'No Fluke!' This Whale Is As Rare As They Come, Seen off Newport Beach

NEWPORT BEACH, CA — A fluke-less whale was spotted swimming up the coast of Newport Beach this month, according to Newport Landing & Davey’s Locker Whale Watching spokesperson Jessica Roame.

The first sighting of the whale was around 10 a.m. on March 13th when a Newport Whales whale-watching vessel spotted it swimming at a normal pace of 3 mph.

"The whale appeared able to make its migration from Alaska to Mexico and back since this injury looks to be several years old," Roame said in an email to Patch.

According to Whales.org, all whales use their fluke as part of their propulsion through the water. Tails are also how biologists monitor whales due to their unique markings to individually identify each whale, almost like a fingerprint.

"Many individuals, however, have been documented without a 'complete set' of fins (likely as a result of incidental entanglement in fishing gear, being hit by a boat's propeller or a lucky escape from a predator), and therefore they can sometimes adapt quite well to losing part or all of a fin," according to the Whales.com report, likely what happened to our friend, here.

The lack of a fluke didn't seem to slow it down, and experts say the whale appears healthy in all other respects.

It still dove and "fluked," raising its disabled tail above the water line and swimming with typical gray whale behavior, according to Roame.

"The whale is maybe a little underweight but not dramatically so. This type of injury was likely caused by its tail being tangled in commercial fishing gear and eventually falling off," she said. "As horrible as this injury is, it's incredible that this whale is determined to survive and so far appears to be successful."

See the full video of the fantastic encounter below: