2nd International Naming Contest – Orca Calf “Tili” (SN201)

Our first international naming contest was an incredible success and great awareness-raiser to inspire young and old to help protect orcas around the globe. And our second international naming contest, which started on the 4^th of May, 2017, was no less exciting! This time, we named the calf of Scottish/Icelandic orca female SN200 (also known as 012 in Scotland). The calf (SN201) was first spotted on the 20^th of November, 2016, when we witnessed a big get-together of the core groups of Mousa/Vendetta (SN069), Nótt (SN067), and SN200 in Breiðafjörður (West Iceland). All these individuals are known to travel between Iceland and Scotland, and we are often jokingly referring to this day as the “Scottish invasion”. You can find detailed information on these groups here.
The calf of SN200 was considerably smaller than newly named calf Tide, and both of them were seen travelling either next to each other or close to their mothers. During the summer months, SN200 and her calf were then first spotted again in Shetland, right at the time when we were holding the contest!

In our search for a unisex name we were joined and supported by a wide array of organizations both from the UK and Iceland. Our online event was open to the public and hosted in collaboration with Living Seas Northwest Highlands, Caithness Sea Watching, Shetland Wildlife, Sea Watch Foundation, British Divers Marine Life Rescue, the Hebridean Whale and Dolphin Trust, Láki Tours, Special Tours, and Yakari-Travel. We are grateful for their support, which made this contest yet another success, reaching even more people across countries.
The first part of the competition resulted in a total of 210 unique name suggestions, from which our judges – coming from the same organizations as in the first contest – yet again had to pick 4 finalists. The names “Sora”, “Domino”, “Kelpie” and “Tili” were given for public vote in the second part of the contest, which closed on the 19^th of May, 2017.