Bare Facts: Female ~ Born 1975 ~ Mother Scimitar ~ Father Unknown ~ Children Echo, Misty, Eclipse, Stormy, Hope ~ ID Sudden bend backwards half-way up fin; small nick mid-way up fin

Simoom is a very well-known and well-liked whale. She was Scimitar's only child born during the study (she was born in 1975), and has given birth to many calves during the study.
Born in 1975 to Scimitar, Simoom is named after Simoom Sound. She is very energetic and playful, and this didn't change when, at age 15, she gave birth to her first calf.
Echo, her first child, was born in 1990. Simoom played with him all the time, often coaxing him into the kelp beds to play.
In 1993, she gave birth to Misty. There was only a three year wait between the two calves, while the average time between calves is 5 years. Simoom seems to prefer three years though, since three years later in 1996, she gave birth to another female, Eclipse!
In 1995, the A12s were hit by a large pleasure boat. Simoom was seen with cuts on her back after the collision. Looking back, that would have been very dangerous, since she was probably pregnant with Eclipse at the time. However, she seems to have no long-lasting effects, and Eclipse was obviously healthy.
After another three years, she gave birth to Stormy around October 9th, 2000.
And finally, she had her latest calf, in 2004 (ooh, she waited FOUR years this time!), Hope.
Simoom is clearly a good mother, because to our knowledge, she hasn't yet lost a calf. Echo is now reaching puberty, and his fin is beginning to spout. All calves seem to be healthy, and so does Simoom, even though there's a possibility she's still nursing Stormy, not to mention keeping a close eye on her other children!
Simoom is also special to the OrcaLab staff (and OL watchers) because all her calves were born late in the year. Since she now has FIVE calves, she spends more time apart from her mom and brother (though still not for long!) and she's formed her own submatriline, the A12-A34s. Also, in 2005 she became a grandmother for the first time, when her daughter Misty gave birth! We can expect more grandchildren, since Eclipse is also reaching maturity.
Simoom is typically seen surrounded by her young children (Stormy, Hope, and Eclipse are still noticeably smaller than her). She is easy to ID if you have a good look, because her fin has a small nick at the back when it curves backwards.
Sadly, Simoom lost a calf for the first time in 2006, when Stormy disappeared.