Rap is an especially lively and gregarious whale who has been generous in sharing her boisterous personality. Charming, exuberant and inquisitive, she often initiates in-water encounters with researchers and delights whale watching tourists by swimming close to their boats while gazing at the guests.

We developed a positive rapport with Rap during our 2016 field session. As a spirited juvenile, she demonstrated a variety of frisky behaviors over numerous encounters characterized by close, face-to-face interactions with conscious eye contact. She swam underneath us with her stomach exposed, rolled, dipped, hovered and communicated through creaks and clicks. She swung her head from side to side, expressively opened and closed her mouth, and maneuvered to a vertical position for tail lobs. These animated and exaggerated movements were exercised with exquisite control.

When we observed her in 2018, Rap had a series of white, horizontal slashes across the top and bottom portions of the front part of her head. She exhibited the same rambunctious behavior, vying for attention in a light-hearted yet determined manner. Similar to previous encounters, she was intensely interactive for a short period of time, after which she abruptly swam away with a flourish. 

Rap gave birth to her first calf in late 2020 or early 2021. During our field session she intentionally and proudly swam her calf near to researchers for a brief fly-by as the little one peeked at us from below. While her amiable and magnanimous nature is still intact, Rap’s attention is now primarily focused on the care and protection of her offspring.