Callosities

Fin Whale/Cruise Ship Follow-Up

2009-07-31T10:41:00.000-07:00

After performing a necropsy on the 70 foot female fin whale hit by a Princess Lines cruise ship last week, it was discovered that the whale had a thin layer of blubber and no food in her stomach. While this could be due to the whale having offspring, and therefore a thinner layer of blubber, it was unlikely that the mature whale was reproducing at her age.

There is no word on whether or not the whale was dead when hit, but that information may come out after more tests are done in the next several weeks.

Bet You've Never Seen This on a Cruise

2009-07-27T16:10:00.000-07:00

A Princess Lines Cruise Ship pulled into Canada Place in Vancouver, B.C. last week. Unbeknown to them, they had an additional passenger. Well, can you call a 70-foot long fin whale a passenger if it's not on board? Sometime during the night the ship struck the whale and took it all the way in to the Vancouver harbor.

Chances are, the fin whale was either dead already or killed on impact -- a strike like that would probably break it's back -- but the whale has been taken to Canada's Department of Fisheries and Oceans in Sidney for a necropsy. After the scientists determine whether the whale was dead or alive when hit, they will sink it off the west coast of Vancouver Island so that it can support a group of critters called a whale fall community.

Click here for a Vancouver Sun video at the scene.

"Have you read the NY Times article yet?"

2009-07-13T16:43:00.000-07:00

The title of this post is the question I have gotten at least seven or eight times today. The article is Watching Whales Watching Us. The article begins...

"On the afternoon of Sept. 25, 2002, a group of marine biologists vacationing on Isla San José, in Baja California Sur, Mexico, came upon a couple of whales stranded along the beach."

It goes on to talk about the whales, beaked whales, that had stranded on Isla San José and how SONAR can have quite the impact on our marine mammal friends. Fascinating stuff that is also quite controversial.

Unfortunately, dear friends, the answer to the title question is, "No, I have not read the article yet." I have been working with a truly amazing and dedicated team of volunteers at the Port Townsend Marine Science Center. We have been working on putting together an online bone atlas for the skeleton of a transient orca that was filled with PCBs and DDTs. I think I only have room in my life for one stranded whale at a time! So, I do hope to get to the article soon, but for now, it will just have to remain bookmarked.

Migaloo the White Whale Returns

2009-07-05T09:16:00.000-07:00

The name "Migaloo" is an Aboriginal name for "white fellah," which is absolutely fitting for this humpback whale.

Migaloo, the white humpback whale, has made his return to the waters off of Queensland in Australia. This time, for the first time it seems, he has a friend. Scientists are hoping that his friend is of the female variety, of course.

For more info and a short video, click here.

American Cetacean Society Speaker Series

2009-05-16T18:19:00.000-07:00

If you are in the Puget Sound region, I highly recommend going to one of the events put on by the Puget Sound Chapter of the American Cetacean Society. The next one is happening on Wednesday, May 20th in Seattle, Washington. This free event is held in Room 6 at the Phinney Neighborhood Center (6532 Phinney Ave. N., Seattle). Doors open at 7 and the program begins at 7:30. See below for program description -- and witty title!

Tales from the field: The lifestyle of a not so rich and famous marine mammal observer

Laura Morse, of NOAA Fisheries Service's National Marine Mammal Lab, will talk about what it's like to live in the field and her experiences on projects around the world. She will share photos, video and acoustic recordings of the rare and beautiful species studied and observed.

Laura Morse joined the Cetacean Assessment and Ecology Program at the National Marine Mammal in the spring of 2008. Laura is the field team leader for aerial surveys conducted in the Beaufort and Chukchi Sea and provides support for additional field research effort within CAEP. Laura has degrees in biology and anthropology from SUNY, Buffalo, NY and is currently working on a Masters in Coastal Zone Management through Nova Southeastern University, Florida. Prior to joining NMML, Laura spent the past 14 years working as a marine mammal field biologist worldwide on aerial, shipboard and land/ice based projects. She has participated in multiple large scale cetacean abundance surveys throughout US waters, the Norwegian Sea, Southern Ocean, Western Pacific, Indian Ocean and Asian waters and has specialized experience in field identification, photo-id and passive acoustics. Laura's favorite hobby in the field is photography of marine life , images from her collection will be presented here.

What's the Story in Tobermory?*

2009-05-12T10:39:00.000-07:00

The story is that the Hebridean Whale and Dolphin Trust (HWDT) on the Isle of Mull in Scotland is currently looking for volunteers to help with the preparation of a harbor porpoise skeleton to be used for school visits. If you have ever wanted to spend three weeks in Scotland and learn about cetacean anatomy, this is a great opportunity.

According to the HWDT site, this project would involve:
-Handling bones
-Removing dead tissue
-Soaking bones in liquid and household chemicals (such as laundry powder)
-Drying out the bones
-Numbering, cataloguing and assembling the skeleton

The Isle of Mull is one of the western islands of Scotland, and is the second largest in the Inner Hebrides. I spent a snowy two days on Mull two years ago while on an internship in Edinburgh. Tobermory, on the Isle of Mull, is home to about 700 people, a whisky distillery, and a very colorful waterfront (see above). Oh, and there's some great cheese coming out of Mull as well, which you may be able to find at your local supermarket. (For example, New Seasons on NE 33rd Street in Portland, Oregon carries it from time to time.)

If this sounds like your cup of tea -- and Scotland has some great tea -- you should think about applying. Actually, the more I think about it, the more I want to skip on over to Scotland for a bit. I'll bet they're looking for someone sooner than I could be available though, so I'm putting it out there for you. What are you waiting for?!

*The title of this post comes from a children's show called Balamory, in which children sing, "What's the story in Balamory? Wouldn't you like to know!" Balamory is based on the burgh of Tobermory on the Isle of Mull, which is apparent from the beginning of the show.

The Whale Galaxy

2009-05-03T17:19:00.000-07:00

As a self-proclaimed geek, I subscribe to a variety of blogs and websites. I'm not just into whales; I also geek out over knitting, psychology, webcomics, and NASA's Astronomy Picture of the Day (APOD).

Today's featured picture is of the Whale Galaxy, also known as the Herring Galaxy or NGC 4631. (NGC stands for New General Catalogue, which is a catalogue of deep space objects.) The Whale Galaxy, which is a mere 25 million light-years from Earth, has been featured a couple of times on APOD, and each image is fascinatingly beautiful.

Most whales are quite large. This whale is as large as the Milky Way. Take that, Big Blue!

Whale Gear

2009-04-22T14:23:00.001-07:00

I just realized that the Puget Sound Chapter of the American Cetacean Society (ACS) has a merchandise shop! Looks great, especially considering that much of it features Uko Gorter's scientifically correct and artfully done cetacean art. At an ACS meeting a few months ago I snagged a copy of Uko's Marine Mammals of the Salish Sea mini poster. I laminated it -- to keep it nice and shiny -- and put it by my desk at work to remind me of some of the animals that are in our local waters.

"It came within inches."

2009-04-20T09:47:00.000-07:00

Photo by Brian Skerry

National Geographic photographer, Brian Skerry, recounts his experience photographing right whales. No, this is not new news, but this picture always takes my breath away. My favorite part of the interview is when he describes how it felt to be so close to such a creature...

It was amazing. I mean, I have to tell you there were days when I was at the bottom at 70 feet, and here comes this bus swimming down. I’m standing on the bottom, and as it comes down, I get on my knees, lean over backwards—my scuba tank is now digging into the sand. And of course their eyes are on the side of their heads, so it had to turn and look at me. It came within inches. Here’s this softball-size whale eye looking at me. But then it stops—stops on a dime. It’s just hovering there, and literally one flick of its tail, and it would have crushed me like a bug. But it doesn’t. It was just highly curious.

Skerry's photo above shows his assistant with a right whale. Quite close. Can you imagine being that assistant in that moment?

I just read...

2009-04-10T23:20:00.000-07:00

...this press release regarding the recent sonar near Haro Strait...

...and this article about sonar causing temporary deafness in dolphins...

...and this blog from the Marine Mammal Center, reporting a dead orca calf near Monterey Bay...

...which reminds me of the recent death of T44, a known transient orca. I wonder how that necropsy is going? It's quite rare to get a chance to study a transient in such detail. It wouldn't be surprising to discover that T44 was chock-full of PCBs, DDTs, and other toxins. I wonder how that will compare with the levels of toxins found in other transients and residents?

Orcas on Hydrophones? Nope, Just Sonar.

2009-04-08T14:59:00.000-07:00

Last night, on both Lime Kiln and Orcasound hydrophones, listeners were surprised to hear some peculiar sounds. Not the sounds of orcas, or the regular shipping traffic, but the sounds of human voices and mid-frequency sonar pings. I'm listening to the recordings made by Scott Veirs of Beam Reach now and it is quite clear that these sounds are not a part of the natural environment.

Jeanne Hyde of The Whale Museum contacted the Bellingham Coast Guard and confirmed that the Navy was doing exercises in Haro Strait. Scott Veirs recorded the sounds and created spectrograms of the human voices and sonar.

To listen to the recordings, go to the Lime Kiln or Orcasound hydrophone sites, scroll down through the archived sounds, and click on one of the most recent recordings with the words "voice" and "sonar" in the title.

Edited to add @ 4:15 pm: This story has now been covered by the San Juan Journal. Also, could the human voices be spies? Some folks, commenting Christopher Dunagan's blog, think that a numbers station could have been in use.

Whale Farming on NPR

2009-04-01T17:01:00.000-07:00

NPR airs a few comments from listeners about a previously aired story regarding whale farming. Apparently, one of the "farmers," Mr. Summers, had been teaching the whales to sing in harmony. He says, "In achieving three-part harmony in whale song, I think we we have tied nature's most wondrous sound to a great barber shop tradition." A NPR listener, however, had this to say: "Having studied music at college, I want Mr. Summers to know that what he calls three-part harmony is not. Two of the whales are plainly singing the same note. That may be clever, but it's not barber shop." Well, Mr. Summers wasn't having any of that, and he replied, "It wasn't that the whales couldn't sing in harmony, they were just too busy expressing their individuality. They weren't so tied to the group."

Touché, Mr. Summers, touché.

All joking aside, BBC News published a story about the possibility of a whale farm off the coast of Japan. That was in 2002, though, and I haven't heard anything about it since.

Can You Say "Irrawaddy" 6,000 Times Fast?

2009-04-01T14:01:00.000-07:00

According to Scientific American, the Wildlife Conservation Society has found about 6,000 of the rare Irrawaddy dolphins in Bangladesh...

...in the fresh waters surrounding the Sundarbans mangrove forest and in the nearby Bay of Bengal, areas where the WCS says little marine mammal research has previously been conducted. This discovery nearly doubles the estimates of the worldwide population for the rare dolphins, and represents the largest single population of the species.

Just think; if 6,000 Irrawaddy can be found in the waters around a mangrove forest, what other species could be alive that we don't know about? Makes me want to check in on the Census of Marine Life and see what else they've found since I last checked.

A Trip to NOAA

2009-03-30T08:23:00.000-07:00

Top of an orca skull viewed upside-down.

Last week, on a work-related trip, I got to see inside NOAA's National Marine Mammal Labs (NMML) in Seattle with resident researcher Jim Thomason as the wonderful tour guide.

The first areas Jim showed me were the tooth lab, scat lab (which smelled delicious), and collections of otoliths (fish ears) and cephalopod (octopus and squid) beaks from the scat of northern fur seals.

From there we went to the osteological collection and looked at a juvenile gray whale confiscated from a Hood Canal resident who didn't have permits. The next room was full of orca skulls, ribs as tall as Arvydas Sabonis -- who is 7'3" -- beaked whale skulls, and other cetacean miscellany. Many of the orca skulls were from the orcas captured in Puget Sound in the 1960s and 70s. Wow, there's some orca history to never forget.

Most of the shelves on the left held orca skulls.

Once I got over my fascination of the shelves of orca skulls, I saw a skull from one of my favorite whales -- a male strap toothed whale! These whales are so cool; the males have these two teeth -- almost two and a half inches in width -- that grow over their rostrum in old age, limiting the amount they can open their mouths. As a result, these whales have learned to use suction to get at their food.

Mandible of a strap-toothed whale.

On the other side of the collection we looked at skulls of polar bears, walrus, and crabeater seals -- which have these amazing plankton-sifting, prehistoric-looking teeth.

Wouldn't you love to have some teeth like these?

All in all it was a great trip to a place I never thought I would see. If you had told a 10-year-old me that I would one day see such a collection, I'm fairly certain I would have dropped dead on the spot. Jim was a fantastic tour guide, and I hope to be able to visit again.

Are We Listening?

2009-03-25T14:34:00.000-07:00

The bioacoustics research program at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology has a snazzy site that's all about listening for right whales in an effort to protect them from ship strikes. Once the buoys detect the sound of a whale -- including rights, humpacks and fins -- the recordings get sent back to Cornell where software and researchers identify the sound. If the sound is indeed a whale, ships in the area are notified and encouraged to slow their speed to avoid an unfortunate situation.

It's important for us to listen to the whales, especially if it helps us to understand them and avoid unnecessary injury and/or death. It's too bad, then, that this project is facing a budget shortfall and has had to pull the buoys that record the sounds. Hopefully this is not the end of the program. Only time will tell if the future will bring additional funding.

I wonder if we will see an increase in ship strikes now that the buoys have been lifted?

Blue Whales Don't Play Games

2009-03-09T22:24:00.000-07:00

But you can! National Geographic's new special, Kingdom of the Blue Whale, comes with several online interactive components. One of which is a game called Finding the Blue Whale, in which the player tags and tracks blue whales along their migration route. Another component is an in-depth exploration of these magnificent creatures. Compare the size and weight of a blue whale with other well known large objects, such as a space shuttle or the great T. Rex, discover the unique anatomical traits and behaviors, and learn about the threats facing blue whales. All in all, an extremely well done website for a deserving topic of study.

Hopefully the show will come out on DVD soon so that those without TV (i.e.; me and others out there) can check out this apparently awesome -- or so I've heard -- NatGeo special!

Another Stranding in Tasmania

2009-03-03T20:59:00.000-08:00

What is it about the waters around Tasmania that makes it so easy for pilot whales to strand? Whatever it is, it's been happening more and more in the recent months as the long-finned pilot whales migrate between Antarctic waters.

The latest stranding included nearly 200 animals on Naracoopa Beach on King Island in Tasmania. Most of the animals were pilot whales, but a few were bottlenose dolphins. Apparently, bottlenose dolphins and pilot whales often travel together. The two species have overlapping frequency ranges (pilot whales = 1 - 8 kHz, bottlenose dolphins = 0.2 - 160 kHz [pdf]), so it's possible that they could be communicating or even hunting together. It's not common for dolphins to strand, so they may have been reacting with the pilot whales.

As far as I've seen, none of the articles about the King Island stranding spotlight any cause, but most mention that Navy sonar can have an effect on whales in the area. My question is, have there been any sonar activities going on around King Island within the last few months? This seems to signal an increase in strandings, but the articles don't mention any use of sonar nearby.

Alternately, Dr. Vincent Janik, of the Sea Mammal Research Unit of St. Andrews University, has some ideas about fish abundance that may have had some effect, which is definitely worth looking into. Also, the Herald Sun has a slideshow of the volunteer efforts here. It will definitely be interesting to see what, if anything, comes out of all the recent strandings.

Orcas on Hydrophone!

2009-02-24T15:21:00.000-08:00

If you want to hear the Southern Resident Killer Whales of the Salish Sea right now... Go to OrcaSound.net, click on "Listen to OrcaSound on San Juan Island" (works on RealPlayer, iTunes, WinAmp), and hear some of our resident orcas! I hear at least J pod and, thanks to MarineTraffic.com, the cargo ship, Star of Sawara.

Right Whales, Blue Whales, and Orcas; oh my!

2009-02-23T16:34:00.000-08:00

Right whales got some CNN love with the help of the New England Aquarium's Right Whale Aerial Survey Team. Check out the team's blog for more on their visit with CNN. Apparently the whales were called "ugly" by CNN, but I don't think that's true at all! Right whales are very, very pretty. Don't you think?

Blue whales were featured in an article in the latest National Geographic magazine. The article -- called "Still Blue" -- takes readers on a journey to the Costa Rica Dome, an area of the ocean which, due to upwelling, brings the thermocline and lots of tasty critters up to the surface. The blue whales come to feast on nutrient-rich phytoplankton, and the researchers come to feast on knowledge. It's a win-win situation for all.

The Southern Resident Killer Whales (SRKW) passed by the Port Townsend Marine Science Center last Tuesday. Coincidentally, I was teaching a class of third graders about sound underwater and, as we listened to our hydrophone, we heard the orcas and reported to Orca Network. Since we were the first to report, we were even mentioned on the evening news! See the Port Townsend Marine Science Center's blog for more information on the experience.

Whew! How's that for your cetacean news download for the day?

Narwhals are Cool

2009-02-17T12:12:00.000-08:00

In an article on the BBC News site, called 'Arctic unicorns' in icy display, they have an awesome video that's just under two minutes long. Perhaps it's their streamlined body paired with their lengthy tusks, but there's just something about narwhals that is so awkwardly graceful. Or, rather, gracefully awkward? Whatever it is, they are absolutely fascinating.

What's even more awkward than a toothy tusk protruding from your top lip? Two toothy tusks, my friends. It's not a common occurance, that's for sure, but it has happened. I took the above photo about two years ago while visiting the Natural History Museum in London. I spent a too-short weekend visiting museums in London while completing an internship at Our Dynamic Earth, one of Scotland's leading science centers. Or, as they say, centres. This narwhal skull was one of the most fascinating things I saw that day.

Good Week for Orcas

2009-02-16T15:49:00.000-08:00

I've just received word from Susan and Howard over at Orca Network that there have been two new calves sighted with the Southern Resident Killer Whales (SRKW)! Here's what they have to say in their weekly report:

Ken Balcomb of the Center for Whale Research confirmed "there are two new calves (one in J and one in L), but we are not officially specifying mums yet. We are conferring with Dr. John Ford and our Canadian colleagues before stating possible mothers. We would like to have several encounters with the babies and their mothers before assigning because grandma's may also confuse things."

After losing seven members of the SRKW within the last year, the announcement of two new calves is fantastic. I'll keep my ears and eyes open for any more news regarding an increase in our resident orca population. It may take a while to confirm the mothers of these young orcas, but this is certainly a good sign. Until then, think happy thoughts for these whales!

Whale-Inspired Technology

2009-02-12T22:39:00.000-08:00

While Stumbling through the Internet the other day, I stumbled upon a website for a company called WhalePower. This company designs wind turbines that emulate the shape of humpback whales' tubercle-clad pectoral fins. You know, those bumpy things on the outside edge of their flippers? Right. So, in a 2004 article published in Physics of Fluids by Miklosovic, Murray, and Howle, the usefulness of the protuberances is discussed. Amazingly, in performance tests in wind tunnels, flippers with tubercles showed a significant increase in lift and decrease in drag. Guess these whales knew how to do it all along!

Free Science Classes

2009-02-10T18:15:00.000-08:00

Life-size orca painted by Allison Gravis and Lucy Carpenter, AmeriCorps members at PTMSC.

Allison, my coblogger at the Port Townsend Marine Science Center (PTMSC) blog, talks about the Free Science Classes that we're teaching the next two months at the PTMSC. The two classes are called Orca Communication and Sound Underwater. Lately I've been teaching the Sound Underwater class and realizing just how much kids love to scream when asked to make the loudest sound they can. This all comes back to sound measurement of course, using a decibel meter, and the kids have a blast imitating a pressure wave and identifying sounds from hydrophone recordings. Today was super windy, with a side of white caps, and we were able to hear the pilings squeak on the PTMSC hydrophone.

Teaching these classes is a lot of fun for me as well. Just the other day, a student announced, "I've been here before, and it's boring!" Then, about fifteen minutes into the Sound Underwater class, while we were creating a pressure wave, the same student said, "This is so much fun!" It's always good to see the tables turn like that.

Belyoga Whales

2009-02-07T08:48:00.000-08:00

How's this for a headline: Whales serve as backdrop for aquarium yoga classes

Yep, the Georgia Aquarium is now offering yoga classes in the same space as their beluga tank. I can't decide whether this is cool or just plain weird. Having never tried yoga, I can't say whether this would enhance the relaxed environment or not, but their yoga instructor seems to think it adds "peace and calm" to the atmosphere. I wonder if practicing yoga in the shark tank area would have the same effect...

Hope Spots

2009-02-05T18:15:00.000-08:00

Were you watching the live broadcast of TED Talks tonight? I hope so; Sylvia Earle is an amazingly effective speaker, whose passion for the oceans is contagious. As one of three TED Talks prize winners, she got to share her wish for the world with a global audience. Sylvia Earle's wish -- to create a global network of marine protected areas -- is certainly a big wish. But it is absolutely necessary! As Sylvia said, without the oceans, there would be no life on Earth. She likened this possibility to Mars. No ocean, and no life as far as we can see. We currently have only .8% of the world's oceans as Marine Protected Areas. That's it, and it's not enough. Sylvia calls these areas "Hope Spots." To save, restore, and revitalize these Hope Spots, we need to work together to make it happen.

As Sylvia says in her book, Sea Change, "You have to love it before you are moved to save it." Do we love the oceans enough? We should; we love existing, and we wouldn't exist without the oceans.

Hints of Time

2009-02-04T11:47:00.000-08:00

In a recent article on National Geographic News, scientists discuss the clues an early whale left behind. Two of these ancient whales, or archaeocetes, were found in the deserts of Pakistan nine years ago. One was a male. The other, a female, was pregnant. Of the many things these whales can tell us, one was that the calf was to be born head-first, indicating that the species was still dwelling on land at that time. Whales nowadays are born tail first, allowing them to swim right away. Therefore, this new species -- Maiacetus inuus -- must have come before whales that lived predominantly in the oceans.

Fossils are like time machines. Here are these remnants, these amazing leftovers, that can be seen today without having to have lived at that time. Fossils allow us to take a trip back to a former time, and imagine what it may have been like.

No Bones About It!

2009-01-13T19:32:00.000-08:00

In my last post I mentioned that I was preparing to work with Lee Post, aka "The Boneman." This is all in relation to my job as an AmeriCorps environmental educator at the Port Townsend Marine Science Center. It has been an amazing experience so far and I can't wait to see how the rest of the week turns out!

The last two days have been spent training volunteers to measure and photograph bones from our gray whale skeleton, which is used as a teaching tool, instead of being fully articulated as an exhibit. The trainings are all in preparation for an even bigger project at the marine science center -- the articulation and exhibition of a transient orca skeleton -- and I am so grateful that I get to be here in this time and place to be involved with this hands-on project.

Cervical vertebra from a juvenile gray whale. Photo taken on my camera phone of the experimental photography set-up.

Ever since working as an educator at The Whale Museum on San Juan Island, I had wondered what it would be like to articulate a whale skeleton. I read Lee Post's books on articulation, but never dreamed I would get to do any articulating myself. And now, some years later, I'm preparing to do exactly that; I'm training volunteers and learning about articulation from Lee Post himself!

Happiness is...

2009-01-11T15:43:00.000-08:00

...reading the new book on blue whales, Wild Blue, by Dan Bortolotti. (Preview it on Google Books here.)

...watching a slideshow on the Southern Resident orca population, put together by the folks at The Whale Museum in Friday Harbor. (Want more? See part two here.)

...getting a package with blacklight and blacklight-sensitive paint for creating a class activity on marine mammal echolocation.

...preparing to work with Lee Post -- "The Boneman" -- on a bone/skeleton articulation project.

...the anticipation of the Ways of Whales workshop on Whidbey Island at the end of this month, put on by Orca Network.

...getting another cup of coffee, which I'm off to do right now.

Doesn't take a lot to make me happy, does it?

121 Years

2009-01-08T22:39:00.001-08:00

Is it really 2009 already? I've been so swamped with work lately, writing curricula on orca communication and sound underwater, that I've hardly had time for anything else. As I type this I'm catching up on all my favorite marine science blogs and watching the live dissection of a great white shark. (Have you watched that yet?)

Philip over at the New England Aquarium's Right Whale Aerial Survey Blog reports that a North Atlantic Right Whale has been seen in the Azores by biologists at the University of the Azores Dept. of Oceanography and Fisheries. This observation marks the first time a right whale has been seen around there since 1888. That's 121 years since the last sighting! Also, it turns out that this specific whale had been seen and cataloged by the folks at the New England Aquarium as recently as September of 2008. Whoa. So cool!

As exciting as this news is -- and it is very exciting -- I'm even more impressed with the Right Whale Catalog that the New England Aquarium has put together. Maintaining this resource must be a huge undertaking, and I'm glad to see it readily available online. You know what they say: "Sharing is caring!"

Whale Workshop Weekend and Whale Song

2009-01-02T14:25:00.000-08:00

At the end of January, down at Camp Ocean Pines in Cambria, California there will be a Humpback Whale workshop, led by scientist and co-founder of the Whale Trust, Dr. Jim Darling. Dr. Darling's current research is on the function of Humpback songs, which he studies from the Hawaiian island of Maui. Lucky guy!

I wonder if Dr. Darling has read Fluke by Christopher Moore? In the book, the characters figure out that the songs of Humpbacks can be translated into binary, and from that into English. What, you don't think that's possible? I would love to see someone try. I can see the article title now, "It actually means something!: Humpback song translated into binary code," or, "It has nothing to do with mating: What it really means and why they want to play Wii so bad."

Okay, who's going to help me get the Humpback/binary project started? First we'll need funding...

Disentangling Whales

2008-12-29T15:22:00.000-08:00

I love the Internet. I love awesome websites. What I love most is when people on the Internet send me awesome websites. So, when Jives over at The New Blue sent me the link to the New England Aquarium Research Team site, I was pretty darn excited! Here's a group of people, so driven to help protect Right Whales, that they get out on the water and disentangle fishing gear from the whales. Let me say that again, they disentangle fishing gear from whales. Wow! How do I get a job like that?

With so many human-created dangers out there, it's a wonder the worldwide whale populations are not even worse off. With abandoned fishing gear littering the ocean and starving Southern Resident Orcas, there is so much set against the mystical megafauna. I'm thankful that there are people making an effort to even out the playing field. One whale at a time is much, much better than nothing.

A Pet Peeve

2008-12-23T22:25:00.000-08:00

Every now and then I like to mix my interests of crafting and marine biology and check out what creative marine biology-related crafts people are coming up with. I'm also a fan of Etsy, and their searchable site makes it easy to find what I'm looking for. Most of the crafts that feature whales are of the cutesy, cartoonified variety. You know the one I mean, right? It's the whale with an open mouth -- no teeth or baleen -- and no pectoral fins. Kind of like this one...

Well, I've learned to get over the misleading imagery of this whale design, but -- and here's where the pet peeve comes in -- I can't get over it when people make these designs even more scientifically inaccurate. For example, I was just browsing for some whale crafts, and found one that had a whale, like the one above, eating krill. I mean, come on! The whale looks most like a sperm whale, yet has no teeth, and would not intentionally be eating krill! (Sure, a sperm whale might ingest some krill while getting other food, but that's not the point.) It doesn't make sense, but I'm not going to message the person to tell them that this cute thing they've designed and put so much work into is wrong. I'm just not that kind of person. This type of inaccuracy seems to be contagious in the world of crafts, which is why scientifically correct crafts make me so happy when I see them.

Here are some of my favorite artist-designed, marine biology-related items:

Angler Fish shirt at Squidfire.com

Whale Huggers poster by Don McMichael at The Whale Museum

The "I Feel Pretty" Giant Isopod totebag at Questionable Content

Nudibranch Soft Sculpture by Weirdbuglady on Etsy

Arctic Print by SepiaLepus on Etsy

Whale Tails Shadow Puppet Set by Orangemoontoys on Etsy

Do you have any favorites?

10,000 Kitty Cats!?

2008-12-16T21:32:00.000-08:00

The new Sant Ocean Hall at the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History is an intense visual experience. They've done a lot to immerse visitors into the realm of oceanic wonder. The hall itself is rectangular with the entrance off the first floor rotunda. My first instinct was to look up; the ceiling spans two floors and there are many things to see above the floor exhibits.

The most eye-catching exhibit is Phoenix, a model of a resilient Northern Right Whale. At one point in her life, she was entangled by a mess of fishing line, but she made it out fine -- save for some scarring on her fluke and bottom lip. All these scars were visible on the model as well.

All through the hall, a graphic of Phoenix accompanied a word bubble with text pointing out a key fact about that exhibit. Often there would be a follow-up question to the visitor, or a humorous anecdote. For example, one of Phoenix's bubbles stated that an adult Northern Right Whale weights 140,000 pounds, which is equal to twelve African Elephants or 10,000 kitty cats!

Along with general species information, the biological exhibits had three main questions emblazoned on the cases:

1) Where does it live?
2) Is it big (or small)?
3) What is it related to?

It was easy to see the main education objectives of the exhibit developers.

One of my favorite exhibits was on vertebrates, and compared the largest -- Blue Whale -- with the smallest -- the Goby. To reach the weight of a Blue, one would need 155,000,000,000 gobies. That's a lot of gobies!

Tere tohora, tere tangata

2008-11-30T19:53:00.000-08:00

Translated from Maori as, "Where whales journey, people follow."

This was the subtitle for the whale exhibition at the National Geographic Museum in Washington D.C. It was so artfully, skillfully, factually put together -- like walking into the pages of National Geographic, but much more interactive. The exhibition's acceptance of cultural traditions were wonderful and something that National Geographic has come to be known for.

The central exhibit was two sperm whale skeletons; one, a large male and the other a mature female with weakened bones. It was fascinating comparing the two to one another, side by side. Directly underneath the skeletons were some sort of black plexiglass and small lights. This created two wonderful effects that added a reflection of the skeletons from underneath, as well as producing dramatic shadows upon the ceiling.

In one corner of the room stood a small cave-like room. Once inside, I realized that the cave was shaped like the interior of a sperm whale's head. Towards the front was a screen that played a simulation video of a sperm whale diving for a squid, called "Search and Destroy." Like the rest of the exhibition, this film was exceptionally well done. It made no use of vocal narration and allowed visitors to focus on the whale's task.

A series of short films on "Whale People" were scattered around the perimeters of the room, spotlighting a few different people who study whales in New Zealand. Some were locals, others were foreign researchers who have come to love the country as well as the whales. Each video was a glimpse of the life of someone who lives in New Zealand and studies whales.

It's too bad I don't live nearer to D.C.; I would have enjoyed another visitor or two (or three!) to the Tohora exhibition. One day I'd like to go one better than an exhibit; one day I'd like to go to New Zealand and see for myself!

Whales on Hydrophones

2008-11-25T12:22:00.000-08:00

So, where are the whale exhibit reviews? They're a-comin', I promise! In fact, some of them have been written up in my paper journal and are just waiting to be typed up here. Until then, my friends, check out Orcasound.net, the hydrophone network of the Salish Sea. For most of this morning I was listening to distant calls of orcas on the Lime Kiln hydrophone. That's got to be some of the best background music to listen to while writing curriculum about orca communication -- which, incidentally, is what I've been doing all morning. Take care, and let me know if you hear anything on those hydrophones!

Whales on the East Coast

2008-11-17T20:15:00.000-08:00

In less than 24 hours I'll be boarding a plane back to Seattle after spending a wonderful few days on the east coast, mostly in New York City and Washington DC.

After visiting a few museums -- American Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History, and the National Geographic Museum -- I'm reminded of how important museological collections are to society. Seeing the Blue Whale in AMNH, the Northern Right Whale in the Smithsonian, and the Tohora exhibit at the NatGeo were all enlightening experiences. Not just for what I learned from the exhibitions themselves, but also from observing the interactions of fellow visitors, especially with regards to kids. Hearing parents interpret text panels, kids ooh and aah over the size of Big Blue, and seeing kids climb inside a model heart of a blue whale -- all of these interactions confirmed the important roles of collections and interpretation of collections to me. Even in the current Internet/TV age that we live in, it is becoming increasingly important to experience as much as we can in the flesh, instead of on the screen.

I'll be posting on each museum experience over the next few days. Keep your eyes peeled. =)

Belated Exploding Whale Day

2008-11-13T11:54:00.000-08:00

There are three types of exploding whale. One is an explosion triggered by the natural buildup of internal gasses, while another is by using dynamite. The last is the kind where children sit around eating sandwiches and watching it explode. Okay, so that last one doesn't really happen all that often, but my friend, Kevin Arnold of the Robopocalypse Comics Collective, created an image so relevant, it's needs to be in this post.

Art by Kevin Arnold, 2008
(Click for full-size image.)

Yesterday marked the 38th anniversary of the explosion of a whale near Florence, Oregon. If you haven't seen the video I definitely recommend viewing it as soon as possible. The reporter in the video, Paul Linnman, still remembers "making his way out of the area as huge chunks of blubber fell everywhere." Yes, these huge chunks of blubber even traveled a quarter mile away and rained down on the land, including an unfortunately smashed in car. Luckily, no one was hurt, although they all went away with little souvenirs -- dead whale particles all over themselves. Sounds fun, right?

Now, for the other type of exploding whale, we can turn to a sperm whale in Taiwan in 2004. This whale had died naturally and was simply being carted off to a research facility to be necropsied. The problem? Well, have you ever tried to relocate a whale on a flatbed truck? Sadly, the Physeter macrocephalus couldn't hold the gas in long enough, and exploded on the streets and people nearby.

A couple years before that, in 2002, a mature female orca beached near Dungeness Spit in Washington. The Seattle PI reports, "The necropsy, performed on a trailer, was neither pretty to see nor pleasant to smell. Scientists from state, federal and private organizations cut off the head, which almost exploded with gas when first punctured." Lucky for the scientists and people gathered around, there was no explosion to be had.

An Introduction to Callosities

2008-11-12T11:58:00.000-08:00

What are callosities?
Callosities are roughened patches of skin found on the Eubalaena genus of whale, more commonly known as the Right Whale. These patches can be likened to the calluses that can be found on our own feet or hands after some especially harsh activity, such as a long hike or trying to open a stuck lid of a jar. The callosities themselves are not white -- they're gray -- it's the "whale lice" that lives on and around these callosities that give the right whales their patchy white appearance.

What is whale lice?
Whale Lice, believe it or not, is not actually lice in the way that we humanoids think of them. They're actually a crustacean, like crabs and shrimp. Scientifically known as three different species -- Cyamus ovalis, C. gracilis, and C. erraticus -- these "lice" occupy the callosities of right whales while feeding on dead skin. What a treat!

Why, then, is this blog called 'Callosities'?
There are so many amazing, fascinating, extraordinary things to know in this world. There is so much that we humans don't know, but we're taking steps to learn every day. When someone asks me about whales -- which happens quite frequently, as I seem to have a growing reputation as someone who knows things about whales -- I try to tell them something they haven't heard before. Often this leads to me excitedly describing callosities and whale lice.

We've all been told to "save the whales," but I think that many people feel bombarded with so much do this and do that that it can be easy to forget the intelligence and beauty of these majestic megafauna, and how we can appreciate them as a creature in our world.

And so, future readers, I hope you enjoy this blog for what it is: An attempt to reach more people and share the wonder that whales bring to our world every day.

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For those interested in learning a bit more, I suggest you head over to The Other 95% for a great post about callosities and whale lice. Enjoy!