing the commotion, then surfaced with her belly-up and began to tail lob directly towards the offending cameraman and his crew. 

The agitated whale continued tail lobbing on the surface for the next five minutes and only settled down when the film crew departed. Her family members eventually woke up and relocated. While we were dismayed by the lack of respect shown by the film crew, we were impressed that Accra was so forceful in expressing her negative reaction to the intrusion of her privacy.