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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). Why? To give birth in warm waters. Migration 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 Mammals are warm-blooded. What kind of animal is the Gray Mammals breathe, have lungs. Whale? What characteristics make Mammals have mammary glands, feed young milk. it a mammal? Mammals have hair. ,. Whale is Cetacean. Hope to get human mentioned. Name some other mammals About 20 million years ago changed form land animal. Where came from 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 more hairs, on its snout (stimulat~ mother to release milk?) Hair and skin Sleek, really near black with barnacles (along for the ride) and lice (parasites). Good eyesight. Relative positions of theirs and ours. Eyes and eyesight 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 • Bottom feeders. Stirs up sediment with snout. Mouth and contents. • Take in lots of water with krill, zooplankton 3 grooves allow expansion of (amp hi pods and crustaceans). • Tongue helps push water through baleen, then helps mouth area. swallow food. • About 100 lb phytoplankton converts 10 lb zooplankton, converts 1 lb gray whale. • Don't eat very much during migration . Page 1

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 Energy reserve. Blubber Can show piece of foam. Gray whale has 4 stomachs. Stomach Ears about 12 to 18 inches behind eye. Hearing Beh:oioeatio:n. Need to "see" in murky water. All bones are represented in the flippers. Arms Flippers about 1 0 feet long. Lighter, spongier than ours'. Bones, including backbone Backbone modified to knuckles (help stabilize, like rudder). Legs Are residual bones, but mainly not present. About 12 feet. Cartilage. Flukes Up and down motion. Compare to fish, which is side-to-side. Can compare gray whale to common dolphin. May see Fins 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 of 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 snout; 2 children for flukes; 2 for eyes; 2 for girth of whale Size of adult gray 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 of 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 or two or dolphins 3