453, Notcho Libre

First seen in September, 2007, this whale is unmistakable. It took me until August 6, 2010 for my first sighting and my second and last was on September 15, 2011 (lower right photo). The central notch is very complicated and appears to almost have a lopsided pentagon sticking out tail-like at an angle from the left between a wide notch on the left and a narrow one on the right. Which one is the actual central notch? The shape of the flukes is like a lanceolate leaf and a bit narrower than most. The white is particularly bright with strong contrast with the black and tucked tightly against the trailing edge of both flukes. Note a leading edge of white on the right fluke. The horizontal diving shot shows just enough of the odd central notch to make a positive identification on the lower right photo.

“Notcho” surely refers to the central notch but what about “libre”? The word from Latin to both French and Spanish means “the state of being free”. Does it refer to the “free form” shape of the central notch? That’s my best guess. Or does it refer to the awful 2006 comedy “Nacho Libre”?