The votes are in! The most famous whale alive has now officially been named Mr Splashy Pants after a landslide poll hosted by Greenpeace. The name was the only one out of a list of 30 that didn't take itself too seriously, and the poll quickly became an online hit as it was passed around from one end of the Internet to the other.

Some of the other names for the Pacific Ocean inhabitant selected as the final thirty from over 10 thousand included Nurani, Malaya, Humphrey, Atticus and even Madiba - all of which received less than 4% percent of the votes while Mr Splashy Pants received a whopping 78% of the total.

The humpbacked whale is one of the several which have been tagged by scientists while travelling the Great Whale Trail, and the runner up names will be used to name the other whales under examination (but chances are people will only remember the alpha-whale while the others fade out into the background).

Mr Splashy Pants was pretty much a celebrity before he had an official name (even at the QuirkStation), and has already sparked more than its fair share of whale related web space, merchandise and fan clubs.