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

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?

Free Science Classes

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.