If you look in the TABLE OF CONTENTS link to the right you will find the beginning of Fissure's story and its sections you can work your way forward from there. Or by going to the October link in the archives, you will find the beginning and can scroll forward from there.
This is how Fissure's fluke looked in 1986
And the picture below is how his fluke looked in 1987
The large patterns have remained the same. In 1986 his fluke had an orange tinge to it, probably from small diatoms clinging to his skin. He had gotten rid of them by the next year, but picked up what look like periwinkles. Enough had stayed the same so we knew it was the same whale.