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GRAY WHALE AND DOLPHIN PRESENTATION

General Introduction Welcome, Torrey Pines, Reserve. What animal? Where from (Bering Sea) and where to (Baja lagoons e.g. Scammons, San Ignacio) How far? (about 12 to 13K miles round trip). Migration Why? To give birth in warm waters. Can use a map to show migration route. Can cover order of pregnant females first down, last back, etc.

Speed- about 5 miles per hour average, can go 11 miles per

hour. Mammals have live birth What kind of animal is the Gray Mammals are warm-blooded. Mammals breathe, have lungs. Whale? What characteristics make it a mammal? Mammals have mammary glands, feed young milk. Mammals have hair. Whale is Cetacean.

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Name some other mammals Hope to get human mentioned. Where came from About 20 million years ago changed form land animal. Nearest land relative is pig family. Compare whale to child. Get a volunteer. I start at the top and work down. The gray whale has a fevv_ hairs on its chin. The baby has Hair and skin more hairs, on its snout (stimulat~ mother to release milk?) Sleek, really near black with barnacles (along for the ride) and lice (parasites). Eyes and eyesight Good eyesight. Relative positions of theirs and ours. Size of baseball (show them). 2 blow holes. Can speak about the shape and size of the blow, and what it is made of- expired air and water vapor and water that is displaced. Gray whales blow 3 times, about 30 seconds apart, before Nose and breathing. going down (sounding) for about 5 minutes, on average. Depending on the children, can go into the collapse of the lungs when diving. Don't appear to have sense of smell. Can compare to dolphin (1 blowhole) Size of tongue. Baleen (about 150 to 180 plates on each side, hanging from upper jaw. Made from keratin. How feed Mouth and contents.

• Bottom feeders. Stirs up sediment with snout.
• Take in lots of

water with krill, zooplankton 3 grooves allow expansion of (amp hi pods and crustaceans). mouth area.

• Tongue helps push water through baleen, then helps

swallow food.

• About 100 lb phytoplankton converts 10 lb

zooplankton, converts 1 lb gray whale.

• Don't eat very much during migration

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GRAY WHALE and DOLPHIN PRESENTATION

• Can lose 6 to 9 ton weight during migration, so need

to eat 1 to 2 ton per day during summer. Can compare to dolphin (toothed). Keep warm Blubber Energy reserve. Can show piece of foam. Stomach Gray whale has 4 stomachs. Hearing Ears about 12 to 18 inches behind eye. Beh:oioeatio:n. Need to "see" in murky water. Arms All bones are represented in the flippers. Flippers about 1 0 feet long. Bones, including backbone Lighter, spongier than ours'. Backbone modified to knuckles (help stabilize, like rudder). Legs Are residual bones, but mainly not present. About 12 feet. Flukes Cartilage. Up and down motion. Compare to fish, which is side-to-side. Fins Can compare gray whale to common dolphin. May see dolphins. Born after about 13 months (don't need to cover). No blubber. No barnacles or lice. Born tail first. Needs to be pushed to surface to breathe right away. Drinks about 50 gallons of milk per day. Baby Mother ejects milk, which is about 40 to 50% fat (consistency

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yogurt). Starts about 1 ton weight. Puts on up to 180 lb per day. Compare to children's size/weight. Feeds from mother for about 8 months, when about double size. Size of baby whale Get a couple of children to mark off with string. Female about 45 feet, male about 40 feet. Have docents help straighten the rope. Have one child at Size of adult gray whale snout; 2 children for flukes; 2 for eyes; 2 for girth of whale (about 6 feet diameter) and 2 for flippers beyond them; split rest between barnacles and lice, or have children as barnacles and adults as lice. Back to seats for usual pre-trail.

Whales are MAMMALS

• warm-blooded
• live birth
• breathe air
• mother provides milk from her body
• have hair

Compare whale body to student's body (Get models out for this.)

WHALE (Baleen whale) STUDENT

• Length: calf approx. 15 feet (tape)
• Measure student/ baby 20 inches

born live, tail first live-- preferably born head first adult: 45 feet female; 40 feet male 5-6112 feel

• Weight: calf- 1500-2000 pounds
• Ask student weight/ baby 8 pounds

adult- 20 to 40 tons (40-80,000 #)

• 100-200#
• Nose: located on top ofbody
• middle of

face pushed to surface by mother at first

• Eyes: baseball/ side placement (1 sided vision) -face front
• Neck: not able to turn head much at all
• can turn head quite a bit
• backbone and ribs: yes lighter than ours
• backbone: yes
• flippers: yes (Used for?) Bones inside
• arms (Used for?)
• hair: yes (take vote) Show later
• yes
• tail: yes, called flukes (no bones there)
• no (not requirement for mammal)
• teeth: baleen
• yes.
• drink mother' milk as calf
• drinks mother's milk as infant
• 50 gal. a day (gain 100-180# per day)

Be able to see a partial skeleton on a whale calf before the morning is over.

HABITS - ABILITIES

Eating- Compare eating styles and kinds of food Baleen vs. teeth (Show baleen) Milk's fat content and amount drinks in a day When and where the whale eats -Mostly for four months a year. In the cold seas north

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• Alaska. Can eat 1-2 tons daily (2000-4000 Ips)

Eats almost nothing during migration to lagoons of Baja California. Can lose 6-9 tons during migration. Blubber demonstration- 6 inches of fat around body (keep warm and energy reserve) Breathing -Knowing the pattern will help you in spotting and following whales from shore. 3 breaths at half minute intervals followed by a deep dive: Stays under for 3-5

• minutes. Surfaces and repeats the process endlessly (Demonstrate with models.)

Migration- Fantastic 6,000 mile swim at 3 mph- night and day 3112 6,000 mile return- with calves swimming on their own Hike, museum (Remind about voices and petting mounted specimens.) Docent leading group will have a booklet with pictures of some interesting whale

• information. Hope you are lucky enough see a whale spout
• r two or dolphins

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