Tag Archives: arctic

Virtual Research Mission blogs

Posted on by whaleweb

Celebration of Conservation and Creep into the DEEPEND Seamails™

Welcome Teachers. This month we’re posting some of the Seamails and activities from our most recent Virtual Research Missions: Celebration of Conservation and Creep into the DEEPEND.  We’ll post the email from the Science Team member, plus photos, videos, activities, Explorer mini-posters (bios) or other related information or links. For our programs, teachers pick and choose, mix and match the Seamails, photos, activities…etc. how ever you would like to use them with your class. (We put the blog — aka Seamail in pdf format for ease of use in the classroom.)

Here’s the first one from Dave Weller from  the Celebration of Conservation: Gray Whales, Elephant Seals, and Vaquita. Enjoy

Celebration of Conservation Highlights:

TEAM GRAY WHALE

(NOTE: For classroom use only. Seamails, photos, activities and other related curricula are copyrighted and trademarked and cannot be sold, posted, repackaged, or used in any other way without written permission of WhaleTimes, Inc. All Rights Reserved.)

News from Dudley

Posted on by Dudley

Humpback whale WhaleTimes Courtesy NOAA wbsmHi Kids,

I’ve been out at sea and saw one of my favorite whales, the humpback whale. These giant beauties can grow up to 48 to 62.5 ft. That’s longer than a train boxcar. Humpbacks weigh up to 80,000 pounds. Though they haven’t won any Grammy awards, humpback whales are famous for their songs — a kind of vocalization that lasts for hours. Like some award winning love songs, male humpbacks might sing to attract females .

Like other baleen whales, humpbacks migrate between feeding and breeding grounds. They eat krill, a tiny shrimp-like animal, plankton and small fish. Humpbacks are also known for their acrobatics, sometimes leaping completely out of it. Wow! Scientists think they might do this to clean pests from their skin or just for fun.

See you later,

Dudley

 

A little more about Walruses

Posted on by Dudley
Tusks and whiskers on a young walrus

Tusks and whiskers on a young walrus

Hi Kids,

A couple of you asked about my tusks. Handsome, aren’t they? My tusks are extra long canine teeth. Some day, they’ll be super long!

Walrus tusks can grow up to 3 feet and weigh as much as 12 pounds! That’s the weight of a small turkey! (so I’ve heard, we don’t have those in the Arctic.) Female walrus’ have tusks, too.

My tusks help determine my rank in the herd, that and my body size and how tough or aggressive I am. I also use them to pull myself out of the water, to break holes in the ice from below and to defend myself against other male walrus’ or even a polar bear.

That’s it for now. See you later.

Dudley