Franzfin
We know Franzfin since October 05th, 2003. He is a strong and dominant Pilot Whale. Due to his impressive size he can be seen from a distance. From the proximity however he is of course still much more imposing.
Franzfin likes to present himself, but always keeps enough distance to the firmm boats. He is very respectful and likes it quiet.
Until now we have never observed him mating.
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Fotos
This is how we have experienced Franzfin since the beginning of our adoption program:
2014
Franzfin is a well recognizable male. He usually stays with Edu and Ponce in one family.
2015
Franzfin usually stays not far from Edu's family.
2016
Franzfin, Johnny and Sierra form another family together with 3-4 younger Pilot Whales. Franzfin is big and strong, Johnny is slightly smaller, he seems to have no permanent injuries from the rope that was wrapped around his fluke last year. Sierra, a female, is well recognizable. All three are trustful and often close to the boat.
2017
In his family are 4-5 further whales, also females with young ones. Franzfin often stayed long close to the boat.
2018
Franzfin is still one of the largest Pilot Whales in the Strait of Gibraltar. Since this year he has had some superficial abrasions on his back. However, we can always recognize him by the shape of his dorsal fin, which has a tiny knob.
We have seen him 9 times up close. He was often a little further away from the boat in groups, e.g. on July 27th in a group of 40 Pilot Whales.
2019
We encountered Franzfin with the little knob on his dorsal fin 25 times. He also has to come relatively close to the boat so that he can be identified with certainty. He is also one of the largest males in the Strait of Gibraltar.
2020
We only saw Franzfin 4 times in this short season. He was very close to the boat once, otherwise he kept his distance.
2021
This year we have seen Franzfin regularly. He is still rather reserved and stays at a distance from the boat. In August, the rather shy Franzfin joined large groups twice.
2022
Of the 14 sightings in total, 7 were in October. We didn't see him at all in May, June and September. Franzfin, normally rather shy, came very close to the boat four times.
2023
This season we saw Franzfin 23 times, spread over all 7 months of the season. He also kept coming close to the boat (9 times). On the 1st of April, right at the start of the season, he was part of a group of over 90 animals.
2024
We have probably never seen Franzfin as often as this year. We were able to record 39 sightings. On the 1st of April, he was also our first sighting of the season. On the 11th of June he was part of a group of eight jumping pilot whales.