About Us
Welcome to the Ultimate Whale Adoption Program
12 Named Humpback Whales with Unique Personalities
and you get to meet them!
Our Philosophy
Why Whales?
Dan brings the world of whales to life by focusing on their individuality rather than just their species. By sharing their names and personal stories, he builds a bridge of friendship between humans and whales, believing that we are more likely to protect what we truly know and care for.
Salt and calf Wasabi
Founder's Background
Daniel Knaub
US Navy Vietnam Veteran
US Naval Academy Class of 1974
I follow the Honor Code of the Academy:
“I do not lie, cheat or steal or tolerate those that do”
Cetacean Society International
Board Member 2002 through 2026
Past President 2014 to 2017
CSI’s Mission is to stop the killing, capture and display of cetaceans (whales, dolphins, and porpoises); encourage human activities that enhance public awareness and stewardship of cetaceans and our marine environment; and collaborate with stakeholders to reduce anthropogenic threats such as bycatch, invasive research, sonar, ship strikes, pollution, seismic testing, and others as they are revealed.
Named Whale Documentaries
Many of us have fond memories of “adopting” a humpback whale. One of the most beloved programs was run by the International Wildlife Coalition, which managed a roster of 50 whales, ranging from Abraxus to Tanith.
Until our unique fundraising parternership was formed, the adoptee received information about their whale and a photograph of the tail.
After two years of effort, adoptees could watch their whale feeding, breaching, visiting boats and interactions with each other as well as seeing mothers and calves together.
We are excited to share that we’ve delved into our archives and recovered historical fundraising videos for every single one of those whales—ensuring at least 19 minutes of footage for each individual. If you held an adoption certificate with the IWC or a current program and would like to “meet” your whale again, please reach out to us for availability.
Award Winning Documentary
Salt & Friends: Humpback Whales With Names
(2002 Telly Award for Nature/Wildlife and Education Programs)
Studio edited to finally share the story of whales as individuals, with names and unique personalities, as well as an interest in boats and people on them.
Fifteen humpback whales are highlighted with voiceovers telling their stories.
Females with Family Members
Salt, Pepper, Olympia, Fringe, CatsPaw, Arrow, Nurse and Silver.
Males introduced
Rocker, Sockeye, Churchill, Ember, Coral, Regulus andColt.
Best of theYear Programs
Each whale watching port has unique scenery as well as named whales that have a preference for those feeding grounds.
A new category of compilation videos were born from this environment.
The Best of Provincetown Whale Watching
The Best of Bar Harbor Whale Watching
The Best of Plymouth Whale Watching
Beyond Belief: The Humpback Whale
My first whale
Everyone walks a different path in life, and for many, that path leads to an unexpected connection with whales—watching them, learning from them, and helping to protect them. My own journey began long before I understood what it meant.
I had just turned eighteen when I headed to Vietnam with the U.S. Navy. Growing up in Pennsylvania, far from any coastline, whale watching was never something I thought about. Harbors with whale-watching tours were at least a full day’s drive from my hometown of Hershey, and whales felt like creatures from another world.
After several months off the coast of Vietnam, our ship set course for a bit of R & R on the west coast of Australia—a simple task for a nuclear-powered cruiser, even at roughly 4,000 miles away. Somewhere near the southwest tip of Australia, in either the South Pacific or the Indian Ocean, I spotted spouts on the horizon while on lookout duty. A group of whales was passing by. None of the officers or senior enlisted aboard could identify the species, which only deepened my curiosity. Much later, after some research, I came to believe that what we had witnessed was a pod of sperm whales.
Eighteen years passed before whales resurfaced in my life—this time by choice. I joined a tour group headed for Stellwagen Bank off the coast of Massachusetts to board the Dolphin Fleet for a weekend of whale watching. We encountered three humpback whales, each one lifting its massive flukes high into the air for us to see. One spent several minutes slamming its tail against the water’s surface. The naturalist called this behavior “tail-lobbing,” and even told us the individual whale’s name. She mentioned that more than 400 humpbacks in the region were known and cataloged at the time.
I was hooked.
I returned to the same tour three more times over the following years. Eventually, I realized I wanted to dedicate more of my life to this world—but how? Then an idea formed: what if someone documented the whale-watching experience for passengers, capturing every moment on video?
And that idea became the beginning of **The Whale Video Company**.
17,096 whale watching trips
What started as a simple idea—recording what passengers witnessed on whale-watching trips—quickly grew into something much larger than I ever imagined. Over the next sixteen years, my work took me across three ports in the Gulf of Maine: Provincetown, Plymouth, and Bar Harbor, Maine. Season after season, my videographers boarded whichever boat was headed out, camera in hand, documenting every spout, tail-lob, and breach that unfolded on the water.
By the time the project reached its height, we had recorded **17,096 individual whale-watch trips**, spending **68,384 hours at sea**. Fog, rain, blazing sun—it didn’t matter. If a boat went out, we went out. Each trip added another piece to a growing record of life in the Gulf of Maine.
But filming the whales was only half the work.
Back on land, I spent countless evenings reviewing the footage. Every dive, every fluke pattern, every interaction had to be logged and cataloged. It took **41,620 hours** to review 25% of the 8,000 hours of original videotape—a task that required more patience than I ever expected to possess.
Slowly, the collection took on a new purpose. What began as a business became a long-term historical record of the marine life in the Gulf of Maine. Scientists, naturalists, educators, and whale enthusiasts began to see the value in preserving so much visual data from such a long stretch of time.
From this effort, the **Whale & Marine Life Video Archive** was born—a detailed visual record of thousands of encounters, a chronicle of the changing ocean, and a testament to the incredible creatures that inspired it all.
And to think: it all began with a single glimpse of whale spouts off the coast of Australia.
Sharing the whale archive
“The Ultimate Whale Adoption Program”
Provides a documentary of each whale as seen in the Gulf of Maine. This strengthens the tie between human and whale.
Other whale adoption programs include humpback whales that have documentaries produced as well. If your adopted whale has a name and feeds in the Gulf of Maine, we have 50 unique documentaries for all other adoption programs. You may purchase digital access to the whale you adopted. This is coming soon for IWC, WDC and Ocean Alliance humpback whales.
Research Groups
The Whale Archives have provided no cost access to sightings for two research papers. One studied bubble ring structure and the other looked at handedness, are whales left or right handed?
We have long held that our archives would be instrumental in researching whether culture exists within whale species.
Education
The archive can provide developers of whale education units a unique resource to demonstrate all common and rare whale behaviors.
Miscellaneous Use
- Adoption Programs
- Research
- Education
- Miscellaeous
Whale Stock Footage Donations
Whale & Dolphin Conservation Society– Display Program
Provincetown Center for Coastal Studies– One by One Video Program
Provincetown Center for Coastal Studies– Right Whale Education Project
International Fund for Animal Welfare – Salt’s Family Stock Footage
National Marine Life Center – Stock Footage for Capital Fund Raising Program (Walter Cronkite)
Stellwagen National Marine Sanctuary – Stock Footage for Opening Display
Aktionsgemeinschaft Artenschutz Museum – Campaign for Endangered Species – Display Program
Contributions to Whale Safety
Provided video proof of whale harassment by pleasure boats in the Gulf of Maine 1988-2003 to National Marine Fisheries
Greenpeace International – provided minke whale footage for anti-whaling campaign 2010
Contributions to International Whaling Commision Meetings
2001 in London England Salt & friends video to each voting commissioner
1994 in Puerto Vallarta Mexico Best of Provincetown Whale Watching for Press Conference Display