Venom

Venom is curious, young male born in 1996.  His mother, Cardhu, has been around for quite some time.  Venom currently is the sixth of eight known calves born to Cardhu (See Cardhu's Family Tree).  Cardhu seems to be partial to boys.  At least five out of the first seven calves are males.  She is also a pretty good mother, for many of her calves are still seen today. The summer Venom was born, Cardhu introduced him to the feeding grounds of Stellwagen Bank.  He was seen quite often that year.  Many times he would approach boats to watch the people watching him. Today he is just as inquisitive as he was when he was a calf.

Venom received his name from the two black marks along the trailing edge of the left fluke.  These marks resemble a pair of snake fangs. There is another pair of markings which can aid in identification of Venom.  As a calf on the bank, he was seen with a good-sized gash just behind and to the right side of his blowhole.  As he grew older and bigger so did the gash. Today this mark is about 10-12 inches long and at least an inch deep.  It was also later discovered that a similar-sized gash is located on his other side.  Cardhu also possess this type of marking.  It is unknown what exactly caused these gashes.  It is hard to tell if there is any scar tissue; however, the color is uniform with the body.  It is possible both he and his mother received injuries rubbing themselves against coral down in the warm waters of the Caribbean. Another possibility is that this is some sort of a birth mark.