Ariel is the youngest of the trio of calves born between 2016 – 2018, and has always craved the most attention from whales and humans alike. She is playful, mischievous, theatrical, and at times whimsical. Even at a few months old, she was the most vocal and demonstrative in her antics, typically the first to instigate the revelry and physical interaction with her calf-mates.

When we met her in 2018, Ariel immediately portrayed an abundance of vivid curiosity. She conveyed her ebullient personality through lively body language as she twirled, danced, creaked, and contorted her body to show off her features while repeatedly making eye contact with us. In contrast to Aurora’s more personalized interactions, she played to a broader audience.

In 2019 Ariel continued to express her vivacious nature. She enthusiastically played with calf-mates and was often seen swimming and relaxing affectionately with her mother. She was familiar with researchers, performing several intentional actions to gain our attention. She would open and close her mouth in displays of friendly excitement, and was observed amusing herself by attempting to capture a coconut fragment in her mouth. Essentially, Ariel had created an entertaining game with a makeshift toy.

She was extremely convivial and also more socially discerning with regard to humans during our 2021 field session. She recognized us and was interactive in a notably deliberate manner, at one point introducing us to a new calf in her social unit. She appeared to spend her time socializing with some of the younger calves in her group, although Accra remained a close companion.

In 2022 her social group had split into subgroups, so she had bonded more closely to Snow Woman’s calf and the two youngsters were often seen playing together. Ariel was somewhat more aloof with humans that year, most likely because her social unit was subject to harassment by free divers which caused she and her family to change course away from intrusive tourist activity. 

Despite her reluctance to swim near to humans, I was able to share an extended and intimate swim-along with her during our field session. This was probably due to our shared history and the mutual trust we had developed over the previous four years.