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The Great Whales

A Curriculum for Grades 6–9

Vicki Osis
and Susan Leach Snyder, Rachel Gross, Bill Hastie, Beth Broadhurst
Oregon State University Marine Mammal Program
The Great Whales
This curriculum was produced for the
Oregon State University Marine Mammal Institute
Dr. Bruce Mate, Project Director

Acknowledgments
Contributions and assistance from the following people and organizations
made production of this curriculum possible.

Copyright © 2008 Oregon State University Marine Mammal Institute

Funded by a grant from the

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Ocean Explorer Program

Artists Reviewers Assistance with

Pieter Folkens Barbara Lagerquist scientific data
Laura Hauck David Mellinger Dr. Douglas Biggs
Tai Kreimeyer Sharon Nieukirk Dr. John Chapman
Craig Toll Dr. William Kessler
Reviewers/writers Dr. Bruce Mate
Photography/illustrations Beth Broadhurst
International fund for Animal Bill Hastie Field testers/reviewers
Welfare Susan Leach Snyder Jesica Haxel
San Diego Natural History Rachel Gross John King
Museum Tracie Sempier
Design, layout, Christian Tigges
Cover photo and editing Eugene Williamson
Pieter Folkens Cooper Publishing Theda Hastie
Contents
1. Purpose of the Curriculum....................................................................................... 3
2. Introduction to Whales.............................................................................................. 5
Activity 1: Whale Facts.............................................................................................. 5
Activity 2: Are Whales Mammals?........................................................................... 7
Activity 3: Whale Families and Scientific Names................................................. 9
Activity 4: Whale Adaptations...............................................................................15
Activity 5: Suckers, Skimmers, and Gulpers.......................................................18
Activity 6: Baleen Types..........................................................................................18
Activity 7: How Much Do Whales Eat? ................................................................21
3. Whale Habitats..........................................................................................................23
Activity 8: Identifying Whale Habitats.................................................................25
4. Exploitation of Whales.............................................................................................28
Activity 9: Whale Populations Then and Now....................................................32
Activity 10: What’s Your Opinion?........................................................................34
Activity 11: Early Whale Management ................................................................35
Activity 12: Lessons Learned from the Whaling Experience...........................37
5. Current Threats to Whales.....................................................................................40
Activity 13: People and Whales..............................................................................44
Activity 14: Whale Conservation Issues...............................................................51
Activity 15: Bioaccumulation of Toxic Chemicals.............................................53
6. Whale Investigations................................................................................................55
Activity 16: Sperm Whales in the Gulf of Mexico..............................................58
Activity 17: Whale Tails...........................................................................................64
Activity 18: Humpback Whale Migration Game.................................................70
Activity 19: Recovery or Loss.................................................................................81
Activity 20: Baby Blues............................................................................................87
Activity 21: Build a Costa Rica Dome...................................................................90
Activity 22: Whales: the Inside Story....................................................................98
Activity 23: Whaling Debate................................................................................ 103
Activity 24: Design a Research Project............................................................. 110
7. Whale Research...................................................................................................... 111
Activity 25: The SoFar Channel (a demonstration)......................................... 116
Activity 26: What’s that Sound?......................................................................... 116
Activity 27: Mapping Hidden Objects............................................................... 117
8. National Standards, Science Process, and Learning Skills............................ 118

The Great Whales

T he protection of whales has

moved well beyond ending
commercial whaling. Current
whale conservation issues are com-
Curriculum Design
This curriculum is intended for
teachers interested in a whale unit
plex and directly related to human for their 6th- to 9th-grade classes.
activities that impact ocean habitats Teachers can select individual activi-
on which the whales depend. ties and materials for instruction or
work through them sequentially from
The aim of this curriculum is to focus beginning to end.
on research efforts to expand human
knowledge about marine mammals. The content of the material provides
We can’t save whales unless we under- an introduction to marine mammals
stand what whales need to live—their with a focus only on the great whales.
life habits and habitat needs. Through It is divided into eight main sections:
a variety of activities, this curriculum
explores whale biology and ecology ■ Introduction and Purpose of Cur-
topics and discusses methods being riculum
used to study whales. Also covered ■ Introduction to Whales
are current conservation issues and
concerns, as well as other topics such ■ Whale Habitats
as exploitation and general informa-
■ Exploitation of Whales
tion about whales. Charts matching
curricula contents to National Science ■ Current Threats and Hazards
Content Standards and science pro-
cess and essential learning skills are ■ Whale Investigations
also included. ■ Current Whale Research
Whales are the largest mammals on ■ National Standards, Science Pro-
Earth, yet we know very little about cess, and Learning Skills
them. They are totally aquatic and
therefore difficult to observe and Concepts,
study. The most accessible are those
that come close to land, such as gray understandings, We know very
whales. For most whales, we do not and skills little about
have basic biological information, This curriculum utilizes science
such as where they go to birth their process skills including recalling, most species
calves or where their favorite feeding observing, comparing, classifying, and of the great
areas are located. We know that many estimating. Most of the activities de- whales.
whales make long migrations from velop thinking skills such as inferring,
summer feeding ground to winter predicting, analyzing, and applying
calving areas, but for most whales, information to other issues. Basic sci-
we do not know the routes traveled. ence concepts are included through-
Accurate counts to determine whether out the curriculum. These include:
whale populations are recovering or
■ Ocean habitats (how they are dif-
shrinking are difficult to gather. These
ferent from land habitats)
questions and many others are the
focus of whale studies today.

The Great Whales

■ Taxonomic structure and divi- ■ How scientific studies are con-

sions for whales ducted
■ Adaptations of whales, both ana- ■ Technology used to study whales
tomical and behavioral
■ Exploitation of natural resources
Interdisciplinary
■ Human impact on marine habitats To understand the world around
them, students need a wide range of
■ Challenges for marine conserva-
skills and knowledge. Understanding
tion
organisms and natural systems is not
■ Energy flow through ecosystems a single-discipline effort. The les-
sons in this curriculum are delivered
■ Bioaccumulation of toxic chemi- through the use of biology, geogra-
cals in marine animals phy, geology, math, and physics.

The lessons
in this cur-
riculum are
delivered
through the
use of biol-
ogy, geogra-
phy, geology,
math, and
physics.

The Great Whales

W
hales! They are the largest Materials
mammals on Earth—even
larger than the largest dino- c Paper and pencil
saur. Whales live their entire lives in c Computers
water. Their weight would crush them
without the water to support their c Reference books
bodies. They have a fishlike shape, but
their tail fins—called flukes—are hori-
c Bulletin board with craft paper or
large notebook
zontal rather than vertical, and they
have paddle-like front limbs, called
flippers. Their skin is smooth and Subjects
glossy and, depending on the species, ■ Biology
may be black, white, gray, and bluish.
Some are marked with a variety of ■ Communications
colors, from cream to yellow. Beneath
the skin is a thick layer of fat, called Time
blubber, which serves as a source of Homework assignment: allow three
stored energy and insulation. Despite days
their enormous size, they feed on
some of the smallest organisms in the Teacher information
sea. Favored foods include copepods
Bulletin board, class Whale
and euphausiids (also called krill), or
schools of small fish. book, or class Web site
This activity allows students to
Whales are found in all oceans of the choose their favorite whale and gather
world. They are widely distributed, information into a fact sheet format.
and a single species may be broken As they are preparing the fact sheet,
into several different stocks. A stock suggest that they gather “fun” facts
is a group of whales that are geo- about whales that can be used in the
graphically isolated from other mem- project, such as: bowhead baleen is
bers of their species. For example, the twice as long as a six-foot-tall human.
Alaskan stock of humpback whales
travel to Hawaii for the winter months The great whales are always of in- Despite their
and they do not mix with the Antarc- terest to students. Great whales are
those of great size, including the gray, enormous
tic stock of humpbacks that migrate
to Tonga for winter and calving. humpback, right, blue, sperm, bow- size, whales
head, fin, sei, Minke, pygmy right, and
feed on some
Bryde’s whales. Within this group, the
size varies greatly from species to of the small-
Activity 1: species. The smallest, the pygmy right est organisms
whale, grows up to 8 meters, while
Whale Facts blue whales reach 30 meters in length.
in the sea.
The last four are not well studied; less
Concepts information about these is available
Each whale species has distinctive to students.
characteristics and behavior patterns.
There are close relatives of the great
whales identified as dwarf and pygmy

The Great Whales

species. Examples include the dwarf The fact sheets can be organized in
and pygmy sperm whale, dwarf any number of ways that suit the
Minke, and pygmy blue whales. From class needs:
the selection of the dwarf and pygmy ■ Display fact sheets on a bulletin
species, only the pygmy right whale is board. Frame the bulletin board
reviewed in this curriculum. with strips of butcher paper.
Attach to the border interesting
The Internet is a good source of facts about whales.
information. Before students begin
a Web search for whale information, ■ Develop a bulletin board on each
provide a brief introduction to search whale and rotate the display at
engines and to selecting reliable Web set intervals. Teams of students
sites. Good sources include NOAA may pick their whale and use fact
(National Oceanic and Atmospheric sheet information to build the
Administration) or state and federal display.
fisheries agencies, the American Ce-
tacean Society, and the International ■ Develop a class whale Web site,
Whaling Commission. Also, Web sites using fact sheet information.
approved by NSTA (National Science ■ Place the sheets into a “Class
Teachers Association) and the BRIDGE Whale Book.” Whale “fun facts”
links to Web sites that have been can become section dividers for
screened by experts have good infor- the book.
mation. “Debbie’s Favorite Whales”
or “Mrs. Smith’s fourth grade class” While progressing through the whale
whale Web sites will likely have less study, students will be referring back
reliable information. Ask students to to the sheets for various information
list the Web sites or books they used or use them in other activities, such
to gather information. as Activity 3: Whale Families.

How to reference Classification of whales

a Web site Whales are mammals and share
Citation styles vary, but they should certain features with mammals, such
list author (if available), title, date as being warmblooded and giving
they retrieved the site, and URL. Ex- birth to live young. Because whales
ample: are aquatic mammals, they are classi-
Whales share Nature’s Humpback Whales: Retrieved fied in the specific order of Cetacea,
January 13, 2004, from http://www. making them a cetacean. Suborders
certain fea- are used to make the major division
pbs.org/wnet/nature/humpback/
tures with between toothed whales (odonticeti)
Fact sheets should include all or most and baleen whales (mysticeti). Odon-
mammals,
of this data on the each of the whale ticetes have jaws lined with pointed
such as being teeth that are used in hunting fish,
species selected for study.
warmblooded squid, and other prey. Mysticetes (ba-
■ Size and weight leen whales) lack teeth. These whales
and giving use giant, flexible combs of material
■ Color
birth to live called baleen to filter small fish and
young. ■ Food tiny crustaceans from the water.
■ Reproduction Work through the following activities
■ Distribution and migration to learn how whales are classified into
various divisions.

The Great Whales

■ Warmblooded
Activity 2: ■ Give birth to young
Memoriza-
tion of facts
Are Whales ■ Mammary glands, with which they is necessary
for learning
Mammals? suckle their young
science. Memo-
■ Four-chambered heart rization can be
Concepts made easier
Scientists use anatomical characteris- Note: All species of whales have several and fun with
tics to sort and classify organisms. hairs, either as embryos or as adults, with rhymes and
a few sparse hairs located on the snout, songs.
jaws, or chin. Whale mothers produce
Materials 100–130 gallons of milk per day that is 55
Features of a
c Chalkboard percent fat (like whipping cream!). mammal, to
a rap beat:
Subjects Where do whales fit in It’s got a hard
backbone,
■ Biology the animal kingdom? Hair on its skin,
All organisms are divided into groups Nurses from its
by features they have in common. mama,
Time From large divisions to very small di- And it’s warm
15 minutes visions, Earth’s organisms are divided within.
into Kingdom, Phylum, Class, Order, A whale is a
Teacher-led discussion Family, Genus, and Species. mammal,
Make a list of the characteristics of But a snake is
mammals and discuss with students It is difficult to remember the proper not,
whether they think these characteris- sequence of classification. Help You can tell a
tics also apply to whales. students commit facts to memory mammal by the
kind of things
with learning aids. They can use this
All mammals have these characteris- it’s got.
memory booster: Kings Play Chess
tics: On Flat Green Spaces. Or they can A four-cham-
make up their own rhyme or sentence bered heart
■ Hair And lungs to
to remember the proper sequence of
■ Breathe air with lungs breathe
kingdom, phyla, class, order, etc. A whale is a
mammal
Order It’s all there to
Division Division name Common features Cetaceans see.
Kingdom Animalia Animals This group- Have students
ing includes make up their
Phylum Chordata With a spinal cord whales, own rhymes
Class Mammalia Warmblooded, nourish dolphins, or songs to
young with milk and por- remember sci-
poises. The ence informa-
cetaceans tion.
Order Cetacea Entirely aquatic
are divided
Suborder Mysticeti Have baleen into two
Family Baleanopteridae Have throats with deep suborders:
grooves Odontocetes
(with teeth)
Genus Balaenoptera Six of the seven rorqual and Mysti-
whales are this genus, cetes (with
including blue whales baleen).
Species Musculus True blue whale

The Great Whales

Odontocetes have various numbers down from the gums of the upper
Memorization of identical conical or spade-shaped jaw. The baleen plates are arranged in
by teeth that are used to grasp food, rows that extend down each side of
association primarily fish or squid. the mouth.
Long lists are
difficult to Mysticetes use giant, flexible combs The chart below lists a few of the
remember, but of a material called baleen to filter many characteristics that divide the
association small fish and tiny crustaceans from two suborders.
of facts with the water. Stiff plates of baleen grow
some feature
will make recall
much easier.
Differences between Odontocetes
For example,
and Mysticetes
for character- Anatomical Toothed Baleen
istics of baleen features whales whales
whales: Symmetry of skull Asymmetrical Symmetrical (both
halves are same)
Baleen whales
have three Feeding structures Teeth Baleen
stomachs. Stomach divisions Three to 13 Always three
Associate with
three e’s in the External blow holes One Two
words “baleen Digits in hand Five Four (five in right
whales.” whales)
Hair is always Wax ear plug Not present Present
present on
Hair Present in fetus Always present on
adults. Baleen
adults
whales are
mysticetes, Larger sex Males largest Females largest
which means Food Squid, fish Plankton, small fish
mustache.
Remember,
baleen whales
have hair on
their bodies as
adults.
Encourage
students to de-
velop their own
lists of associa-
tions.

The Great Whales

Subjects
Activity 3: ■ Biology
Whale Families and
Time
Scientific Names 20–30 minutes

Concepts Procedure
■ Animals are divided into groups Whales are divided into smaller and
with common characteristics. smaller groups until they are sorted
into groups that all have the same
■ Scientific names are assigned, characteristics (species level). Families
using Latin and Greek words that of whales have similar features. Check
describe the organism. over the chart below to see how they
are divided into families.
Materials
Have students refer back to their fact
c Paper and pencil sheet and assign their whale to the
c Framework for families proper family. Use the description
of family characteristics to match to
c Description of whale families their whale.

Teacher key to student worksheet #3

Suborder Mysticeti Genus Family Characteristics
Rorqual Family These whales have throat grooves that extend
Blue whales Balaenoptera from the mouth to the flipper area or further. The
Fin whales Balaenoptera folds of skin and blubber expand the capacity of the
Humpbacks Megaptera mouth during feeding.
Sei Balaenoptera
Bryde’s whale Balaenoptera
Minke Balaenoptera
Pygmy right whale Caperea

Gray Whale Family Members of this family have no dorsal fin or throat
Gray whales Estrichtius grooves. They have two to seven short, deep creases
on their throat.

Right Whale Family Members of this family lack throat grooves. They
Right whales Eubalaena have very large heads that make up 1/3 of their total
three species body. They also have very long baleen.

Suborder Odontoceti
Sperm Whale Family This group of whales has a huge, squared head that
Sperm whale Physeter makes up over 35 percent of the total body. It has a
skull depression filled with a fine oil called spermaceti.
Pygmy sperm Kogia This is the only great whale family that has teeth.

The Great Whales

Blue whale
(Balaenoptera
musculus)

Gray whale
(Eschrictius
robustus)

Northern right
whale (Balaena
glacialis)

Sperm whale
(Physeter
macrocephalus)

The Great Whales

10 Copyright © 2008 Oregon State University Marine Mammal Institute

Introduction to Whales Student Page
Name Date

Student Worksheet #3
Whale family chart instructions
1. Compare the family characteristics below with the pictures of the whales on page 10. Select the
family that best matches the whale’s features. Complete the sheet by putting the whale into the
correct family.
2. Place the whale from your whale report into the proper family.
3. Match the following whales to family characteristics and complete the chart: humpback, bow-
head, fin, sei, pygmy right, minke, and Bryde’s whale. Use the Web to gather information about
each species of whale.

Suborder Mysticeti
Common Name Genus Family Characteristics
Rorqual Family
_______________ _______________ These whales have throat grooves that extend from the
_______________ _______________ mouth to the flipper area or further. The folds of skin
_______________ _______________ and blubber expand the capacity of the mouth during
_______________ _______________ feeding.
_______________ _______________
_______________ _______________
_______________ _______________

Gray Whale Family

_______________ _______________ Members of this family have no dorsal fin or throat
grooves. They have two to seven short deep creases on
their throats.

Right Whale Family

_______________ _______________ Members of this family lack throat grooves. They have
very large heads that make up 1/3 of their total body.
They also have very long baleen.

Suborder Odontoceti
Sperm Whale Family
_______________ _______________ This group of whales has a huge, square head that
makes up over 35 percent of the total body. It has a
skull depression that is filled with a fine oil called
spermaceti. This is the only great whale family that has
teeth.

The Great Whales

Scientific names are derived from

Activity 3 Continued: Latin or Greek and often use root
words to describe the organism. For
Scientific Names example, the name may describe the
animal’s appearance, behavior, or
Concepts locality where they are found. Some-
Latin and Greek root words are used times names are used to honor the
for scientific names and often de- person who discovered the organisms
scribe the organism. or an important person in science.

Materials Procedure
c Student worksheet ■ Instruct students to read through
“The Discovery of a New Species.”
Subjects ■ Analyze how scientific names are
■ Biology used to describe species.
■ Select a name for the new species
Time from the list of Latin and Greek
30 minutes roots.

Scientific names Teacher key to

Every different type of plant or animal
is assigned a unique scientific name. student worksheet #3
The use of scientific names estab- 1. Balaen = baleen
lishes a uniform system of identifica- Mysticetus = mustache
tion of organisms that scientists can Mustachioed baleen whale
use to communicate with one another. 2. Mega = big
Common names are easier to remem- Optera = wings
ber, spell, and understand, but there Nova = new
is no accepted system for assigning Angliae = England
common names. Big-winged New Englander

Scientific names consist of a genus 3. Balaen = baleen

and a species name. Carolus Linnaeus Optera = wings
invented the system, and it is referred Musculus = muscular
Common to as the binomial nomenclature or Muscular baleen whale with wings
names are the two-name system (bi = 2; nomial 4. Family: right whales, because of
= name). Genus places the animal or the size of its head and length of
easier to plant with a small group of organisms baleen.
remember, with similar characteristics, but the
5. Possible scientific names for the
spell, and species applies to one unique type of
new species:
organism. There may be many indi-
understand, Melanomusulus mysticetus
vidual members of the species but
Balaenomusculus albanoptera
but there is they have unique features that apply
Megacephalus acutoptera
only to them.
no accepted Novabalaena robustus
system for as-
signing com-
mon names.

The Great Whales

12 Copyright © 2008 Oregon State University Marine Mammal Institute

Introduction to Whales Student Page
Name Date

Student Worksheet #3
Scientific name examples
■ Sperm whale: Physeter macrocephalus. Physeter = spouter; macro = large; cephalus = head. The
name literally means “big-headed spouter.”
■ Northern right whale: Eubalaena glacialis. Eu = true; baleaena = baleen or whales; glacialis = icy.
The name means “true whale that lives in icy waters.”

Below are three whales and their scientific names. Analyze the scientific names. Use the list of Latin
roots to figure out the meaning of both the genus and the species names. Write what the name
means in the blank next to the scientific name. Use the example above as a guide.

1. Bowhead whale: Balaena mysticetus __________________________________________________________

2. Humpback whale: Megaptera novaeangliae ___________________________________________________
3. Blue whale: Balaenoptera musculus ___________________________________________________________

From the description below, place this new species of whale into one of the whale families and ex-
plain why you selected that family. Make up a genus and species name for the whale using the list
of Latin roots given below. There will be several choices that may be used to describe this whale.

Discovery of a new species:

4. Family _______________________________ Why this family?
5. Scientific name you have designated for this whale:
Genus ____________________________ Species ____________________________

Discovery of a new species

The following is NOT a true story. It is an exercise to illustrate how animals are categorized.

A new whale has just been discovered! Scientists have gathered information about this whale, but it
has not been classified or named as yet. It was discovered in the far northern waters in the icy Ber-
ing Sea off Alaska. The description they have gathered is as follows.
A. Very large, muscular whale—as large as a blue whale (specimen found was 100 feet long)
B. Black in color with long, white flippers
C. Lives near the ice floes in the Bering Sea
D. Has a high, arched mouth
E. Very large head, making up 1/3 of its body
F. Has extremely long baleen, up to 14 feet long
G. Its flukes have unusually long, sharp points
H. No throat grooves
I. Its back dorsal fin is 1/2 meter tall

The Great Whales

Latin roots and their meaning:

mysticetus = mustache melanus = black
musculus = muscular curvus = arched or bent
optera = wing or fin balaena = baleen
macros = large mysticetus = mustache
physeter = blower cephalus = head
dens = tooth acutus = sharp
eu = true mega (Latin) = big
glacialis = icy nova = new
pteron = wing robustus = strong
albus = white anglaie = England

Greek roots and their meaning:

physa = bellows gigas = big

The Great Whales

14 Copyright © 2008 Oregon State University Marine Mammal Institute

Introduction to Whales

■ Put a large line drawing of a whale

Activity 4: outline on the bulletin board or
the wall of the classroom. Assign
Whale Adaptations each student a part of the whale.
They are to go to the large draw-
Concepts ing, indicate the part they are as-
Whales have various adaptations for signed, and explain how that part
life in the oceans. helps a whale live in ocean waters.
Example: Fluke—large, flat tail of
Materials the whale. It is used for swimming
c Reading assignment and helps to whales to dive.

c Markers ■ Compare the whale to the dolphin.

What is similar and what is differ-
c Enlarged illustration of a whale ent about their adaptations?
Answer: Dolphins are smaller and
Subjects sleeker. They do not carry the big
■ Biology store of blubber that the great
whales do. Most great whales have
baleen. The dolphin has teeth. No-
Procedure tice the large mouth for the whale,
■ Instruct students to read through which strains huge gulps of water,
the adaptations below and list while the dolphin is a fish eater
them on the whale illustration. and has a smaller mouth.

Dolphins are
smaller and
sleeker, and
do not carry
the big store
of blubber
that the great
whales do.

The Great Whales

Student Worksheet #4
Read through each adaptation of the whale. Label each on the illustration. Draw the blow holes on
the whale and the dolphin in the correct locations. Compare the whale and dolphin. Do all adapta-
tions apply to both?

Adaptations
Body size—The large size of the whales provides the following advantages:
■ Protects them from predators such as sharks and killer whales.
■ Helps them retain body heat. This is due to a large volume (body core) in relation to a
smaller surface area where heat is lost.
■ Blubber stores energy, adds to the size, and helps with heat retention. Many whales feed
for only 4 to 5 months and rely mostly on blubber reserves the rest of the year.
Blowholes (Nostrils)—Openings to the respiratory system (nostrils) are located on top of the head,
which is the first part of the animal to break the surface of the water.
Body shape—Streamlined body shape to reduce drag as it moves through the water makes it more
energy efficient.
Front flippers—The forelimbs of baleen whales are called flippers. They are used for swimming and
turning and may be used by some species to herd food items for feeding.
Flukes—Each lobe of the tail is called a fluke. The flukes have no bones, just muscle and connective
tissue. Whales sweep their tails up and down to swim through the water.
Baleen—Baleen is made of the same material as fingernails and hair. It is an adaptation for filter
feeding. Baleen grows throughout the whale’s lifetime; the terminal end continually wears off.
Blubber—Thick layer of fat that stores energy and helps retain body heat in cold waters.

The Great Whales

16 Copyright © 2008 Oregon State University Marine Mammal Institute

Introduction to Whales Student Page

Feeding adaptations
Baleen whales are skimmers, gulpers (also called lunge
feeders), and suckers. Toothed whales are chompers.
Skimmers include the right whale family, whose mem-
bers are the right and bowhead whales. These whales
often feed near the surface, with their mouths open to
filter out small organisms called copepods and euphau-
siid (krill) for food. Skimmer baleen will be fine and
feathery, as these whales are only filtering krill or cope-
pods from the water.
Suckers include the gray whale family. When feeding,
gray whales roll on their sides with their mouths paral-
lel to the ocean floor. They pull their huge tongues into
the back of their mouths, sucking huge amounts of
mud, and everything in the mud, into their mouths. The
mouthful of mud and water is pushed through the ba-
leen to filter out the amphipods. Baleen for this method
of feeding will be tough, thick, and durable, as these
whales must filter mud and sand.
Gulpers are the rorqual whales. These whales have Dr. Bruce Mate holding gray whale baleen.
throat grooves that expand when they are feeding and
their mouths are filled with water. Their feeding behav-
ior is also referred to as lunging, as they propel through
the water to gather food. The water is gulped then
forced through the baleen, filtering out krill and small
fish. This baleen will be tougher than skimmers but not
as thick and tough as sucking baleen.

Chompers are toothed whales that catch squid and fish.

Killer whales are the only toothed whales that hunt
seals and sea lions—and even other whales—for food.
All their teeth are sharp and pointed; they have no flat
teeth for grinding, like the molar teeth of cows.

Favorite whale foods

Amphipod
(Amphelisca
macrocephala).
Krill (Euphasia superba). Actual size:
Actual size: 2.2 cm.
6.2 cm. (Illustration by Laura Hauck.)
(After Dickinsen
1983.)
Humpback feeding (gulping or lunge method)

Herring (Clupea harengus). Actual size: up to 33 cm. (Illustration by Laura Hauck.)

The Great Whales
Copyright © 2008 Oregon State University Marine Mammal Institute 17

Introduction to Whales

■ Have each group report (either in

Activity 5: writing or orally) on their method
of feeding, suckers, skimmers,
Suckers, Skimmers, gulpers, the food collected, and
the utensil they used.
and Gulpers ■ Identify which whale would use
Concepts this method of feeding.
Whales use several methods for feed-
ing.

Materials Activity 6:
c Small kitchen sieve with handle Baleen Types
c Turkey baster
Concept
c Large flat paintbrush Baleen is adapted to various methods
c Comb of feeding.

c Plastic ants or small plastic beads Materials

c Rice grains, pepper c Illustrations of whale baleen
c Large bowls of water with sand c Pencils
sprinkled over the bottom
Subjects
Time ■ Biology
15 minutes
Time
Procedure 20 minutes
Sprinkle plastic ants and pepper to
float in the bowls of water and add Procedure
rice grains to sink to the bottom.
■ Review again the types of baleen
■ Divide students into groups. from the discussion above.
■ Have them review the kitchen gear ■ Look closely at the drawings of
available and ask them to make the three types of baleen whales
predictions: which utensil will be and the food they eat.
the most efficient at collecting the
ants or the rice, pepper? ■ Read again the explanation of how
whales feed.
■ Direct students to collect the ants
and rice using the different uten- ■ Write under the whale baleen il-
sils and record which worked the lustration the type of feeding that
best on which food type. Refer it is best suited for: skimming,
back to their predictions to see sucking, or gulping.
how accurate they were.
■ Note which food each whale eats.

The Great Whales

18 Copyright © 2008 Oregon State University Marine Mammal Institute

Introduction to Whales Student Page
Name Date

Student Worksheet #5-1

Baleen shows interesting adaptations for the various types of feeding used by different species of
whales. The illustrations below show a comparison of baleen from bowhead, fin, and gray whales.
(Illustration by Laura Hauck.)

Questions
1. What are the most striking differences between the types of baleen?___________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________________________
2. What type of feeding behavior does each whale use?
Bowhead_____________________ Fin_____________________ Gray_____________________

Bowhead whale

Fin whale

Gray whale

Gray whale baleen.

Close up view of
gray whale baleen.
The Great Whales
Copyright © 2008 Oregon State University Marine Mammal Institute 19

Student Page Introduction to Whales
Name Date

Student Worksheet #5-2

Bristles show adaptations for the various feeding methods of whales. Compare the bristles of each
type of whale. Note the thickness of the bristles. (Illustration by Laura Hauck.)

Which is best for sucking and sorting food from sands and mud?_________________________________
Which is best for skimming fine krill from the water?_____________________________________________
Which is best for filtering gulped mouthfuls of water forced out through the baleen to capture
small fish and krill?________________________________________

A B C

The Great Whales

20 Copyright © 2008 Oregon State University Marine Mammal Institute

Introduction to Whales

energy that may last through the rest

Activity 7: of the year, when food supplies are
scare during their long migrations.
How Much Food
Toothed whales, on the other hand,
Do Whales Eat? feed on squid or fish. Sperm whales
feed on squid, including the giant
Concept squid, and have very large, cone-
Whales eat an enormous quantity of shaped teeth. They are believed to
food. feed year-round, although long, un-
predictable periods of no food supply
Materials are likely to occur. All toothed whales
c Paper have cone- or spade-shaped teeth.
This tooth shape allows the animal to
c Pencil capture and hold prey. A large sperm
c Copy of math problem whale eats an estimated 11/2 tons of
food per day (International Whaling
Commission Estimate).
Subjects
■ Math Teacher key to student
■ Biology worksheet #7
1. 15,291 liters filtered per minute
Time 2. 229.4 liters in one bathtub
15 minutes 3. 66.7 per minute
4. 4,002 per hour
Teacher information
Right and bowhead whales are ex- 5. 21/2 pickup loads
amples of skimmer feeders. Right 6. 5 pickup loads
whales eat tiny copepods that live on
the ocean’s surface and make feed-
ing dives for deeper swarms of prey.
Help students visualize
These whales skim the surface and measurements of
dive through the waters with their quantity
mouths partially open. There is a gap
A liter compared to a quart:
at the front of the mouth between the
Fill an empty 1-liter soft-drink con-
two rows of baleen. Seawater streams
tainer with water. Pour it into a 1-
through this gap and passes out
quart jar. Add the remaining water to
through the fringes of baleen, leaving
a measuring cup. How much more is a
behind the small organisms trapped
liter than a quart?
against the screen of baleen. Small
crustaceans, principally copepods and
Visualizing a ton:
euphausiids, form the diet of right
One ton = 2,000
whales. There is no evidence they eat
pounds. A large,
fish.
heavy-duty pickup
truck will carry
Some baleen whales feed for only 4 or 3
/4 ton. Imagine:
5 months a year when they are in cold
It would take two
polar or upwelling regions that are
loaded pickup
particularly rich in food. A large whale
trucks to feed one
swallows an estimated 2 tons of food
sperm whale per
a day and builds up a store of energy
day.
in the form of a thick layer of blubber.
The blubber is believed to store
The Great Whales
Copyright © 2008 Oregon State University Marine Mammal Institute 21

Student Page Introduction to Whales
Name Date

Student Worksheet #7
Right and bowhead whales filter 15,291 liters of water per minute. A bathtub holds 229.4 liters of
water.
1. How many bathtubs full of water equal the amount of water filtered by a right whale each min-
ute?
________ liters filtered per minute

2. How many bathtubs full would equal the amount of water a right whale can filter in 1 hour?
________ liters in one bathtub

3. How many full bathtubs need to be filtered each minute? ________ per minute

4. How many tubs are filtered per hour? ________ per hour

Having difficulty visualizing a liter? Fill a 1-quart jar with water. Empty it into an empty 1-liter soft-
drink container. Add the remaining water to a measuring cup. How much more is a quart than a
liter?

How many tons of food are consumed by filtering all that water?
Bowheads eat up to 2 tons per day.

A large pickup carries 3/4 ton of weight. One ton = 2,000 pounds.

5. How many pickup loads of food will the bowhead whale eat? ________ pickup loads

6. How many pickup loads of food will the blue whale eat? ________ pickup loads

The Great Whales

22 Copyright © 2008 Oregon State University Marine Mammal Institute

Student Page

3. Whale Habitats

T
o discover where whales live and what are even habitats in deep ocean canyons, called
areas of the oceans are used for feeding or trenches, that are nearly seven miles deep.
giving birth, we first must be able to find There are undersea mountains and volcanoes,
them. During the early whaling days, the word rocky reefs and coral reefs. Each of these areas
got out when whalers were successful. Since can be called a habitat. Warm water zones, cold
most of the whales had regular seasonal migra- water areas, and areas where winds mix the wa-
tions or were plentiful at a certain place at a ters in a process called upwelling, all contribute
certain time, their locations were predictable. to the factors that make each habitat unique.
As places where whales hung out were discov- Whales depend on different habitats just as land
ered, the whaling fleets followed. When whal- animals are associated with different habitats.
ing vessels met at sea, they shared the stories, Destroy or damage the habitat and the whales
successes, and failures of the voyage. This was will decline in numbers.
called “gamming.” Also, the accuracy of maps
and charts was improving, and locations where As you learned in Activity 1, “Whale Fact
whales had been seen could be easily passed Sheets,” most references gave broad areas of the
along. As you have learned, the whales that were oceans as the habitats for whales. But scien-
the easiest to find and the slowest were the ones tists who are interested in whale biology must
the whaling fleets went after first. locate the specific areas of the oceans where
these whales live and learn what makes the area
But the whalers’ knowledge about the whales important to the whales. Land animals can’t
consisted only of where they could be found survive when their habitats are destroyed. The
and how much whale oil they were likely to pro- same is true of whales. Using radio tags, oceano-
duce. That was all that was important to them graphic instruments, and satellite technology,
to have a successful whaling voyage. Today, we scientists are tracking whales to find their feed-
are trying to bring them back from near extinc- ing areas, calving grounds, and migration pat-
tion. And that means we must know not only terns. Once these areas are identified, scientists
where the whales are found, but also where collect ocean data such as temperature, salinity,
they are going, what hazards they encounter in plankton abundance, and ocean bottom types
today’s busy oceans, what they are eating and (for example, mud sand, seamounts, etc.).
what is eating them, and where they mate and
give birth. We must know what kind of habitat We know that whales seek out habitats that are
they need to answer many of these questions. very productive, areas that produce abundant
food. Various regions of oceans are known to
The early whalers knew little about habitat. be very productive. These include cold polar
After all, they could only guess what it was like waters, continental shelf areas that are shal-
under the surface of the ocean, and most of lower than areas of the open oceans, and areas
a whale’s life is spent under the surface. The of upwelling.
whalers knew only a little piece of the lives of
whales, and we need to know the entire life Cold polar areas can be very productive because
cycle if we are to help whales recover. For in- these areas have long summer days with sun-
stance, if we don’t know what they eat, we can’t light needed for plant growth. These same areas
protect that part of the ocean that produces have winter storms that stir the waters, bring-
their food source. ing deep water to the surface. This water carries
nutrients that fertilize the phytoplankton, which
Oceans have many different habitats, and, like in turn feeds the zooplankton. Cold water dis-
land habitats, they must provide food, water, solves gases better than warm waters, and that
oxygen, shelter, and living space. There are also encourages plant growth.
shallow water areas surrounding continents,
habitats on continental slopes that drop to the Continents’ shelves are also productive, as nu-
ocean basin floor, and habitats on underwater trients can be stirred to the surface more
mountain ranges and flat sandy plains. There
The Great Whales
Copyright © 2008 Oregon State University Marine Mammal Institute 23

Student Page Whale Habitats

easily than in deep waters. Sunlight penetrates

shallow waters to encourage plant growth.

Upwelling
Of all the places in the oceans, upwelling areas
are the most productive. Cold deep water is
drawn to the surface, carrying nutrients that
fertilize the phytoplankton that forms the base
of the food chain. Upwelling areas can be found
along coasts, where winds push surface waters
away front continents, or where ocean currents
meet and stir the waters. Upwelling can also Upwelling. (Illustration by Tai Kreimeyer, adapted
occur where surface currents create circular from Ocean Oasis Teacher’s Guide, San Diego
eddies that pull cold water to the surface, such Natural History Museum.)
as eddies in the Gulf of Mexico. Upwelling areas
are most often found on the western margins feeding grounds with little feeding is one of the
of continents, such as the waters off British truly amazing events in the animal kingdom.
Columbia to California or off the west coasts of The mothers must migrate to warm waters, give
South America and Africa. birth, then make the return trip with a nursing
calf, on the energy stored in their blubber dur-
Whales, with their enormous need for food, are ing the previous summer.
attracted to these most productive areas of the
oceans. Summer feeding grounds are always Seasons are opposite in the northern and south-
found in food-rich waters. Winter regions where ern hemispheres. Whale stocks of some species
whales prefer to give birth usually offer shallow, are found living both north and south of the
warm, protected waters, but may not necessarily equator. These stocks seldom interact because
offer very good food supplies. These areas are their migration patterns follow the seasons.
often found around tropical islands or conti- Both northern and southern stocks winter in
nental landmasses near the equator. The fact tropical waters but never meet, as winter oc-
that gray, right, and humpback whales swim curs in different months north and south of the
to winter calving areas and return to summer equator.

The Great Whales

24 Copyright © 2008 Oregon State University Marine Mammal Institute

Whale Habitats

of whales, there will be no right or

Activity 8: wrong answers. The idea is to encour-
age students to think about the need
Identifying Whale for rich summer feeding grounds and
warm, protected waters for birthing.
Habitats
Since the seasons are opposite in the
Concepts northern and southern hemispheres,
Ocean habitats are different from the stocks of whales, even if they are
land habitats and are shaped by ocean of the same species, probably do not
depths, ocean currents, ocean floor mix, though they may both be using
topography, and phenomena such as tropical waters close to the equator.
upwelling.
Teacher Key to map
Materials Winter habitats: E, F, G
c Copies of Pacific habitat map Summer habitats: A, B, C, D, E
c Pencils
c Copies of the reading assignment Extension
“Habitats: Where whales live” Have students become whale scien-
tists and tackle the question of the
mixing of stocks at the equator. Chal-
Time lenge them to come up with a plan
15 minutes they could use to determine whether
southern hemisphere whale species
Procedure mix with northern hemisphere stocks.
Distribute worksheets and follow the Have them identify:
instructions. ■ what months of the year they
would need to set up observations
Teacher notes ■ what methods they would use to
Students should select areas of up-
conduct the study
welling, the shallow-water areas (con-
tinental shelves), and cold polar wa- ■ what equipment they would use
ters for the summer feeding-ground (ships, satellites, tags, planes,
areas. These will have high plankton cameras, etc.)
production. The winter calving areas Ocean habi-
can be warmer regions of the oceans ■ how they would identify individu-
near islands or land masses near the al whales to distinguish between tats are
equator. Since scientists don’t know northern and southern whales shaped by
where the breeding and birthing areas
ocean depths,
are actually located for each stock Related activity
Whale Investigations, Activity 17 ocean cur-
rents, ocean
floor topogra-
phy, and phe-
nomena such
as upwelling.

The Great Whales

Student Handout #8
Instructions
Part 1
1. Read through the reading assignment, “Whale Habitats.”
2. Draw a line across the Pacific habitat map to represent the equator.
■ Identify on the map the equatorial (warm) areas. Tropical areas of the oceans lie between
the Tropic of Cancer and the Tropic of Capricorn (latitudes 23.5 degrees north and south of
the equator).
■ Identify on the map the cold polar regions. Locate the Arctic and Antarctic circles.
3. Write the months of winter and summer for the northern hemisphere in the margins of the map
next to the northern hemisphere. Then repeat for the southern hemisphere.
4. Draw arrows showing the migration direction for the southern and northern hemisphere whales
from their summer feeding habitats to their winter calving areas. Will northern and southern
hemisphere whales be using the warm tropical waters at the same time of year? Is there ever
a chance that southern hemisphere right whales will meet and mix with northern hemisphere
right whales, or will their stocks remain isolated from each other?
Part 2
5. On the Pacific habitat map, write the letter (A, B, C, etc.) from the list provided for characteris-
tics of winter or summer habitats.
6. Locate and circle favorable summer and winter habitat areas for northern and southern hemi-
sphere whales on the habitat map. Remember: they favor waters where they will find abundant
food supplies for summer feeding grounds, but food supplies are not a critical factor for the
winter calving areas.
7. Draw a line from the list of summer and winter habitats to the areas you have circled.

List of habitat traits for summer and winter whale habitats

A. Cold water
B. Well-mixed waters—includes shallow water areas near continents where storms or upwelling
enrich the waters
C. High levels of dissolved gasses
D. Large number of plankton
E. Sunshine
F. Shallow, warm waters
G. Little plankton production

The Great Whales

26 Copyright © 2008 Oregon State University Marine Mammal Institute

Student Page

Whale habitat map

Date

Student Worksheet #8
Name

The Great Whales

4. Exploitation of Whales

W
hales have been hunted for centuries in waters near Japan (around 100 animals), and
for subsistence purposes by coastal the North Atlantic right whales, near Maine and
aboriginal (native) people all over the Nova Scotia (around 300 animals). In recent de-
world. Subsistence hunting means that these cades, whale hunting has dropped off dramati-
early human hunters used the whales for food, cally across the globe, due to increased whale
clothing, and housing materials. Whales played protection through national and international
such an important role in their lives that for regulation. The new rules and international
many aboriginal peoples subsistence hunting agreements have given whales a break, and
was incorporated into their cultural traditions fortunately some populations are beginning to
as well. Historical evidence indicates that right recover.
whales and gray whales were hunted in the
North Sea and the English Channel from at least The story of commercial exploitation is long
the 9th century. and detailed. It begins in the 12th century with
the Basques, a group of people who inhabited
Native people in many countries still hunt the coast of France and Spain. They used simple
marine mammals for subsistence and cultural rowboats and handmade harpoons to hunt and
purposes today. For example, U.S. law permits kill whales. The Basques killed North Atlantic
Native Americans in Alaska (the Inuits) to hunt a right whales because they were slow moving,
limited number of bowhead whales for aborigi- had extremely long baleen, were located close to
nal subsistence purposes. However, the impact shore, and had an abundance of blubber. By the
of such limited hunting pressure on marine 1500s, the Basques had killed off the European
mammal populations has been localized and North Atlantic right whales and began to make
small in comparison to industrialized whaling. their way across the Atlantic and down the
North American coast in search of more whales.
Industrialized whaling is the practice of hunt- This pattern of decimating one stock of whales
ing whales for commercial purposes. It began then moving on to the next species or stock
in earnest in the late 1800s. Whaling became an continued until not a species or stock remained
important industry because of the demand for untouched. (Stock is a geographically isolated
clean-burning whale oil (from the whale blub- population of whales that does not intermix
ber), which was used to light lanterns and gas with whales of the same species living in other
lamps before electricity was invented. Other parts of the oceans.)
products from whales were also collected and
sold at a high price, including baleen (a popu- Colonists in the New World were whaling during
lar material used by women’s garment makers the 1700s. By 1750, right and bowhead whales
in dresses and corsets in the 1800s). Whaling were endangered and close to extinction. The
became a very rich industry that supported not gray whale was already extinct on the Atlantic
only the whalers but shipbuilders, businesses Coast. In the early 19th century, American whal-
that sold whale oil, and dress makers who used ers (known as the Yankee whalers) expanded
the baleen for dress stays. their hunting range into the Pacific and Indian
oceans, searching for slow-swimming sperm,
Industrialized whaling used larger ships and right, bowhead, and gray whales.
specialized equipment for harvesting large
numbers of whales. It soon severely reduced the In the 1860s, the Pacific bowhead whale was
numbers of many species of great whales, to specifically hunted by whalers for its long
the point they are now considered endangered. baleen (up to 14 feet). By 1900, bowheads were
Endangered means that animals in a population nearly extinct. When a substitute for baleen was
are so few that without protection they may invented (spring steel), the price and demand
continue to dwindle to extinction. for baleen dropped and whalers stopped coming
to Alaska for bowheads—just in the nick of time
Two of the most endangered whale populations for the depleted bowheads.
are the Western North Pacific gray whale, found
The Great Whales
28 Copyright © 2008 Oregon State University Marine Mammal Institute

Exploitation of Whales Student Page

Until 1880, blue and fin whales were virtually had plummeted and whalers began taking even
untouched by commercial whaling. They were smaller sei (pronounced “say”) whales. By the
too large, too fast, and they sank when they late 1960s, sei whales became commercially ex-
were killed. In the 1860s, the more powerful and tinct and the whaling effort switched to the even
efficient cannon-fired, explosive-head harpoon smaller but more numerous Minke (pronounced
was invented. At the same time, faster steam- “minky”) whales. Minke whales continued to be
powered boats were being developed. These two the target species until an international morato-
mechanical developments allowed whalers to rium was enacted in 1986.
take large numbers of the faster-swimming blue
and fin whales. The massive take of whales eventually led to a
surplus of whale oil on the market. Too much
In 1900, Antarctica was discovered to be the oil meant that the price would come down (they
greatest whaling grounds in the world. Antarc- couldn’t charge as much) and the whalers would
tic waters were abundant with blue, fin, and lose money. When the whalers took the hit in
humpback whales that had never been hunted. their pocketbook, they tried to self regulate and
Humpback whales formed 95 percent of the reduce the amount of oil being harvested, in
total catch in the 1910–1911 whaling season, hopes that the “shortage” they created would
but their numbers quickly began to decline. By drive up prices.
1918, they comprised only 2 percent of the total
catch. The whalers didn’t know the long-term conse-
quences of their whaling activities. Essentially,
Another development that accelerated the there was no management plan for whales…no
whaling industry was the discovery that liquid rules or regulations for them to follow. As it
animal fats could be converted to solid fats by turned out, commercial whaling demonstrated
the process of hydrogenation. This gave rise to one bad example after another of how NOT to
a thriving industry for the manufacture of soap, manage a wild animal population. Whalers were
margarine, and nitroglycerine, all of which could not motivated to care about dwindling whale
be derived from whale fat. numbers, because there was always another spe-
cies to move on to.
At first, the processing of blue and fin whales
was conducted from land-based stations. But
then, the invention of the stern slipway in 1925
allowed seagoing ships to haul harpooned
whales aboard for processing while at sea. The
whalers no longer needed to come to shore to
process their kills, which saved them time and
money and allowed them to stay at sea longer,
increasing the kill of whales dramatically from
176 blue whales in 1910 to 37,000 in 1931. In
the Antarctic, from 1925 to 1935, there was
the greatest slaughter of whales that had ever
occurred. Afterward, blue whales became in-
creasingly scarce and catches declined until
they became commercially insignificant by the
mid-1950s.

Whaling operations basically stopped during

World War II as the whaling nations concen-
trated all of their resources into fighting the
war. But the war caused a shortage of whale oil,
and the end of the conflict encouraged several
nations to begin whaling again. Without large
populations of blue whales to exploit, whal-
Gray whale breaching. (Photo by Pieter
ers switched to the smaller, more numerous
Folken.)
fin whales. By 1960, the fin whale population
The Great Whales
Copyright © 2008 Oregon State University Marine Mammal Institute 29

Student Page Exploitation of Whales

At this point, stop and conduct Activity 10, mercial whaling except for Minke whales was
“What’s your Opinion?” Repeat the activity at adopted. In 1986 a moratorium was placed on
the end of the lesson and ask students whether all commercial whaling, with plans for conduct-
their opinions changed as they gained more ing a comprehensive assessment of large whale
information. stocks by 1990.

The first significant attempt at regulating inter- Enforcement measures still allowed members of
national whaling activities came in 1946 through the IWC to object to and reject any decision they
the establishment of the International Whaling didn’t agree with. Norway objected to the mora-
Commission (the IWC). The IWC attempted to torium and resumed commercial exploitation
balance conservation with the economics of of Minke whales in the North Atlantic in 1994,
whaling. The mission of the IWC was “to provide even though the moratorium had not (and still
for the proper conservation of whale stocks and has not) been lifted. Products from commercial
thus make possible the orderly development of whaling of Minkes in Norway are used for food,
the whaling industry.” and admittedly, whaling has boosted the econo-
mies of coastal Norwegian communities. Finally,
The IWC covers all commercial pelagic whaling it is unlikely that a limited Norwegian harvest
activities of member nations. However, the IWC would harm the now-healthy Minke popula-
is limited in its ability to inspect and enforce its tion. However, the IWC seeks to avoid the total
own rules and regulations. Any nation can “ob- unabated slaughter that brought the Minkes to
ject” to any decision it doesn’t agree with and endangered levels in the first place, and this is
excuse itself from the limitations of that deci- why Norway has received such criticism.
sion. Member nations can also issue their own
permits to take whales for scientific purposes. In 1994, the IWC accepted a revised procedure
Although the IWC was established as early as for estimating the number of whales that could
1946, the reduction in whale populations con- be taken without causing the affected popula-
tinued. tion to be reduced in numbers. Because some
whale populations have recovered, it is pos-
The IWC’s system of self-regulation is a bit sible that the IWC will allow the resumption
like “the fox guarding the hen house.” In other of commercial whaling of some species (Minke
words, the IWC was imposing regulations on whales, for example). The limited and sustain-
itself that many of its members weren’t inclined able harvest of some whale species should not
to follow. In fact, in recent years a few nations have a negative impact on healthy populations.
have issued themselves permits for “scientific Some countries are still interested in harvest-
purposes,” but not without great skepticism ing whales because whale meat is considered a
and criticism from other IWC members. Much of delicacy in their culture and whalers can charge
that criticism has been generated by the public’s a premium price for the meat.
changing attitudes and intolerance of whale
harvesting and the resulting outcry and pres- United States has been active in whaling and in
sure put on the IWC by constituents of member whale protection. Besides participating in sev-
nations. eral international marine mammal treaties and
being a supporting member of the IWC, the U.S
Early IWC management procedures were based has also enacted legislation to protect Marine
on the Blue Whale Unit (BWU) as a means of Mammals in U.S. territories. The Marine Mam-
setting quotas. It was considered that one blue mal Protection Act (MMPA) of 1972 established
whale was equal to two fin whales, two and-a- a moratorium on the taking of marine mammals
half humpbacks, and six sei whales (based on in U.S. waters and on importing marine mam-
their relative oil yields). In 1963, the total quota mals and marine mammal products into the U.S.
was 10,000 BWU. Whale experts and resource This was the first full protection extended to all
managers began to realize that a new manage- species of marine mammals.
ment scheme was needed. The Blue Whale Units
could be filled with only one species, which Reductions in the number of whales available,
resulted in that species being decimated. The new national and international regulations,
BWU management plan was not a successful changing market demands, and changing atti-
program. In 1979, a proposal to end all com-
The Great Whales
30 Copyright © 2008 Oregon State University Marine Mammal Institute

Exploitation of Whales Student Page

tudes about killing large whales for profit have 1935–1965 Heavy fin whaling in Antarctic
all contributed to the collapse of large-scale, pe- 1965 Blues and humpbacks given
lagic whaling. People have caused serious dam- complete protection
age to marine mammals, and in some cases that 1950–1975 Heavy sperm whaling worldwide
damage is irreparable and irreversible. However, (highest-quality lubricating oil
as we go into the 21st century, we can celebrate in the world)
some successes in our attempts to protect 1960–1975 Heavy sei whaling in Antarctic
marine mammals from extinction. For example, 1972 U.S. passes marine mammal
populations of most large baleen whales are protection act to ban taking
increasing. These increases can be attributed, marine mammals in U.S.
in large part, to the international and national waters.
regulations and management plans. 1979 Proposal to end all commercial
whaling except for Minke
We must protect whales using a more com- whales
prehensive approach than just setting limits 1970–2003 Limited Minke whaling in Antarc-
on whaling. Like terrestrial habitats and land tic by Norway and Japan
animals, humans also impact ocean habitats and
their inhabitants. In order to save the whales, List of products from whales
our efforts must also entail protecting the Early whaling days
places where they give birth and their feeding Whale part Use
areas. If we lose these valuable habitats, we also Blubber Oil for lamps
lose the whales. Leather tanning
Cooking
History of commercial whaling, Soap
at a glance Oil base for paints
1100s Basques hunt right whales in Bay
of Biscay Baleen Buggy whips
1500s Basques hunt in Newfoundland/ Thin, flat pieces were
Labrador, Spitzbergen, etc. used to stiffen men’s
1600s Bowheads killed at Spitzbergen, shirt collars and ladies’
Greenland; Atlantic gray corsets
became extinct Fishing rods
1700s Sperm and humpback whaling in Umbrella ribs
N. Atlantic; right whales, Present-day uses
bowheads overexploited Blubber Hydrogenated into marga-
1800s Rights, bowheads, sperms, rine
humpbacks, grays all heavily Soap
overexploited Nitroglycerine
1868 Svend Foyn develops explosive
harpoon, harpoon gun, and Muscles Canned and sold in
steam-powered catcher, begins supermarkets
exploitation of blue and fin Liver is sold in meat mar-
whales, etc. kets
1905–1920 Antarctic whaling begins Pet food
1925–1939 Heavy blue whaling in Antarctic Fertilizers
1939–1945 World War II—whaling efforts Sperm whale teeth Scrimshaw—the ivory is
ceased etched and blackened
1946 International Whaling Commis- for art pieces
sion formed to regulate har-
vest of whales

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Materials
Activity 9: c Whale population chart
Exploitation: Whale c Pencils

Populations Then Subjects

and Now ■ Math

Concept ■ Biology
Overharvest has depleted whale popu-
lations. Time
1
/2 hour

Teacher key
Whale population chart answers
% of whales % increase
Whale left or decrease
Gray 85% 15% decrease
Humpback 13% 87% decrease
Northern right 3% 97% decrease
Antarctic blue 1% 99% decrease
Bowhead 26% 74% decrease
Sperm 81% 19% decrease

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32 Copyright © 2008 Oregon State University Marine Mammal Institute

Exploitation of Whales Student Page
Name Date

Student Worksheet #9
Whale population chart
Pre-whaling Present % Change
Species Estimate Population % left more + or less -

Baleen whales

Gray 26,000 22,000

Humpback 115,000 21,500

Northern right 10,000 300

Antarctic blue 150,000 1,400

Bowhead 30,000 8,000

Toothed whales

Sperm 2,400,000 1,950,000

Divide present population by pre-whaling population to find the percent population left. Subtract
from 100 percent to find percent loss or gain in population.
Northern right whales have the most reliable population numbers. The numbers for the other
whales represent best estimates. Reliable data is difficult to obtain.

Sources
Original population estimates
Congressional Records Service 1997, in “A Universal Metaphor: Australia’s Opposition to Commer-
cial Whaling,” Report of the National Task Force on Whaling, Environment Australia, May 1997.
Antarctic blue whales: Seiji Ohsumi, http://luna.pos.to/whale/jwa_v10_oh.html. Retrieved 1/05.
Present population estimates
Sperm whale: International Whaling Commission, Whale Population Estimates,
http://members.aol.com/cmwwrc/marmamnews/93051003.html
Antarctic blue whale: International Whaling Commission, http://22.iwcoffice.org/Estimate.htm.
Retrieved 1/05.
Northern right whale: NOAA National Marine Fisheries Service, “Facts about Northern Right
Whales,” http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/prot_res/species/Cetaceans/rightwhalefacts.html. Re-
trieved 1/05.
Humpback whale: http://nmml01.afsc.noaa.gov/education/cetaceans/humpback2.htm. Retrieved
1/05.
Gray whale: “Pacific gray whale population estimate released,” http://www.fakr.noaa.gov/newsre-
leases/2002/gwhalepop_0502.htm. Retrieved 1/05.

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the front of the class and make a

Activity 10: mark on the continuum indicating
their feelings about whale hunt-
What’s Your ing. Have students stand in a line
according to their opinion on the
Opinion? continuum—those against whaling
on one end and those for whaling
Concept on the other, just as it appears on
Drawing conclusions and forming the black board. Divide students
personal opinions on an issue. into groups of three, representing
each level on the continuum. Have
Materials them take turns explaining their
None opinion to one another and have
them back up their arguments
Subjects with as much information as pos-
sible.
■ Communication
Have each group list one or two
of their best reasons on the black
Time board or present it to the whole
10–30 minutes group at the end of the activity.

Procedure —It’s important to remind the

Conduct this activity after the first students that everyone is entitled
part of the reading assignment and to his/her own opinion. There
again at the end of the reading, to see isn’t necessarily a right or wrong
whether students’ attitudes change as answer in this exercise.
they learn more about the issue.
Discussion questions
Teacher asks students to: ■ Ask students to define sustainable
■ Review the meaning of subsis- whaling.
tence hunting.
■ Ask students to recall the first
■ Share their thoughts, feelings, and “opinion continuum” activity.
opinions about subsistence hunt- Now that the students have more
ing. information, have their opinions
—Teacher may choose to use an about whaling changed? Construct
“opinion continuum” (see example another opinion continuum and
below) to demonstrate the diver- compare these results to results
sity of opinions about this subject. from the first round.

—Teacher draws the continuum

on the board or on an overhead
Related activity
and asks students to come to Activity 23, “Whaling debate”

Whale hunting opinion continuum

➤
➤
No whale hunting Some whale hunting I have no problem
EVER!!! is OK. with whaling!

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34 Copyright © 2008 Oregon State University Marine Mammal Institute

Exploitation of Whales

1. 10,000 fin whales = 5,000 BWU

Activity 11: 5,000 BWU X 20 tons oil/BWU =
100,000 tons of oil
Early Whale 2. 1 BWU= 20 tons of oil
Management Answer: 9,750/20 = 487.5, or 488
whales
Concepts 3. That species would be depleted.
■ Politics and greed played an im-
4. Yes
portant role in whale management
in the early days. 5. Why or why not? NO. It does not
consider individual whale stocks
■ Animal populations must be pro- but establishes one set of rules to
tected from overexploitation. govern all stocks.

Materials Marine Mammal Protection Act

c Paper answers
c Pencil 1. It was the first legislation that
took into consideration all stocks
of whales.
Subjects
It was the first legislation passed
■ Sociology
by a governmental agency rather
■ Biology than representatives of whaling
interests.
Time 2. The IWC did not look at individual
15 minutes stocks of whales. Entire species of
whales could be wiped out under
Procedure this system.
Direct students to complete whale 3. Most marine mammal species are
exploitation reading, and complete increasing in numbers under this
the worksheet. protection, although recovery is
very slow for some species.
Teacher key to
student worksheet Extension
Calculate the total oil collection or Set up a bulletin board showing the
BWUs for the following whale takes. past and present use of whale prod-
ucts.

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Student Worksheet #11

Blue Whale Units (BWU)
1 BWU = one blue whale = 20 tons oil
1 BWU = one blue whale, or two fin whales, or two and-a-half humpback whales, or six sei whales
Calculate the total oil collection, or BWUs, for the following whale takes:
1. From 1950 to 1955, the crew of the Revolution harvested 10,000 fin whales. How much oil did
they collect?
__________BWU __________amount of oil

2. In 1850, the crew of the Margaret collected 9,750 tons of oil from blue whales. Approximately
how many whales did they harvest?
__________whales

3. What would happen if the entire BWU quota had been met by taking only one species of whale,
like the fin whale, for example?

4. Could whalers wipe out a species even while following regulations? Explain.

5. Does the BWU system seem like a sustainable management plan? Why or why not? Explain.

Marine Mammal Protection Act

6. Why was the MMPA a significant piece of legislation?

7. How is this different from the International Whaling Commission’s (IWC’s) blue whale quota
system?

8. Is there evidence that the MMPA has indeed protected marine mammals in U.S. waters? Give
examples.

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36 Copyright © 2008 Oregon State University Marine Mammal Institute

Exploitation of Whales

Before completing the study ques-

Activity 12: tions:
■ Lead a discussion about the
Lessons Learned causes of overharvest. Introduce
from the Whaling the idea of other valuable natu-
ral resources being in danger of
Experience? depletion.
■ Introduce the concepts of renew-
Concepts able and nonrenewable resources.
■ The demand for whale products ■ Encourage students to come up
led to depletion of whale stocks. with their own answers to the
■ Whale depletion experiences are study questions. If they find this
similar to other natural resource too difficult or the solutions inap-
problems. propriate, have them use the list
provided.
■ It is difficult to regulate natural
resources that have high commer-
cial value.
Teacher key to
student worksheet
Subjects 1. Cod/haddock. They begin repro-
ducing at a younger age.
■ Biology
2. Financial hardship for fishermen,
■ Economics processors, and seafood markets.
3. Fishermen, seafood processors,
Materials truckers who deliver fish, seafood
c Paper markets.
c Pencils 4. Any of the answers are acceptable.
Encourage students to find their
own before using the list.
Procedure
Read through the boxes discussing 5. Yes.
commercial fish harvest on both the
east and west coasts of the U.S.

Time
30 minutes
Teacher’s note: These fish have been
overharvested, much as the whales Atlantic cod.
were. Unlike whales, however, the (Illustration by
fish are not endangered, because they Tai Kreimeyer.)
release millions of fish eggs and larval
fish each year. Like whales, the age of
the fish and the numbers of babies
they can produce determines whether
the populations recover quickly or
slowly (see Activity 19, comparison
of recovery of right whales with gray
whales). Rockfish are very long-lived,
and their older age of maturity when Pacific rockfish.
reproduction begins slows the recov- (Illustration by
ery rate for their populations. Tai Kreimeyer.)

The Great Whales

6. Renewable resources: Source: Namowitz and Spauld-

B, C, E, F, G, H ing, Earth Science, D.C. Heath and
Nonrenewable resources: A, D Company, Lexington, MA 1989.

A. Oil E. Cod 8. Possible causes of overharvest.

B. Rainforests F. Rockfish Rockfish and cod, like whales,
C. Salmon G. Solar power have high values and many people
D. Diamonds H. Wind power can earn a living from the resourc-
es. Causes of over harvest may
7. A renewable resource is one that include:
can be replaced in nature at a rate
close to its rate of use. Examples ■ High demand for the product
are oxygen in the air, trees in the ■ The pressure to harvest as
forest, food grown in the soil, and many fish as possible for
solar energy form the sun. financial gains pushes the
A nonrenewable resource is one animal’s populations beyond
that is used up faster than it can their ability to repopulate.
be replaced in nature. Many of
Earth’s resources are nonrenew- ■ Regulations to protect the
able because of their very slow resource rather than reaping
rate of replacement. These include as much profit as possible are
metals, oil, coal, etc. unpopular and met with great
resistance.

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38 Copyright © 2008 Oregon State University Marine Mammal Institute

Exploitation of Whales Student Page
Name Date

Student Worksheet #12

1. Which of these fish stocks are expected to recover more quickly?
c Rockfish c Cod/haddock Why?

2. What financial impact do you think the fisheries closures caused?

3. Who would have been impacted by the closures?

4. Why is it so difficult to keep from overharvesting valuable natural resources?

5. Are the reasons for overharvest of fish about the same as for whales? c Yes c No
6. Nonrenewable resources are also being depleted. Decide which are renewable or nonrenewable
resources and write the letter in the proper blank
Renewable resources: ______________________ Nonrenewable resources: ______________________
A. Oil B. Rainforests C. Salmon D. Diamonds
E. Cod F. Rockfish G. Solar power H. Wind power
7. What makes a resource renewable or nonrenewable?

8. Explain why each resource you listed is renewable or nonrenewable.

East Coast—groundfish (cod and flatfish, such as haddock)

Traditional groundfish resources on the East Coast have been overfished and the numbers of
fish have dropped to extremely low levels. Fishing was greatly reduced in the mid 1990s to al-
low the fish stocks to recover.
■ Atlantic cod grow to be 10 to 15 years of age.
■ Females begin reproducing at three years of age.
■ Female cod and haddocks release up to two million eggs each.
West Coast—rockfish stocks
Rockfish stocks on the West Coast have been fished so heavily that drastic measures were en-
acted to save the fish. Large areas were closed to fishing on the West Coast in 2000–03 to allow
these fish populations to recover.
■ Rockfish species grow to be 50–80 years of age.
■ Many species of rockfish do not begin to produce eggs until they are 10–15 years of age.
■ Rockfish give birth to millions of babies (they are just barely past the egg stage).
■ The older and larger the females, the more young they produce.
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Copyright © 2008 Oregon State University Marine Mammal Institute 39

Student Page

5. Current Threats to Whales

T
here are few environmental issues that do Mining and mineral extraction
not directly relate to human impacts on Mining the ocean is accomplished by dredging
the planet. These impacts are harmful to (scooping or sucking up) sand, which is used to
the great whales. Most conservation issues for make cement and to replenish the sand that is
whales are now tied directly to human impact vanishing from some beaches. Other items that
on ocean habitats, on which these great crea- we mine from the oceans include gravel, phos-
tures depend. phates (an ingredient in fertilizers), petroleum,
natural gas, and salt.
Human activities and
Chemical pollution
the world’s oceans Chemicals from farming, industry, and home
People, people! They are everywhere, and every
use wash into the sea. They accumulate through
year 81 million more are added to the Earth’s
the food chain and contaminate animals that
population, according to 2001 statistics. The
feed at the top of the food chain. Dead killer
world’s population is predicted to grow from
whale calves wash up on our beaches. When
the present 6 billion to 10 billion before leveling
examined, they may contain high levels of toxic
off. There is no doubt that people impact the
chemicals. Mother orcas give birth at age 11.
Earth. Although the number of whales that are
West coast orcas, especially those in the Puget
killed each year has been drastically reduced,
Sound, give birth to their first calf at age 15.
human activities bring threats that have re-
Scientists speculate that these whales also have
placed whaling as the major concern for saving
calves at age 11 but the newborn may die from
these unique animals.
PCBs and other contaminants and are never ob-
served. The 11-year accumulation of pollutants
Human population growth, both globally and
is passed to the calf in the womb and through
in the U.S., adds more toxic chemical pollutants
the mother’s milk. Subsequent calves survive
to the water, intensifies the need to explore for
because they get a smaller dose of the toxins as
more oil and gas, and increases the number of
the accumulation has been passed on to the first
ships on the seas for shipping products from
born. Industrial and toxic wastes placed into
country to country. More people create more
landfills, chemicals from farming, chemicals put
demand for fish. Adding more humans to the
on our lawns, and oil from cars all eventually
planet also releases more carbon dioxide into
wash into the ocean waters and into whale food
the air, which in turn traps heat and changes
supplies.
climates.

We may be protecting whales from hunting, but

Fishing gear entanglements
We harvest millions of tons of fish from the
there are many other issues that concern agen-
oceans each year, and the demand continues to
cies working to protect whales in the 21st cen-
grow. Fish are the primary source of animal pro-
tury.
tein for one-half of the world’s people, and fish-
meal is added to food for livestock. Fishermen
Oil and gas exploration use various types of gear, from large nets, that
Ever-growing demand for gas and oil creates
are dragged through the water, to traps that are
pressure to find new sources as old fields are
set on the bottom and marked with ropes and
depleted and shut down. The ocean floors are
floats that extend to the surface. Nets acciden-
now areas of oil exploration. Seismic explora-
tally tear loose and pots and traps get torn away
tion uses loud explosions to send sound waves
by storms, and whales often become entangled
to the ocean floor’s rock and sediment layers.
in the nets or ropes.
This information can be used to identify rock
stratum that are likely to hold oil reserves. The
explosions—as well as drilling and oilrig plat-
Shipping
Automobiles, electronics, clothing, wheat, and
form construction—in whale habitats is thought
petroleum are a few of the products transported
to disrupt and harm whales.
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40 Copyright © 2008 Oregon State University Marine Mammal Institute

Current Threats to Whales Student Page

across oceans in ships. Without shipping, it Ocean acidification

would be very difficult to move products from NOAA cruises in 2007–08 brought the discov-
some regions to others. Near large ports, ship- ery that the world’s ocean waters are becoming
ping lanes can be quite congested. The big pro- acidic. Millions of tons of carbon dioxide are
pellers on these ships can kill or seriously injure released into the atmosphere each year from the
slow-moving whales. burning of fossil fuels. At the interface of the
ocean and air, a mixing of C02 into the waters
Tourism occurs and the chemical reaction produces
Whale watching and recreational boating are carbonic acid. A number of studies have dem-
very popular along the East and West coasts, as onstrated that acid adversely affects marine or-
well as in Hawaii. There is concern that boating ganisms, especially animals with calcium shells
activities may be stressful to whales. Regula- such as corals. Negative impacts have also been
tions have been enacted to maintain boats at a observed on the tiny organisms that make up
set distance from whales. plankton, both plant and animal, as acid reduces
the organisms’ ability to maintain a protective
Sounds shell. All whales depend on plankton either di-
Military activities can produce loud sounds in rectly or indirectly, as it is the base of the ocean
the oceans. The use of sound for oil exploration food chain. Acidification is expected to increase
and low-frequency sonar used to locate subma- as C02 continues to be released and accumulates
rines also create intense sounds. Whales use in the atmosphere.
sounds to navigate, find food, and communi-
cate. How disruptive is a noisy ocean to whales? Polluting coastal waters
We know that loud sounds in some areas have Many people are attracted to the shore to live or
harmed whales, and research is being conducted vacation. In fact, 50 percent of the population
to assess the problem. of the United States now lives within 50 miles of
a coast. By 2010, it’s projected that the number
Climate change will increase to 60 percent. People bring land
People burn fossil fuels for energy and trans- development that removes forests and replaces
portation. This adds massive amounts of C02 them with houses, shopping centers, and indus-
(carbon dioxide) to the atmosphere every year. tries to produce the products they use. Hu-
C02 traps heat from the sun and warms the man activities produce toxic chemicals that are
earth. We are adding so much C02 that scientists washed away by the rains into the rivers and
believe it is changing the climates of the world. streams and oceans.
Whales have survived for millions of years and
lived through shifts from ice ages to warm peri- There are very few environmental issues that
ods. During past climate changes, whale popula- cannot be directly related to people and human
tions were large and healthy. We have reduced activities. People are the source of pollution, and
numbers of whales to the point where they are their activities destroy animal habitats both on
endangered. We know that climate events such land and in the oceans. There are ever-increas-
as El Niños can stress whales and increase whale ing numbers of humans on the planet. Is there
mortalities (upwelling is depressed and produc- a correlation between the pressures of human
tivity reduced). Can the great whales survive populations and the health of whale popula-
changes in ocean habitats that will result from tions?
climate change? We don’t know.

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42 Copyright © 2008 Oregon State University Marine Mammal Institute

Current Threats to Whales Student Page

Threats to whales by species

Climate
Gas and Fishing Ship- shifts Environ-
oil ex- gear ping (el Niño) mental
Threats plora- entangle- colli- Sound disrupt pollut-
to whales Stocks tion ments sions seismic Tourism food supply ants

Sperm Gulf of Mexico √ √

Right New England √ √ √

Blues Mexico/
S. California √ √

Gray Alaska/Mexico √ √ √ √

Hump- Alaska/CA
backs Hawaii √ √ √

Orca Eastern Pacific √ √

Bowhead Arctic areas √ √ √ √

Source
Dr. Bruce Mate, Oregon State University. Personal communication, May 2004.

The Great Whales

Teacher key to student

Activity 13: worksheet #13-1
People and Whales 1 and 7: see the chart key.
2. a. 30,303.030
Concept b. 71,428,571
Human population growth creates
threats to whales. c. 83,333,333
3. The population keeps increas-
Materials ing every year as there are more
c Duplicates of graphs, grid of births than deaths, and there are
threats to whales, and “Threats to more young people each year who
Whales” reading enter their childbearing years.
4. Eight years.
Subjects 5. a. More toxic chemical pollut-
■ Sociology ants.
b. Oceans will be warmer from
■ Biology global climate change that
could reduce productivity.
Time Ocean currents may change,
1 hour which could greatly affect
their habitats.
Procedure c. More shipping, oil exploration,
Student instructions etc.
■ Plot these numbers on the graph Whale habitat: existing prob-
below and connect the dots. lems will likely worsen while
World population growth some habitats could be greatly
affected.
1927 2 billion people
6. a. Better health care.
1960 3 billion
b. Cultural beliefs that encourage
1974 4 billion
large families.
1987 5 billion
c. Little effort is being made to
1999 6 billion slow population growth.
■ Using the information you just 7. a. War.
plotted, estimate how many b. Starvation.
people will be on Earth in the
years 2015 and 2025. Mark it on c. Disease.
the chart and extend the line. d. Easier access to birth control
methods.
e. Better medical care, and
higher living standards for all
nations.

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44 Copyright © 2008 Oregon State University Marine Mammal Institute

Current Threats to Whales

World Population Growth

1750–2050

Source
www.worldbank.org/depweb/beyond/beyondco/beg_03.pdf. Accessed Jan.
2005.

Teacher key to student worksheet #13-2

1. a. 1970–1980: 35,000,000 3. a. 47 million
b. 1980–1990: 50,000,000 b. 53 million
c. 1990–2000: 75,000,000 4. 1990–2000
2. a. Yes. 5. 1930–40—This was the decade of
b. Both growth rates are getting the depression. Many people were
steeper. out of work and could not sup-
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Copyright © 2008 Oregon State University Marine Mammal Institute 45

Current Threats to Whales

port children. As a result, the 7. Both ocean and land habitats will
birth rate dropped. likely continue to be degraded.
6. No, growth cannot continue in- 8. Faster rates of immigration, and
definitely. trends toward larger families.
Another depression would slow
the growth.
War.
Disease.

Source
F. Hobbs and N. Stoops, “Demographic Trends in 20th Century,” U.S. Census
2000. www.census.gov/prod/2002pubs/censr-4.pdf. Accessed Jan. 2005.

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46 Copyright © 2008 Oregon State University Marine Mammal Institute

Current Threats to Whales Student Page
Name Date

Student Worksheet #13-1

World population growth
1. Plot the date and the number of people to create a graph of world population growth.

World Population Growth

1750–2050

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Student Worksheet #13-1 continued

2. a. One billion people were added between 1927 and 1960. On average, how many million
people were added each year? ___________
b. The next billion people were added between 1960 and 1974. On average, how many million
people were added each year? ___________
c. The next billion were added between 1987 and 1999. On average, how many million people
were added each year? ___________
3. Why is there an increase in the average number per year?

4. Analyze the data you just gathered and extrapolate how many years will it take to reach the
next billion. ___________
5. Demographers estimate that, by 2050, the Earth’s human population will reach 11 billion. List
three effects you think that will have on the oceans.
a.
b.
c.
What do you think may happen to whale habitats?

6. What are some of the factors that are making the population grow so fast?
a.
b.
c.
7. What are some things that might slow world population growth?
a.
b.
c.

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48 Copyright © 2008 Oregon State University Marine Mammal Institute

Current Threats to Whales Student Page
Name Date

Student Worksheet #13-2

U.S. population growth
1. Complete a graph of U.S. population growth by plotting the population size of the U.S. for each
decade and connecting the dots.

2. Compare the graph of U.S. population growth with the graph of world population growth.
a. Do the graphs look similar? c Yes c No
b. Is either graph leveling off, or getting steeper (indicating faster growth)?

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Student Worksheet #13-2 continued

3. a. From 1900 to 1930, how many people were added to the U.S.? ____________________
b. From 1980 to 2000, how many people were added to the U.S.? ____________________
Why was there such an increase in the rate of growth?

4. Which decade had the most rapid growth rate? ____________________

5. One decade had slower growth than the others. Why did the rate slow during that period?

6. Can the upward spiral of growth continue indefinitely? What will slow or level off the growth?

7. What factors could speed population growth in the U.S.?

8. What are the implications of rapid population growth on U.S. ocean habitats and terrestrial
habitats?

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50 Copyright © 2008 Oregon State University Marine Mammal Institute

Current Threats to Whales

Column 1—consider whether popula-

Activity 14: tion growth will increase or decrease
threats to whales, and circle your
Whale Conservation choice.

Issues Column 2—possible solutions: En-

courage students to discuss and
Concepts develop possible solutions. Compare
Human activities and population their work with the solutions list
growth have negative impacts on below.
whales.
Solutions list
Materials Select from the list and add the num-
c Reading materials bers to column 2.
Short-term solutions
c Chart below
1. Develop ropes and nets for fishing
c Pencil that will rot away quickly.
2. Put a limit on the number of rec-
Time reational boats that can be docked
15 minutes on the coastline.

Subjects 3. Move shipping lanes to avoid

whale habitats.
■ Biology
4. Pass strict laws to protect rivers
and beaches from pollution.
Procedure
Look at the graphs of human popula- 5. Purchase canoes, kayaks, or sail
tion growth both globally and in the boards for recreational boating.
U.S. alone. If the human population Long-term solutions
continues to grow and put pressure
6. Encourage only two children per
on habitats for marine animals, what
family. Fewer people would re-
measures could we take to help pro-
duce demand for oil and gas and
tect whale habitat?
other natural resources.

Threats to whales—issues and solutions

Will increasing human population growth increase or decrease this problem?

Circle one choice below Possible solution

Oil and gas exploration Increase or decrease

Fishing gear entanglement Increase or decrease

Shipping collision Increase or decrease

Sound pollution in oceans Increase or decrease

Tourism (land based and boats) Increase or decrease

Climate change Increase or decrease

The Great Whales

Long-term solutions continued 12. Encourage strict pollution regula-

7. Purchase house close to place of tions for industries.
employment, to reduce commut-
ing. Drive less—reduces C02 emis- Population growth
sions thought to cause climate
change. extension activity
Population growth creates negative
8. Support aid to developing coun- issues for the environment. Are there
tries to provide family planning. benefits from population growth?
Fewer people would reduce de- Direct students to think through what
mand for oil and other natural benefits may result from population
resources. growth. Suggest the three issues be-
9. Reduce demand for oil and low to help them along.
gas—drive fuel-efficient cars: Less ■ More workers to support retirees
demand for oil reduces need for
exploration and building oil drill- ■ More demand for products to
ing platforms. build strong businesses
10. Introduce land-use laws that ■ More demand for housing, creates
would prohibit development higher housing costs that bring
within 1/8 mile of the coastline. profits to home owners and devel-
Reduces runoff of toxic pollutants opers.
and protects habitats. Debate pros and cons of population
11. Use biodegradable products. growth.

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52 Copyright © 2008 Oregon State University Marine Mammal Institute

Current Threats to Whales

2. Based on a classroom of 30 stu-

Activity 15: dents, divide them into ocean or-
ganisms in the following numbers.
Bioaccumulation of This will give a crude approxima-
tion of the ratio of numbers of
Toxic Chemicals organisms in a food pyramid.
# of students Organism
Concepts
Toxic chemicals accumulate in top 13 phytoplankton
predators through the food chain. 8 zooplankton
5 small fish
Materials
c Index cards 2 large fish
1 orca
c Magic marker
1 student will be
firstborn orca calf
Student participation
All class members
3. Divide the students into various
Subjects organisms of the food pyramid.
Have students stand in a pyramid
■ Biology formation. All should face the
front of the room.
Time 4. Pass out one index card to each
15 minutes
student at the phytoplankton level
of the pyramid. The card repre-
This activity simulates the passing
sents the organisms as food in the
of food and energy through an ocean
food chain.
food pyramid
5. Phytoplankters pass their index
Procedure cards over their shoulders to the
zooplankters to simulate zoo-
1. Remind students that this is a
plankton feeding on phytoplank-
simulation and the numbers and
ton. Not all phytoplankters will be
ratio of organisms in the food
eaten by the zooplankton, so you
pyramid cannot be realistically
represented.

Orca Gray
Whales

Large fish Amphipods

Small fish
Detritus
Zooplankton (bits of dead animals
and plants)

Phytoplankton

Killer Whale Food Pyramid Gray Whale Food Pyramid

The Great Whales
Copyright © 2008 Oregon State University Marine Mammal Institute 53

Current Threats to Whales

may choose for two phytoplank- dead calves is high and is thought
ters to keep their cards. to be the cause of their death.
6. The zooplankters pass all but one
of the cards over their shoulders Gray whale food pyramid
to the small fishes. The small 1. Compare the gray whale food
fishes then pass all but one of chain to the orca’s. How does it
their cards to the big fishes. differ? Small fish and large fish
7. The big fishes pass all cards to the stages are missing.
orca. 2. Will the gray whale gather as
Results: All in the food pyramid much of the pollutants as the
had a nice meal for the day. orca, as there are fewer steps to
concentrate the toxins? There will
be less accumulation of toxins, due
Round 2: Food chain, with toxic to loss of the two stages in the food
chemicals added chain.
1. Mark half the index cards with a
3. Conduct the food chain experi-
magic marker to represent toxic
ment again, using the same num-
persistent chemicals such as DDT
ber of students to represent
or PCBs, or metal contaminants
phytoplankton and zooplankton.
such as mercury. Repeat the feed-
Pass only half the cards from the
ing exercise.
zooplankton to the gray whale.
2. Check at the first stage (zooplank- This represents the huge amount
ton) to see whether any of the of plankton available for whales.
toxic chemicals have accumulated
(accumulation has occurred if one
student is holding two marked
Discussion
Discuss how chemicals are diluted
cards).
in the ocean waters but can accumu-
3. Pass on to the small fishes. Check late in the food chain. Phytoplankton
again for any accumulation. absorb the chemicals through their cell
Do any of the fishes have two or walls.
more cards with toxic chemicals?
Discuss how chemicals become
4. Finish the exercise and see how concentrated in the fishes, in the big
many marked cards, “accumulated fishes, and finally into the whales. The
chemicals,” the killer whale has chemicals are stored in the fat of the
The 15-year eaten. whales and passed into the milk that
accumula- feeds the newborn calves. Orca moth-
5. After the orca has fed, pass the
tion of toxic index cards to a student selected ers give birth to their first calf at about
to be the firstborn baby of the age 11. West coast orcas give birth
chemicals
mother orca. This simulates to their first calf at age 15. Scientists
is released passing contaminated chemicals speculate that the first-born orcas may
into the new stored in the fat of the mother die from PCBs and other contaminants
whale on to the baby. The chemi- passed to the calf in the womb and
mother’s through the milk of the mother. Sub-
cals are released into the milk of
milk. the mother as she nurses her new sequent calves usually survive because
calf. The firstborn calf may die. they get a smaller dose of toxins, as
The concentration of toxins in the the accumulation has been transferred
to the first calf.

The Great Whales

54 Copyright © 2008 Oregon State University Marine Mammal Institute

6. Whale Investigations

T
his section is organized with a activities that relate to and support
short reading section on each the information about each species of
species of whale. It provides in- whale.
formation about some of the current
research and conservation concerns Students should read through each
for each species of great whale. The reading section before doing the ac-
reading sections are followed by tivities.

The Great Whales

Researchers from Oregon State University (OSU)

Sperm Whales and Texas A&M University are interested in Gulf
Physeter macrocephalus (physeter = sperm whales. OSU researcher Dr. Bruce Mate
spouter, macro = large, cephalus = head), has tagged and tracked Gulf sperm whales. His
goal is to discover their feeding and calving
“big-headed spouter.”
areas and migration routes. Texas researchers
search for Gulf of Mexico sperm whales us-
Sperm whales, the only toothed whales that
ing ships and hydrophones (listening devices)
grow large enough to be considered among the
to locate them by their sounds, and then they
great whales, live throughout the world’s oceans,
sample the waters in areas where the whales are
usually in deep waters more than 600 feet deep.
found.
Several different stocks of sperm whales are
known. One stock is found off California, Wash-
Even if we know how many whales there are,
ington, and Oregon; different stocks are found
protecting the whales that use the Gulf of
off Hawaii, the north Pacific, the western north
Mexico is another difficult problem. The Gulf is
Atlantic, the northern Gulf of Mexico, and the
a busy place with exploration, oil and gas drill-
southern hemisphere. Sperm whale females and
ing, construction of oil platforms for pumping
young live in warmer waters year round, and
oil, busy shipping lanes, and commercial- and
only the males move into colder areas.
sport-fishing activities—all of which are poten-
Sperm whales are the champi-
ons of deep dives. They
have been known to
dive for 1 hour
at a depth
of 3.2

tial hazards for sperm whales.

kilometers (2 miles). They make loud
What have we learned about Gulf sperm whales
clicking sounds that are probably used
and where they live? Examine the maps that
for navigation and searching for food.
are provided. Locate on the map, water circula-
Sperm whale sounds are so intense, they may
tion patterns, whirlpools, or eddies (in the Gulf,
have shattered the first satellite tags that were
called anticyclones and cyclones).
attached to them! These whales are thought to
use their sonar for catching squid. The inside
The anticyclone eddy (clockwise-rotating) has
of the sperm whale’s mouth is white, leading to
a core of warm water. Smaller eddies spin off
speculation that its color may attract squid.
the warm anticyclones but rotate in the oppo-
site direction (counterclockwise) and are called
Sperm whales occur in small groups called pods,
cyclones. We now think that these circulation
which number from 15 to 50 whales each. Older
patterns are important to the sperm whales.
male sperm whales are solitary and seek out
females only when it is time to mate. Younger
In an anticyclone, warm surface water is drawn
males stay with the pod until about 5 years of
into the (clockwise) eddy center and is pushed
age, then they form small groups with other
downward to the seafloor (downwelling). An-
young males. The breeding and calving areas
ticyclones contain few nutrients to support
have yet to be identified for any sperm whale
plant and animal life. They can be thought of as
stocks.
“ocean deserts.”
We know that one group of sperm whales is
Cyclones spin in the opposite direction (counter-
frequently sighted in the Gulf of Mexico. How
clockwise) and draw cold, nutrient-rich water
many use the Gulf, where their feeding areas are
located, and whether they give birth in the Gulf
are questions that have yet to be answered.
Continued
The Great Whales
56 Copyright © 2008 Oregon State University Marine Mammal Institute

Whale Investigations Student Page

Sperm Whales
continued
upward (upwelling) from the sea floor
toward the surface. Near the surface, the
combination of sunlight and the abun-
dance of nutrients creates an “ocean
oasis,” with abundant plankton. Scien-
tists think that whales like the cool-water
cyclone areas because of the rich sources
of food.

Sources
“Sperm Whales, Physeter macrocephalus.” Sperm whale breaching near oil platform. (Bruce Mate photo.)
U.S. Department of Commerce/NOAA/
NMFS/AFSC/NMML. http://nmml.afsc.noaa.
gov/education/cetaceans/sperm1.htm. Ac-
cessed January 2005.
“Ocean Surface Topography.” http://sealevel2.
jpl.nasa.gov/jr_oceanographer/oceanogra-
pher-biggs.html. Accessed January 2005.

The Great Whales

habitats in the Gulf of Mexico. Have

Activity 16: students plot and track the whale.
Make a transparency of the oil leas-
Sperm Whales in ing area to overlay the gulf map. Note
where the leasing area lies in relation
the Gulf of Mexico to the eddies. Project the map with
Sperm whales are known to live in the the overlay leasing area and have
Gulf of Mexico. This activity is de- students think about whale habitats
signed to allow students to use data and how they are changed by human
collected from a research project, plot activities.
the data, and draw conclusions about
whale habitats, just as the researchers Teachers
conducting the studies have done.
1. Provide students with “Sperm
Whales” as a reading assignment.
Concepts
2. Provide students with maps of
■ Whale habitats are complex, and the Gulf and have them follow the
a variety of methods are used
student directions.
to collect information and data
about these habitats. 3. Review “latitude” and “longitude,”
and demonstrate one round of
■ Latitude and longitude are used to plotting a whale’s location on the
locate points on a map. maps.
4. Have students finish plotting the
Materials locations of the whale on the map,
c Blank map of Gulf of Mexico, using the latitude and longitude
showing anticyclones and cy- readings.
clones 5. Review their plots of the tagged
c Overlay map of the Gulf, showing whales movements in the gulf and
recent oil-leasing area have them answer the study ques-
tions.
c Colored pencils (blue and red)
6. Review answers for the last ques-
c List of latitude and longitude tion on the worksheet only after
readings for sperm whale loca- students have developed their
tions own solutions.
Sperm whales c Pencils
c Rulers Teacher key to student
have been
worksheet
known to dive
Subjects 10. Seven to 8 days. Upwelling in the
for 1 hour at cyclone produced an abundant
■ Geography
a depth of 3.2 food supply.
kilometers. ■ Life science 11. Overlay the map showing the
■ Mathematics leasing area for oil and gas leasing
and exploration.
Time 12. Right over the cyclone.
40–60 minutes 13. Yes.
14. Probably. Researchers are trying
Procedure to answer that question.
This activity is a simulation of an
actual research project and data 15. What other human activities
gathered by satellite tagging and might disrupt sperm whales in the
surface investigations of sperm whale
The Great Whales
58 Copyright © 2008 Oregon State University Marine Mammal Institute

Whale Investigations

Gulf? (Fishing, ship-

ping, toxic chemicals
that drain out of the
Mississippi River into
the Gulf.)
16. List one way to re-
duce human impact
on sperm whales in
the Gulf. Check your
answers with these
suggested options.
Suggested answers:
a. Set aside a reserve
for sperm whales
in the Gulf.
b. Are there seasons
when sperm
whales are not in
the Gulf or are
fewer in number?
Explore for gas
and oil at those
times of the year.
c. Reduce demand
for gas and oil. Drive fuel-
These pieces of information help us
efficient cars.
to understand whale habitat needs.
But we still need much more informa-
Teacher discussion tion if we are to protect whale habi-
The whale began its journey in the cy- tats.
clone region and lingered there for 10
days. Then it traveled west to south- The government gives out leases to
west. As it neared the western bound- oil and gas companies that wish to ex-
ary of the Gulf of Mexico, it turned plore the areas. Exploration activities
south and then southeast toward the use loud explosions to send sound
Gulf of Campeche.
There are
waves through the water. The sound
waves bounce back off the different concerns
The whale spent more time in and rock strata, and geologists can deter- these ac-
near the cyclone (these are areas of mine which may contain oil.
upwelling). If favorable areas are found, drilling tivities will
and oil platforms will be built in those disrupt
We know the cool water areas are areas. There are concerns these ac- and harm
productive. Squid (the primary food of tivities will disrupt and harm whales,
sperm whales) probably gathers in the especially sperm whales that we think whales, espe-
high-nutrient waters of the cyclone to use sounds extensively for feeding cially sperm
prey upon the abundant zooplankton and navigation. The 1997 lease is just
generated by the upwelling water. The
whales.
one example. The Gulf is intensely
squid in turn attracts the whale. surveyed for oil and gas and explo-
ration, and drilling is moving into
Tagging studies plus Texas A&M deeper waters. How the sperm whales
observers confirm that sperm whales are affected by all this activity needs
were most abundant in or near the to be explored.
cyclone.
The Great Whales
Copyright © 2008 Oregon State University Marine Mammal Institute 59

Student Page Whale Investigations
Name Date

Student Worksheet #16

■ Label the states surrounding the Gulf of Mexico.
■ Locate the cyclones and anticyclones on the map. Draw arrows on the cyclone lines indicating
the direction of water movement in the anticyclones and cyclones (these areas are ONLY within
the lines that make complete circles).
■ The list below is latitude and longitude readings of simulated radio tagging results from sperm
whales in the Gulf of Mexico. Information is based on a real tagging event as well as research
into movements of whales in the gulf. Plot the latitude and longitude of each reading.
1. Find the longitude number across the top of your map. Longitude lines run from pole to
pole and is measured in degrees.
2. Use a ruler to draw a straight line down from the top of the map starting at the first longi-
tude reading.
3. Find the latitude number on the left side of the map. Latitude lines run east and west,
parallel to the equator.
4. With a ruler, draw a straight line across the map from the latitude reading.
5. Where the lines cross is the location of the whale on that day.
6. Plot all the locations on your maps.
7. Place a dot for each day’s reading, then connect each dot with a straight line to show the
path of the tagged whale.

Latitude and longitude reading

of movements of a tagged sperm
whale in the Gulf of Mexico
Date ° West Longitude ˚North Latitude

8/8 87.0 27.0

8/10 86.0 27.8

8/12 87.0 27.5

8/14 88.5 28

8/16 88.0 28.0

8/17 89.0 27.8

8/19 89.1 27.4

8/21 90.1 27.8

8/23 92.7 27.2

8/26 93.0 27.2

8/28 96.0 25.5

8/30 96.3 24.5

9/2 95.6 21.2

The Great Whales

60 Copyright © 2008 Oregon State University Marine Mammal Institute

Whale Investigations Student Page

8. Color the cyclone blue (cool waters) and the anticyclones red (warm waters). These are the
areas within the lines that make complete circles.
9. Note where the path of the whale moved in relation to the cyclones and anticyclones.
10. Answer the following questions.
• How many days did the whale stay near or in the cyclone? __________
• Why do you think the whale stayed in or near the cyclone?

11. Overlay the map showing the leasing area for oil and gas leasing and exploration.
12. Where did the oil and gas exploration for 1997 lie?
13. Did it cover areas that are used by the tagged whale? __________
14. Could the oil and gas exploration disrupt sperm whales? __________
15. What other human activities might disrupt sperm whales in the Gulf?

16. List two human-caused problems for sperm whales in the Gulf.

17. List one way to reduce human impact on sperm whales in the Gulf. Check your answers
with these suggested options.

The Great Whales

Student Worksheet #16 continued

Gulf of Mexico map
Cyclone and anticyclone lines are isotherms.

Map by Craig Toll. Circulation patterns based on research by D. Biggs, Texas A&M University.

The Great Whales

62 Copyright © 2008 Oregon State University Marine Mammal Institute

Whale Investigations Student Page

Gulf of Mexico map, teacher overlay

(Oil exploration permit area for 1997)

Map by Craig Toll.

The Great Whales

Sperm whale Materials

identification c Pictures of sperm whale flukes on
Counting and studying whales by overhead transparencies
visual means is especially difficult. c Whale fluke illustrations for each
Specific studies often require that student
individual whales be identified. For
example, are the same whales using c Pencils
the same calving grounds year after
year? How often does a female have a Time
calf? Questions like these and many 10 minutes
others require the identification of
individual whales. Related activity
Activity 8, “Identifying Whale Habitats”
Scientists have developed ways to
identify individual whales. For ex-
ample, right whales have rough
Fluke identification
patches of thickened skin called answers
callosities, which are white in color 1. SW 5 2. SW 13 3. SW 15 4. SW 10
and covered by whale lice—a small, 5. SW 12
crab-like animal. These rough patches
on the whale’s head, over its eyes and Procedure
around its mouth, are different on Give each student a page of illustra-
each animal and are used by research- tions of sperm whale flukes. Overhead
ers to identify individual whales. transparencies of sperm whale flukes
Bowhead whales are scarred by will be placed on the overhead projec-
encounters with ice, and these scars tor to the count of 4 seconds, then
are used to identify individual whales. removed. This is approximately the
Sperm whales have notches and tears length of time researchers see flukes
on their flukes—from attacks by before whales submerge. From this
predators such as sharks and killer brief glimpse, students are to match the
whales—that are used to distinguish overhead image to one of the illustra-
individual animals. tions on their work page. Write the
number from the transparency
onto their worksheets.

The actual
Activity 17: At the end of the exercise, place the

identifications Whale Tails transparencies back on the overhead

and reveal the correct numbers, noted
This activity simulates the problems
are done at on the bottom of the transparency.
researchers encounter when gathering
Have students check their sheet to see
sea under data.
how many they identified correctly.
even more
challenging
Concepts Discussion
conditions
■ Individual whale identification Since the length of time is short, ac-
helps researchers to gather impor- curate identification will be difficult.
than in the tant information. Remind students that the actual iden-
classroom. tifications are done at sea under even
Subjects more challenging conditions than in
the classroom. Have students discuss
■ Biology ways they could improve their identifi-
■ Research cation of whales at sea. Examples:
using high-powered binoculars, photo-
graphing the flukes for analysis later
in a laboratory, etc.
The Great Whales
64 Copyright © 2008 Oregon State University Marine Mammal Institute

Whale Investigations Student Page

Fluke #1

OSU Marine Mammal Institute

SW 13

Fluke #2

OSU Marine Mammal Institute

SW 5

Fluke #3
© International Fund for Animal Welfare
(http://www.ifaw.org)

SW 15
The Great Whales
Copyright © 2008 Oregon State University Marine Mammal Institute 65

Student Page Whale Investigations

Fluke #4

© International Fund for Animal Welfare

(http://www.ifaw.org)
SW 12

Fluke #5 Government of New Zealand

SW 10

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66 Copyright © 2008 Oregon State University Marine Mammal Institute

Whale Investigations Student Page
Name Date

Student Worksheet #17

1. 2.

Fluke # ______________
Fluke # ______________

3. 4.

Fluke # ______________
Fluke # ______________

Fluke # ______________

The Great Whales

Winter habitats and calving

Humpback Whales areas
Megaptera novaeangliae (mega = big, Alaskan humpbacks migrate to Hawaii and
ptera = wings, nova = new, anglaie = are known to be present there in the months
England), “big-winged New Englander.” of November to May. This is their calving and
breeding season. Since whales are traveling in
Stocks of humpbacks small groups or singly, the arrival and departure
Three different stocks have been identified and dates are spread out over the winter months.
are located in the following areas: the eastern Although the length of time needed to make
Pacific, the north Atlantic, and Antarctic (south- migrations is not well known, one whale that
ern hemisphere stock). North Atlantic ocean was identified in Alaska was seen 39 days later
humpbacks are found near Newfoundland in Hawaii—4,500 kilometers away.
and the waters off Cape Cod. This population
migrates to the Bahamas and the Dominican Hawaii’s warm, shallow, inshore waters offer
Republic during winter months. Southern the newborn whales warmth and protection
hemisphere humpbacks are from predators, but food
known to visit the supplies are
island of Tonga sparse
for their for

winter calving season. the adult whales. Ba-

The eastern Pacific divides into the bies suckle and build up body
Alaska/Canadian group, which migrates fat for their journey back to summer
to Hawaii, and a group off Oregon, Washington, feeding areas. Newborn calves are 4.5 me-
and California that migrates to Central America. ters (15 feet) in length and weight a metric ton
There is yet another stock off the coast of Ja- (2,204 pounds).
pan.
Feeding
Scientists study these stocks of whales in sev- Humpbacks feed on herring and on swarms of
eral ways: by tagging and satellite tracking, with small shrimp-like animals, called krill, by gulp-
hydrophones to listen to their sounds, and with ing or lunging. They have an interesting man-
research vessels to directly observe the animals. ner of feeding called bubble-net feeding. They
blow curtains of bubbles, to trap their food
Summer feeding habitats (see Activities 5 and 6). An individual whale can
The Alaskan humpbacks can be sighted in Alas- make a bubble-net, or a team of up to 20 hump-
kan and Canadian waters from April through backs working together can make huge nets to
October. These areas provide cold, food-rich encircle the fish. The humpbacks are believed to
waters. Upwelling and storms stir the shallow use their long, white flippers to herd fish. They
waters, bringing nutrients to the surface to then open their mouths and swim up through
fertilize plant plankton that makes up the base the bubble net to gulp up the fish. We also know
of the marine food chain. These rich waters that humpback mothers and their calves return
support huge schools of small fish and tons to the same feeding habitat year after year. Why
of zooplankton, including krill. An abundance do they do that? We think that mothers have
of marine life, in addition to the humpbacks, taught their calves where there is plentiful food
inhabit these waters. and the young remember that information.

Continued
The Great Whales
68 Copyright © 2008 Oregon State University Marine Mammal Institute

Whale Investigations Student Page

Hawaii and Alaska. Why the seamount? Perhaps

Humpback Whales because seamounts are productive areas and
may have food supplies that attract the whales.
continued
Humpbacks are known for their complex sounds
Hazards or “songs.” Once thought to be associated with
Current threats to humpbacks are entangle- breeding, the songs have now been recorded
ments in fishing gear, and fluctuations in food outside of the breeding grounds. Current song
supplies due to north Pacific climate shifts. research shows that when another humpback
joins a singing whale, the “joiner” is always
One of the many mysteries of the humpbacks is male. Whale “songs” are composed of themes,
that there are more of them wintering in Hawaii which in turn are composed of phrases. The
than the Alaskan/Canadian populations can songs vary geographically; Hawaiian humpbacks
account for. So we have the case of the miss- sing different songs than the Cook Island hump-
ing humpbacks. Scientists have guessed that backs (see Activity 26, “What’s that Sound?”).
the extra whales may be an unidentified group
that uses Siberian waters as feeding grounds. Note: Mileage between Anchorage and Honolulu
A recent tagging research project conducted by = 4,800 kilometers (3,000 miles).
Oregon State University researchers followed
a tagged whale from Hawaii to the Kamchatka Sources
Peninsula off Russia, where it stayed for several Alaska Department Fish and Game Wildlife note-
weeks. They speculated that it was probably book. http://www.state.ak.us/local/akpages/
feeding in this area. This is one confirmation FISH.GAME/adfghome.htm
for the theory that a group of humpbacks may
use these waters for feeding, but further work is Humpback Eastern Pacific Stock NOAA http://
needed to establish this fact. The same tagging www.nmfs.noaa.gov/prot_res/PR2/Stock_As-
study discovered that another humpback re- sessment_Program/Cetaceans/Humpback_
turning to Alaska tended to linger several days Whale
near a seamount located about halfway between

The Great Whales

Time
Activity 18: 45 minutes
Humpback Whale Teacher instructions
Migration Game and background
The purpose of this activity is to take 1. Students will conduct a simulated
students through a year in the life 1-year migration of humpback
of a north Pacific humpback whale whales. The whale population size
population. Students will follow the will total 30. One card selected
whales from winter calving areas to from the bowl will apply to each
the summer feeding area. They will individual in the group. One haz-
experience the potential hazards ard or one birth is only one event
humpbacks encounter during a year for the whole group.
of their life, and they will examine the
two diverse sets of habitats that these 2. Have students read the back-
whales depend on. ground information, “Humpback
Whales,” and refer to it as they fill
Students will work in groups, follow out their whale logs.
“student instruction” sheets, gather 3. Divide students into 10 groups
cards from bowls placed at the front of three to do the activity. Have
of the room, and fill in their maps and students divide up the duties so
whale logs. all participate in the activity: one
keeps the whale log, another does
Concepts the mapping, etc.
■ Whales use different habitats from 4. Set up six bowls around the rooms
winter to summer for feeding and with information cards and labels.
calving. Bowl #1: Winter habitats—Hawaii
■ Whales encounter a number of locations for wintering and calv-
hazards during their lives. ing ground locations
Bowl #2: Reproduction—number
Subjects of calves born

■ Biology Bowl #3: Winter hazards

Bowl #4: Summer feeding areas—
■ Math
Whales use summer feeding grounds destina-
■ Geography tions (Alaska)
different
Bowl #5: Feeding—feeding and
habitats from
Materials food information
winter to
c Game materials: Bowl #6: Summer hazards
summer for —Whale Logs
5. Give each group a blank map of
feeding and —Map of the Pacific and Hawaiian
the Pacific Ocean and an enlarged
Islands
calving. map of the Hawaiian Islands.
—Game cards (in teacher/student
section) 6. Direct students through the in-
structions for their group of three
c Six small bowls whales.
c Ten rulers 7. Place a labeled map on the over-
head projector or have classroom
Homework reading maps available so students may
refer to it to find the locations of
assignment their migration.
“Humpback Whales”
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70 Copyright © 2008 Oregon State University Marine Mammal Institute

Whale Investigations

8. At the conclusion of the activity, in population. Compare the two

tally the whale log information on numbers to see whether the popu-
the blackboard. Use the log infor- lation increased or decreased.
mation as the guide.
9. Discuss the life cycle and what the Challenge question: Since only one
whales encountered. Did the whale tagged whale made it to Kamchatka,
population increase or decrease? how might scientists gather further
proof that humpback whales are using
Extension this area for feeding? Have students
think of different methods to prove or
■ Calculate the distance traveled
disprove that humpback whales use
from Hawaii to Alaska. Measure
this area as a summer feeding habitat.
the distance and use the scale on
Let them work up their own list, then
the map to calculate the result.
check out the list below.
■ Ask students to calculate the ■ Surface observations of whales
percent increase in population
growth. Take the number of live ■ Listening with hydrophones for
births and divide by 30 whales. whale sounds

■ Repeat for the number of deaths ■ Aerial photography

to calculate the percent decrease

Whales en-
counter a
number of
hazards dur-
ing their lives.

The Great Whales

Student Instructions #18

Winter habitat for humpback whales
■ Bowl #1: One representative from each group picks up a Hawaii location card.
• Return to the group, find your location on the Hawaii map, and label it. If your card reads
“Kauai,” your whales will be using the waters off Kauai.
• Describe the Hawaii habitat areas: water temperature (warm or cold); food supplies (abun-
dant or sparse); water depths (shallow or deep for protection of young).
• Write on your whale log the location of your whales in Hawaii.
• Enter on the log the months that humpbacks spend in Hawaii (check the reading assign-
ment).
■ Bowl #2: Send one member of your group to pick up one reproduction card.
Record on your Whale Log if there were any births in your group (note that one birth card will
indicate only one birth event for the whole group). Also record the size of the newborn hump-
back calf.
■ Bowl #3: Send one member of the group to pick up a winter hazard card. Record results on
Whale Log.

Summer habitat for humpback whales

Your whales are preparing to leave the Hawaiian Islands to migrate to summer feeding grounds.
■ Bowl #4: Send a group member to pick up a summer destination card.
• Locate and label the location on the map.
• Describe your destination: temperature of water (warm or cold); food supplies (abundant or
sparse); water depth (shallow or deep).
• Enter the summer location on your Whale Log.
• Enter on your log the months you will spend in the feeding grounds (check the reading
assignment).
■ Bowl #5: One member picks up one feeding card. This will indicate if the whales in your group
are well fed or did not get enough food to be in good health. Enter on the log if your whales
feed, and if they are well fed and have built up stores of blubber to make the long migration
to the Hawaiian Islands. Humpbacks have little or no food from the time they leave until they
return to their summer habitats.
■ Bowl #6: Send one member of the group to pick up a hazard card. What hazard, if any, was en-
countered? Record the hazard and death or no death on your Whale Log.

The Great Whales

72 Copyright © 2008 Oregon State University Marine Mammal Institute

Whale Investigations Student Page
Name Date

Student Whale Log

Complete this log using the reading assignment, maps, and information drawn from bowls 1–6.

Names of students in this group: ________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________________________________

Bowl #1: Humpback winter habitat “calving areas”

Our whales’ Hawaii location __________________________________________________________________

Describe our whales’ winter habitat ___________________________________________________________

The months our whales will spend in Hawaii __________________________________________________

Bowl #2: Reproduction

Number of baby whales born in our group _ ___________________________________________________

Size of baby whale (enter size even if your group has no baby) _________________________________

Bowl #3: Winter hazards

Hazards our whales encountered in Hawaii ____________________________________________________

Bowl #4: Summer “feeding areas”

Summer feeding areas location _______________________________________________________________
(Label on the map your summer location)

What months will our whales spend in summer feeding grounds _______________________________

Describe the summer habitat _________________________________________________________________

Bowl #5: Feeding

What our whales ate _____________________________________________________________________________

Are our whales well fed or hungry ? ______________________________________________________________

Bowl #6: Summer hazards

What hazards did our whales encounter? _________________________________________________________

Summary
Review Summary of Activity. Did the whole whale population increase or decrease? _______________

What was the most common hazard? ____________________________________________________________

The Great Whales

Teacher Tally Sheet

Humpback data tally (for teachers)

Group number 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Wintering areas

# of calves born

Winter hazards

Summer areas

Feeding success

Summer hazards

Total pop. (30+ calves)

Total deaths

Increase/decrease in pop.

Pacific Basin map key

Map by Craig Toll.

The Great Whales
74 Copyright © 2008 Oregon State University Marine Mammal Institute

Whale Investigations Student Page
Name Date

Student Worksheet #18

Pacific Basin map

Map by Craig Toll.

The Great Whales

Humpback Migration Game Cards

Winter habitat Reproduction card Winter area hazard
Oahu One live birth No hazard

Winter habitat Reproduction card Winter area hazard

Oahu No births No hazard

Winter habitat Reproduction card Winter area hazard

Kauai No births No hazard

Winter habitat Reproduction card Winter area hazard

Kauai No births No hazard

Winter habitat Reproduction card Winter area hazard

Maui No births No hazard

Winter habitat Reproduction card Summer feeding grounds

Maui No births Prince William Sound

Winter habitat Reproduction card Summer feeding grounds

Maui No births Prince William Sound

Winter habitat Reproduction card Summer feeding grounds

Molokai No births Prince William Sound

Winter habitat Summer areas hazard Summer feeding grounds

Hawaii No hazard SE Alaska, Juneau area

Winter habitat Summer areas hazard Summer feeding grounds

Hawaii No hazard SE Alaska, Juneau area

Reproduction card Summer area hazard Summer feeding grounds

One live birth No hazard SE Alaska, Juneau area

Reproduction card Summer area hazard

One live birth No hazard
Continued
The Great Whales
76 Copyright © 2008 Oregon State University Marine Mammal Institute

Whale Investigations Student Page

Humpback Migration Game Cards continued

Summer feeding grounds Summer feeding grounds Summer feeding grounds
Kodiak Island Vancouver Island, Canada Vancouver Island, Canada

Summer feeding grounds Winter area hazard Feeding success

Kamchatka Peninsula, Entangled in plastic Good supplies of krill
Siberia Stress but no death Healthy, well-fed whales

Summer area hazard Winter area hazards Feeding success

Killed and eaten by orcas Tourism boat interaction Good supplies of krill
One death Stress but no death Healthy, well-fed whales

Summer area hazard Winter area hazard Feeding success

Collision with ship Complications giving birth Herring and anchovies
Injury but no death Stress but no death Healthy, well-fed whales

Summer area hazard Winter area hazard Feeding success

Entangled in fishing gear Disease and parasites Herring—
Stress but no death Stress but no death Healthy, well-fed whales

Summer area hazard Winter area hazard Feeding success

Entangled in fishing gear Tourism boat interaction Anchovies and sardines—
Stress but no death Stress but no death Healthy, well-fed whales

Summer area hazard Feeding success Feeding success

Tourism interaction Too few herring/anchovies Herring—
Stress but no death Hungry whales Healthy, well-fed whales

Summer area hazard Feeding success Feeding success

Entangled in fishing gear Herring and anchovies Herring—
One death Well-fed whales Healthy, well-fed whales

Feeding success
Good supplies of krill
Healthy, well-fed whales

The Great Whales

every 5 years. The habitat of the north Atlantic

Right Whales right whales is in the very busy north Atlantic
Three species: North Atlantic right U.S. and Canadian waters. Injuries from ship
whale—Eubalaena glacialis (eu = true, collisions and entanglement in fishing gear are
currently the greatest concerns for these whales.
balaena = baleen or whale, glacialis
We know that 58% of the right whale population
= ice), “true ice whale”; South Pacific is scarred from fishing-gear entanglements and
right whale—Eubalaena Australis = that half of right whale deaths have resulted
“Australian true whale”; North Pacific from ship strikes. When a ship hits a whale, the
right whale—Eublaena Japonica = impact or cuts from the propeller can kill the
“Japanese true whale.” whale. Such a collision can also damage the ves-
sel, causing it to be laid up in dock for expen-
Right whales are found in various parts of the sive repairs.
world’s oceans. The International Whaling Com-
mission’s Scientific Committee now recognizes Southern right whale populations, found off
three separate species of right whale: the south- Australia, South America, and South Africa, are
ern right whale (sighted in the waters off South in better shape and are increasing in numbers.
Africa and Australia), the north Pacific right Very little is known about the north Pacific right
whale (Alaskan waters and Japan), and the north whales, including how many there might be and
Atlantic right whale (found in the Gulf of Maine where they are most likely to be found. All three
and near Nova Scotia). Although these species are severely depleted.
whales are placed in the
same genus and

they are
very similar to one Right
another, they have been sepa- whale research,
rated for millennia with no interbreeding including radio tagging and
occurring. They are now classified as three dif- tracking as well as “on the
ferent species of whales. water” whale observations, has
been used to establish their pre-
Right whales spend a lot of time at the surface ferred summer feeding grounds. Winter habitat
as their feeding behavior is to skim near the is now known for at least 15% of the population
surface, but we now know they can feed while in the waters off Georgia. Where the remain-
diving. These whales float when killed, making 85% winter is still unknown. More tracking
ing them the “right” whale to hunt. Even their studies should help to identify other wintering
scientific name means “true whales.” They were locations.
heavily hunted and their numbers were rapidly
depleted. Whaling has stopped for right whales, Use of this research data has enabled fish and
but they are still at risk from a variety of haz- wildlife agencies to recommend regulations
ards. to route ships around whale habitat areas and
to set speed limits when in whale areas. The
North Atlantic right whales have decreased to actions to save this whale could not have hap-
such critically low numbers that they are virtu- pened if we had not located their feeding areas.
ally at the brink of extinction. They have a very
slow birth rate, as females give birth to one calf
Continued

The Great Whales

78 Copyright © 2008 Oregon State University Marine Mammal Institute

Whale Investigations Student Page

Right whale with callosities on its nose. (Photo © International

Fund for Animal Welfare/T. Gordon)

Sources
“Northern and Southern Right Whales.” U.S.
Department of Commerce/NOAA/NMFS/
AFSC/NMML. http://nmml.afsc.noaa.gov/
education/cetaceans/right1.htm. Accessed
September 2004.
Dr. Bruce Mate, Oregon State University. Person-
al communication, May 2004.

The Great Whales

birth every other year to one calf. In size they

Gray Whales are a medium-sized whale, reaching 9 to 15
Eschrichtius robustus (Eschrichtius = meters (30–50 feet) long, and they may weigh
zoologist Daniel Eschricht, robustus up to 32,000 kilograms (35 tons). Newborns are
4.5 meters (15 feet) long at birth and weigh an
= robust, hearty), common names
estimated 680 kilograms (1,500 pounds).
“devilfish” and “California gray whale.”
Although gray whales have recovered to healthy
Gray whales are split into three stocks, each
numbers, there is still concern for them. The
with very different experiences. The Atlantic
population uses four lagoons for calving
stock of gray whales is extinct. In the Pacific
grounds. Laguna Ojo de Liebre hosts the highest
there are two stocks, one that migrates along
numbers of whales; progressively smaller num-
the west coast of the U.S. and the other off the
bers use Laguna San Ignacio, Bahia Magdalena,
coast of Asia. The Asian stock follows a migra-
and Laguna Guerrero Negro. When a species is
tion path from the Chukchi Sea between Russia
dependent on a specific and limited habitat for
and the U.S., down to the waters off Japan and
part of its life cycle, destruction of that habitat
the south China Sea. The Asian stock of gray
can severely deplete or eliminate the population.
whales numbers only about 100. With such a
low population and no signs of recovery, it is
Such is the experience of gray whales, as they
the most critically endangered population of
are vulnerable to habitat changes in these la-
great whales.
goons. San Ignacio Lagoon has few permanent
human residents, due to a lack of fresh water.
The eastern north Pacific population (west coast
Consequently, it is the only primary breed-
of the U.S. and Mexico) has recov-
ing/calving area that is
ered to numbers equal to his-
largely unaltered
toric levels before whal-
by human
ing began. It is the
first species to
be removed
from the

endangered species list

activities and has been
and is the only large whale to have
set aside as a reserve. However,
been delisted. The population now
Bahia Magdalena has been changed by industrial
has reached over 20,000 animals, recov-
and mining activities, and the other two lagoons
ering from a low of 4,000 animals.
are under threats of development. The Mexican
government is taking steps to set lagoons aside
North Pacific gray whales feed in the Arctic
as reserves and to establish rules to protect the
and migrate to the warm, shallow lagoons of
gray whales.
Mexico—a distance of 20,000 kilometers (13,000
miles) round trip—to give birth. This is one of
In their northern feeding grounds in the Ber-
the longest migrations of any mammal. During
ing and Chukchi Seas, and on their migration
that migration, they come close to the shore-
paths along the west coast of the U.S., there are
line, which makes it easy to observe, count, and
threats from entanglement in fishing gear. Also,
study these whales. As a result, quite a lot is
oil exploration and drilling are of concern.
known about their life habits, feeding behaviors,
and life cycle.
Source
The north Pacific grays were hunted in the shal- Dedina, S., and Emily Young. Conservation and
low Mexican lagoons that serve as their calv- development in the gray whale lagoons of Baja
ing grounds. They earned the name “devilfish” California sur, Mexico Report to the U.S. Marine
because the whales would charge whalers’ boats Mammal Commission, http://scilib.ucsd.edu/
during whaling activity. A mature female gives sio/guide/z-serge.html. Retrieved March 2004.

The Great Whales

80 Copyright © 2008 Oregon State University Marine Mammal Institute

Whale Investigations

Refer to the feeding and reproduction

Activity 19: chart below. While gray whales have
fully recovered, northern right whales
Recovery or Loss? are in serious trouble. What might be
some of the causes for the difference?
Concepts Work through the problem below to
identify some of the issues that are
■ Small population size and low keeping right whale numbers low.
birth rates combine to hamper
whale population recovery.
Right whale females have calves only
■ Whales that give birth more fre- once every 5 years, so all the females
quently have a better chance of will not be producing babies. They
increasing their numbers. also do not reach maturity until they
are 5 to 9 years of age. Gray whales
reach sexual maturity at age 8. There
Subjects are years that some of the females
■ Biology are not giving birth, which makes it
difficult to include such information
■ Math
precisely in this activity. Remember
that this exercise is a simplification.
Materials
c Pencils Discussion
The population of right whales grew
c The problem described below
by only 7 new calves, compared to 18
grays. When 3% = 9 animals that are
Time lost through mortalities in each popu-
45 minutes lation, the result is a decrease in right
whale population and growth in the
Procedure gray whale population. The combined
Students will analyze the popula- factors of very slow birth rates plus
tion information for north Pacific mortalities bring the survival of north
gray whales and north Atlantic right Atlantic right whales into very serious
whales. They will then interpret their jeopardy.
data to analyze which whales have the
best chance to survive. Extension
Use this activity with Activity 12,
“Lessons Learned from the Whaling While gray
Experience.” whales have
fully recov-
ered, north-
ern right
whales are in
serious trou-
ble.

The Great Whales

Teacher key to student worksheet

Comparison of right whale and gray whale populations

Whale # animals Whale # animals

Right whales 300 Gray whales 300

Females 150 150

(50% male, 50% female)

Mature females 75 75
(50% of all females)

Births
Give birth every 5 years 15 One calf every 2 years 37

Survival rate of calves 7 18

(50% of calves survive)

Adult mortality 3% 9 lost 9 lost

Growth or loss in pop. 2 lost 9 gained

Answers to “recovery” questions:

1. Orcas 2. Humpbacks 3. Grays 4. Blues 5. Rights 6. Sperms

North Pacific
grays earned
the name
“devilfish”
because they
would charge
whalers’
boats during
whaling activ-
ity.

The Great Whales

Student Worksheet #19

Right whales
At the beginning of the year, there are 300 right whales.

Half the population is female. How many will be female? A. ____________

Half the females are sexually mature. How many females can bear a calf? B. ____________

Sexually mature females have one calf every 5 years. How many calves will be born each year?
C. ____________

Calf survival rate is only 50%. How many calves will survive each year? D. ____________

The mortality rate for the entire population is 3% due to natural mortality collisions with ships
and/or entanglement in fishing gear. How many from the entire population will die this year?
E. ____________

How many right whales were added or lost this year? ____________

Has the population increased or decreased? ___________________

Gray whales
At the beginning of the year, there are 300 gray whales.

Half the population is female. How many females are in the population? ____________

Half the females are sexually mature. How many females can bear a calf? ____________

Females have one calf every 2 years. How many calves will be born each year? ____________

How many of the calves will survive (they have a 50% calf mortality rate)? ____________

How many animals were added to the population this year? ____________

The mortality rate for the entire population of 300 whales is 3%, due to natural mortality and other
problems. How many whales died this year? ____________

How many whales will die this year? ____________

How many gray whales were added or lost this year? ____________

What was the main factor that lowered reproductive rates between the right whale population and
the gray whale population? _____________________________

Student Worksheet #19 continued

Based on the right whale/gray whale activity, review the chart below and choose which whales may
have the best chance for recovery and which may experience a much slower rate of recovery. As-
sume that food supplies are stable for all stocks.
Which whales have the best chance of recovery?

1. _______ 2. _ 3. _________

Which whales will experience the slowest rate of recovery?

4. _______ 5. _ 6. _________

Feeding/reproduction chart
Feeding Stocks Foods Reproduction rates

Sperm Gulf of Mexico Medium to large squid One calf every 5–6 years
Fish of various species

Right New England Copepods One calf every 5 years

Blues Mexico/S. Calif. Krill One calf every 4 years

Gray Alaska/Mexico Bottom amphipods, mysids One calf every other year

Humpbacks Alaska/CA/Hawaii Fish/krill One calf every 2–3 years

Orca Eastern Pacific Fish—Puget Sound, WA One calf every 2 years

Seals/sea lions—West Coast

The Great Whales

Baby blues at birth are 7 meters long (23 feet)

Blue Whales and weigh 30 tons—almost as large as adult
Balaenoptera musculus (balae = whale, gray whales. They can add 91 kilograms (200
optera = wing or fin, musculus = pounds) a day (8 pounds an hour) and grow to
an estimated 14.6 meters (48 feet) in 6 months.
muscular), “Muscular finned whale.”
Their milk is very rich (50% fat) and they eat an
(Musculus is also the species name for estimated 189 liters (50 gallons) of it a day. Baby
the house mouse.) The blue whale’s blues nurse by nuzzling their mother’s belly; the
common name—“sulphur bottom milk is squirted into the baby’s mouth. It is so
whale”—is from the yellowish algal thick that it catches on the baleen and must be
coating on its belly. licked off.

Blue whales are found in most oceans. Separate Blue whales make deep, rumbling sounds—
stocks are found off California/Mexico and sounds so deep that they must be sped up for
Hawaii, and in the north Atlantic and Antarctic. humans to hear them. These low-frequency
Blue whale stocks were severely reduced during sounds travel great distances in the oceans. Blue
the whaling days. A subspecies of blue whales, whales travel in small groups of two to three
Balaenoptera musculus brevicauda, is found in animals. Perhaps their sounds are to help them
the southern hemisphere. locate one another.

It is estimated
that the
whaling
in-

Studies of
dustry destroyed 97% of blue whales have included
the world’s blue whales. Nearly 30,000 acoustics (studying the sounds they
were taken in 1931 alone. Commercial make), photo identification, and tagging re-
whaling for blues was banned in 1964, leav- search to discover their migrations. Blue whale
ing their numbers severely depleted. Presently, sounds have been a subject of much study.
2,200 blue whales are found off California, Researchers have discovered that the sounds
accounting for 25% of the world population of are not the same for different groups of blue
blues. It is the largest remnant stock of blues whales. Other studies have involved tracking
and is believed to be increasing. to discover their migration and winter habitats.
Oregon State University tagging studies on blue
Blue and fin whales are the largest of the great whales followed them from California to wa-
whales, but we know relatively little about them. ters off Costa Rica in an area called the Costa
They travel in small groups, are not usually Rica Dome. Although blue whales were known
close to shorelines, and are fast swimmers—all to use the Costa Rica Dome, this was the first
of which increase the difficulty of gathering time that blue whales from California have been
information about their life cycles. Blues are the tracked to Costa Rican waters. They arrived at
largest of the great whales. It is difficult to imag- Costa Rica during the winter months, and this
ine a creature as huge as these. They are more study may have answered one question about
enormous than even the biggest dinosaurs and their wintering areas, but many other questions
reach up to 30 meters (100 feet) in length. remain. Do they have their calves in this same
Their heart weighs 907 kilograms (2,000 region? Are they dependent on these same wa-
pounds), as much as a small compact car. Al- ters for feeding?
though they have great size, it does not protect
them from predators. Pods of Orcas hunting in The Costa Rica Dome is a unique habitat that is
packs have been known to kill and eat young created by a combination of water density and
blue whales. wind patterns off Central America. The Dome is
a unique and special place in the ocean, with a

waters well up to the surface. This upwelling

Blue Whales continued forms the Dome by forcing cold, deep water to
the surface, leaving a thin layer of warm wa-
wide variety of animals that can be sighted ter over the top. The upwelling brings bottom
there. Not only are blue whales known to use nutrients to the surface and creates a rich oasis
the Dome, but many other marine animals are in the warm, subtropical waters. Because of this,
attracted to these food-rich waters, including the area is so rich with food it is thought that
marlin, tuna, spinner dolphin, pygmy killer blue whales visit and feed here in the winter
whales, short-finned pilot whales, humpbacks, months.
and seis. Bryde’s and beaked whales are also
known to occur in the Dome area. These crea- Sources
tures are just part of a longer list of many dol- Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory Whale
phins and fish that use this region. Acoustics Project. http://newport.pmel.
noaa.gov/whales/bluecall.html. Accessed
The Dome is actually a distinct, dome-shaped July 2004.
body of water consisting of a shallow lens of
“Blue whales.” Wikipedia encyclopedia. http://
warm water that sits over a mass of colder, oxy-
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_Whale. Accessed
gen-poor waters. Winds blowing from Nicaragua
July 2004.
move the water offshore, and cold, nutrient-rich

The Great Whales

for a number of marine mam-

Activity 20: mals.
b. Mix equal parts of butter and
Baby Blues whipping cream to create “whale
milk” (the fat content—50%—will
Concepts approximate that of whale’s milk).
■ Blue whales are the largest ani- Pass a comb through the milk to
mals to have ever lived on the illustrate how it clings to the baby
planet. whales’ baleen.

■ Blue whales consume great quan- Size and growth

tities of food and grow rapidly
during their first months of life. c. Divide students into groups and
have them measure out the length
of a newborn blue whale. Mark
Materials that length on the rope with a
■ Blue whale background informa- ribbon. Then stretch out the rope
tion to measure the length of a 6-
month-old calf. Conduct the math
calculations below and figure out
Time how much baby blues grow each
20 minutes month. Tie a ribbon on the rope to
mark each month’s growth on the
Subjects rope.
■ Math d. Discuss how much milk and en-
■ Biology ergy it has taken for the mother
to feed that 6-month-old calf. Blue
whales stay with their mothers
Procedure until they are a year old. With 1
Baby blue’s food year of pregnancy and 8 months
a. Visualize how much food it takes of nursing, it is understandable
to support a blue whale. that blue whale mothers give birth
to only a single calf every 3 to 4
■ Baby blues are fed 189 liters years. With such a low birth rate,
of milk per day. Have stu- the recovery of these great whales
dents bring empty 1-liter soft can be expected to be very slow.
-drink bottles to school and Blue whales
pile in a corner to see how
much milk that would be. Teacher key to student are the larg-
worksheet #20 est animals
■ Recycle the bottles at the end
of the experiment and re- 1. Newborn blue whale calf size: 7 to have ever
search what materials the meters (23 feet). Six-month-old lived on the
plastic bottles are made into blue whale calf size: 14.6 meters
(48 feet). planet.
(insulation fiber for ski jack-
ets, sleeping bags, rulers, 2. How many meters did the calf
coasters, shoe laces, book- grow per month? 1.3 meters (4.2
marks, etc.). Point out that feet)
plastics in the oceans are a
3. Newborn calves weight 30 tons
hazard for whales and other
(60,000 pounds), and they add
sea life. Plastic buckets and
200 pounds (91 kilograms) per
bottles have been found in the
day. What is the weight of a baby
digestive tracts of whales and
blue at 6 months? 36,000 pounds
has been the cause of death
(16,329 kilograms)
The Great Whales
Copyright © 2008 Oregon State University Marine Mammal Institute 87

Whale Investigations

4. How many tons will the 6-month 5. How many liters of milk has the
calf weigh? (There are 2,000 calf consumed in 6 months? (189
pounds in a ton.) liters/day) 34,020 liters (8,987 gal-
lons)

Blue whale
mothers give
birth to only
a single calf
every 3 to 4
years.

The Great Whales

Student Activity #20

1. Newborn blue whale calf size: _____ meters (_____ feet). Six-month-old blue whale calf size:
_____ meters (_____ feet).

2. How many meters did the calf grow per month? _____ meters

3. Newborn calves weigh 30 tons (60,000 pounds), and they add 200 pounds (91 kilograms) per
day. What is the weight of a baby blue at 6 months? _____ pounds

4. How many tons will the 6-month calf weigh? (There are 2,000 pounds in a ton) _____ tons

5. How many liters of milk has the calf consumed in 6 months? (189 liters/day)
_____ liters (_____ gallons)

The Great Whales

Water density activity—build a

Activity 21: Costa Rica Dome
Divide the class into five groups of
Build a Costa Rica students. For each group of students,
set up the following:
Dome ■ Four small, bathroom-size paper
cups, three of them labeled A, B,
Concepts and C (the fourth one left blank),
■ Different temperatures and salin- with the following contents:
ity of water combine to create the Cup A: hot fresh water and 2
unique area called the Costa Rica drops of yellow coloring
Dome. Cup B: icy cold, salty water and 2
drops of red coloring
■ Temperature and salinity both Cup C: room-temperature fresh
affect the density of water. Warm,
water and 2 drops of blue coloring
fresh water is less dense than
Cup 4: empty
cold, salty water.
■ Clear plastic straws (one for each
Subjects student)

■ Physics
Challenge students to trap water in
■ Geography the clear plastic drinking straws in the
right sequence to create a rainbow of
colored water in their straws. The dif-
Materials ferent densities of water won’t mix, if
c Ice conducted in the proper sequence. In
c Hot water effect, students are creating a minia-
ture Costa Rica Dome.
c Clear soda straws
c Salt Note: The correct sequence to get a
rainbow is: 1. hot water; 2. room-tem-
c Small paper cups (the smaller the perature water; 3. cold, salty water.
better)
c Red, blue, and yellow food color- Discussion
ing The Costa Rica Dome has a shallow
lens of warm surface water that sits
It is the com- c Maps of Central America and the on colder water that has been carried
bination of Costa Rica Dome up by upwelling from deep, cold, salty
saltiness and waters. It is the combination of salti-
Time ness and temperature that forms the
temperature 30 minutes Costa Rica Dome. Explain to students
that forms that their experiment with small
the Costa Rica Procedure amounts of water requires that the
Geography—mapping activity temperatures and salinities be exag-
Dome. gerated to build the Dome. In reality,
Blue whales found off California mi-
grate from California to Costa Rica. the Dome does not have such extreme
differences in temperature or salin-
■ Label the countries of Central ity, but there is enough difference in
America and locate Costa Rica and density that the Dome is formed. Point
the Costa Rica Dome area. out to students that the dome will also
have the gradient of water from warm,
less salty, to cold, high-salinity waters
near the ocean floor.

The Great Whales

Exploring the Dome across the ocean waters, moving

the surface water away. This action
activities causes deeper, colder water to well up
The maps and questions for this
to the surface. Students should draw
activity let the students take a close
arrows to indicate how the winds
look at one unique ocean habitat. The
blow across the ocean waters.
goal is for students to understand
that, due to atmospheric and oceanic
The Costa Rica Dome map looks down
conditions, habitats in the ocean can
on the surface of the water, and the
be quite different from the surround-
isotherms show surface water tem-
ing ocean.
peratures. The isotherms can again
be used to define the boundary of the
Analysis of the Costa Rica Cross-
Costa Rica Dome. From the surface,
Section map will allow students to
it is a pool of cooler water caused by
discover what the Dome really looks
the cold, upwelled water.
like. The Dome is an area of water
that is colder than the surrounding
The Dome was discovered by ocean-
water. The temperatures are indicated
ographers taking temperature and sa-
by isotherms, lines that connect areas
linity readings of water from various
of the same temperature. The thermo-
depths. Oceanographers also check
cline is an area where the temperature
for chlorophyll content of the water,
changes quickly and the isotherms lie
which indicates plant growth and
very close together. It is the thermo-
gives a measure of productivity. Sci-
cline that shows the Dome, in that we
entific surveys of creatures that use
can see how the cold water is pushed
the area were also used to describe
up under the warmer surface water.
this habitat. All the data pointed to a
unique area that eventually was de-
The Costa Rica Dome map fined as the Costa Rica Dome.
The Costa Rica Dome is created by
winds that blow from Nicaragua

The Dome is
an area of
water that is
colder than
the surround-
ing water.

The Great Whales

Student Activity #21—Build a Costa Rica Dome

Instructions
1. Put the straw straight down into the first cup of water. Place your thumb tightly over the top of
the straw and lift it out of the cup. There should be a band of colored water in the straw .
2. Move to the second cup and stick the straw straight down into the cup of water. Remove your
thumb. The second color of water should move into the straw, making a layer. Place your thumb
tightly over the top of the straw and lift it out of the cup. If the colors mix, try again, but re-
verse the order that you used to collect the water. Try different sequences until all three colors
do not mix.
3. Dump failed attempts into the empty cup and try again.
4. Keep trying until you get the proper sequence and the three colors of water do not mix but
form three separate layers of water in the test tube.
Generally, would the same order of temperatures and densities be found in the Costa Rica
Dome?

The Great Whales

Central America teacher key

Map by Craig Toll.

The Great Whales

Student Worksheet #21

Central America map
1. Label the countries of Central America on this map.
2. Circle the area where the Costa Rica Dome occurs and provides a unique habitat for blue
whales.

Map by Craig Toll.

The Great Whales

Costa Rica Dome Cross-Section Worksheet #21

1. Examine the illustration of the Costa Rica Dome Cross-Section. Examine the pattern of the lines
on the drawing. These connect areas of water that are the same temperature and are called
isotherms (iso = same; therm = temperature. Where the isotherms are close together, there is a
rapid change in temperature. This area is called the thermocline. It is this area where the cold
water is meeting the warm. Above the area of dense lines is warm water; below is cold.
2. Label the area that is the thermocline.
3. Label which parts of the Dome are warm water and which are cold. Color the areas that are 24
degrees and above pink (warm), and the areas that are 18 degrees and below blue (cold).
4. Draw arrows in the Dome to indicate the movement of upwelling water, which creates the
Dome.

Costa Rica Dome Cross-Section

Illustration by Tai Kreimeyer (from data supplied by William S. Kessler, National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory).

The Great Whales

Costa Rica Dome Map Activity #21

1. Locate Costa Rica and Nicaragua.
2. Using the Sea Surface Temperatures, SST isotherms (lines marked in Fahrenheit), locate the
Costa Rica Dome. It is the cool-water area off Costa Rica. The Dome lies within isotherms of 50
degrees or less. Color it blue.
3. Check the isotherms and locate the waters that are 60 degrees and above. Note that the sur-
rounding waters in this area are mostly warmer.
4. Draw an arrow on the map to indicate the direction of the winds that blow and stir the waters
to create the Dome.
5. In the margins of the map, list five or six animals that are attracted to the rich waters of the
Dome.

Costa Rica Dome map

Illustration by Tai Kreimeyer (from data supplied by William S. Kessler, National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory).

The Great Whales

Fin whales are included in the rorqual family

Fin Whales and have the characteristic deep throat grooves
Balaenoptera physalus (balaena = baleen of that group. Second in size only to the blue
or whale, and Greek pteron = fin, and whales, fins are unique in that they have odd
coloration. On the right side of the head, the
Greek physa = bellows), “finned whale
lips and a 2-foot front section of the baleen are
with bellowing spout.” white or pale gray. The lips and baleen of the
left side are all dark. Why these whales have a
Fin whales are found in all parts of the oceans, section of white baleen is unknown. The white
from the cold southern and northern hemi- color of the right lip continues over the back,
sphere latitudes to warmer tropical areas. They from the corner of the jaw to behind the blow-
are found in the north Atlantic off Iceland, in hole, forming a wide V along the back and upper
the Pacific off California and Mexico, and in the side. Scientists have discovered that the color
southern hemisphere. They and shape of the chevrons (v’s) vary, and they
are found mostly have used these to identify individ-
offshore ual whales.
and

roam about the oceans.

This lifestyle makes them difficult to study,
so we know little about their life habits, their Fin whales feed
habitats, and their calving grounds or migration on both krill and small fish. Along
patterns. with the sei whales, fins are the fastest-swim-
ming whales. Next to the blue whales, fins have
We know that fin and blue whales both use the the deepest voice of all the whales. The sounds
Sea of Cortez in Mexico. The methods used to are so low, they cannot be heard by humans
study these elusive whales are tagging and lis- until recorded and sped up.
tening to their sounds (acoustics studies). Ques-
tions as basic as “Do fin whales migrate in and
out of the Sea of Cortez, or are they year-round
Source
residents?” have yet to be answered. Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory Whale
Acoustics Project. http://newport.pmel.
noaa.gov/whales/finwhale.html. Accessed
July 2004.

The Great Whales

Have students add each organ or set

Activity 22: of organs, system by system, in the
order given below:
Whales: The Inside ■ Digestive system
Story —Stomach and intestines
—Liver
This activity focuses on informa-
tion gathered during whale studies. ■ Excretory system
Beached whales provide opportunities —Kidney
to learn about whale anatomy and
physiology. Most beached whales are ■ Reproductive system (this speci-
dissected and examined to determine men is a male)
the cause of death. The fin whale used —Testes and penis
for this activity was one of the few in ■ Circulatory system
which every organ was measured and —Heart
weighed during the dissection.
■ Respiratory system
Concepts —Lungs and trachea
■ A whale’s internal anatomy is dif- ■ Nervous system
ferent from other mammals and —Brain and spinal cord
its organs are very large. Digestive system
■ The stomach of baleen whales con-
Materials sists of three main compartments.
c Scissors The first and second compart-
c Glue ments (forestomach and main
stomach) are wide and can hold
c Whale outline at least 200 gallons and possibly
c Whale organ illustrations up to a ton of krill. Whales have a
stomach similar to that of cattle,
c Table of whale parts sizes deer, and sheep, which also have
three stomach compartments. The
Subject areas intestines do not show a differ-
ence in size between the large and
■ Math small intestine as in most other
■ Biology mammals.
Most beached
■ The liver is two-lobed, whereas hu-
whales are Time mans have a four-lobed liver. The
dissected and 45 minutes lobes of both human and whale
examined to livers are of unequal size. Whale

determine
Procedure liver is sold as food in Japan.
Participating in a whale dissection is Respiratory system
the cause of next to impossible for students, but
this activity allows them to cut and
■ Lungs—Note that the trachea
death. leads to the nostrils on the top of
paste the internal organs of a whale
the head.
into their proper positions in the
whale outline. Ask students to place The lung capacity of a 22-meter
the organs into the whale in the se- (71-foot) fin whale is about 2,000
quence indicated. Students review the liters. It sounds like a lot, but
chart of the sizes of fin whale organs relative to the fin whale’s size it
as they relate to the size of a 6-foot isn’t greatly different from that of
(182.8 centimeters) tall, 200-pound other mammals.
(90.7 kilograms) human.

The Great Whales

Circulatory system The pulse rate has been estimated

■ The heart is four-chambered like at 60 to 140 beats per minute,
that of other mammals. There dropping to 4 to 15 beats per min-
are left and right ventricles and ute when diving.
auricles, a pulmonary artery and Excretory system
vein, and an aorta. Among mam- ■ Kidneys are located in the top of
mals, the whale has the widest the body cavity, one on each side
heart, and it is slightly flattened of the spinal cord area. They are
and rounded at its apex (tip). The lobulated, which means they look
muscle walls of the ventricles (two like a huge bunch of grapes tightly
lower heart chambers) of several packed together.
large whales have been measured
from 7.6 to 12.7 centimeters Testicles and ovaries
(about 3–5 inches) in thickness. ■ Located near the kidney areas.

Fin whale organs

The size of each internal organ has been determined from an actual dissec-
tion of a fin whale.

Organs from a 22.6-meter (71-foot) fin whale

How many 6-foot,
Organ Weight in pounds in kilograms 200-pound humans
Brain 18.4 8.3 .09
Kidney 461 209 2.3
Heart 842 382 4.2
Lung 868 394 4.3
Spleen 15 6.8 .08
Pancreas 60 27.2 .3
Eye 3.7 1.7 .02
Ovary 11.3 5.1 .06
Ovary + uterus 215 97.5 1.1
The first and
Stomach 685 310.7 3.4
second stom-
Intestine 2,255 1022.9 11.2
ach compart-
Tongue 2,707 1,227.9 13.5
ments can
Testes no data
hold at least
Penis 9 feet long 2.7 meters 2.5 200 gallons
and possibly
up to a ton of
krill.

The Great Whales

100
Student Page

The Great Whales

LK
T
D DA PS M L
F
B
P
Liv
R H
Trachea

Blubber
L Lung Diaphragm
H Heart
F Fore stomach
M Main stomach
PS Pyloric stomach
DA Duodenum ampula
D Duodenum
T Testes
B Bladder
P Penis
R Rectum
Liv Liver
LK Lobulated kidney
Sp Spleen

Illustration by Laura Hauck, with assistance from the Whale Museum, Friday Harbor, Washington (“for full access to the skeleton as I perched on a
ladder in the museum for a day”), Tamara McGuire and the Marine Mammal Stranding Network (“for dissection access”), and Jan Hodder (“for striped

dolphin dissection and knowledge regarding marine mammal internal anatomy”).
Student Worksheet—Build-a-whale activity

L
Liv

L Lung SC
H Heart
F Fore stomach
M Main stomach B
PS Pyloric stomach LK
D Duodenum
T Testes

B Bladder
P Penis D PS E
T M
R Rectum
Liv Liver F

101
LK Lobulated kidney H
Sp Spleen P I

The Great Whales

Student Page
Student Page Whale Investigations

they live. All five stocks are distributed in the

Bowhead Whales far north waters of the Atlantic and Pacific
Balaena mysticetus (balaena = baleen oceans. None occur in the southern hemisphere.
or whale, mysticetus = mustache),
They are known to migrate between summer
mustachioed whale.
feeding grounds and wintering areas. Oil explo-
ration and drilling in Arctic waters is one of the
Bowhead whales are the ice whales. They live
major threats to these animals. Identification of
in the northern polar waters, spending most
migration routes of bowheads is of importance
of their lives under or near pack ice. They are
to protect this species.
known to break through 60-centimeter (23.6-
inch) thick ice to breathe. Their encounters with
Their numbers today remain severely depleted.
ice leave scars that scientists use to identify in-
The only reliable population estimates are for
dividual whales. Only during brief periods of the
the western Arctic stock, whose number is
summer do they find ice-free waters. So much
placed at 8,200. Whaling for bow-
of their time is spent under the
heads has been
ice or in lanes between ice
completely
floes, they are difficult
banned,
to study and little is
known of their
life

habits. They are

a very vocal whale and use a variety
except for limited harvest by
of calls and songs, probably to help navigate
native Alaskans. These people have
around the ice.
hunted bowheads for generations, and the
whales are important to their cultural prac-
In appearance, they are much like the right
tices. Whaling has been incorporated into many
whales, with enormous heads and long baleen.
aspects of the daily lives of Eskimos. The whale
Bowheads have the longest baleen of any of
provides plentiful supplies of meat, skin, and
the whales—up to 4 meters (13.1 feet). At the
blubber that are used as food by all the com-
peak of the whaling period, bowheads were
munity. Bowhead population growth rates are
heavily hunted. When the price of oil dropped,
estimated to be about 3% per year, even with the
they were hunted only for their baleen, which
harvest by Alaskan natives.
was used in buggy whips, ladies’ corsets, and
umbrella stays. Spring steel eventually replaced
The U.S. Marine Mammal Protection Act banned
baleen, literally saving bowheads from being
taking of all whales, and the U.S. has encour-
hunted to extinction.
aged other nations to do likewise. The Eskimos’
limited harvest has drawn criticism from other
Bowheads grow to be quite old. The recent dis-
countries and especially from marine mammal
covery of stone harpoon tips in the blubber and
conservation groups.
aging studies on the tissues of their eyes has
increased their estimated age to over 100 years.
Source
There are five different stocks of bowheads, “Overview of Alaskan Eskimo Whaling Commis-
identified by the areas of the oceans in which sion,” http://www.uark.edu/misc/jcdixon/
Historic_Whaling/AEWC/AEWC.htm

The Great Whales

Procedure
Activity 23: ■ Read “Bowhead Whales.”
Whaling Debate ■ Divide students into three groups:
Group A: Native Alaskans
Concepts
Group B: Whale conservationist
■ Protecting whales is more than organizations that wish to protect
just protecting endangered spe- all marine mammals from being
cies. harvested
■ Native cultures have evolved Group C: The U.S. Marine Mammal
around whales. Commission, which must make
the decision to permit or ban the
Materials taking of bowheads by native
Alaskans
c Reading information about bow-
heads
Part A of the debate
Divide students into three groups and
Subject areas assign each group a role to play in the
■ Sociology dispute over the bowhead harvest.
Allow the students to research and
■ Biology develop their own arguments about
bowhead harvest. Have each group
Time present their arguments for or against
30 minutes (presentation and discus- bowhead harvest to the central body
sion; homework to prepare arguments of the Marine Mammals Commission.
for or against whaling) Include their rationale as to why or
why not the whales should be har-
After the U.S. adopted the policy of vested.
protecting all marine mammals under
the Marine Mammal Protection Act, Place the U.S. Marine Mammal Com-
the harvest of bowheads by Alaskan mission at the head of the room
Eskimos was also to cease. It quickly to conduct the hearing. Allow each
became a hotly debated topic. Alaskan group to present their arguments.
natives had long harvested bowheads The Commission may question the
for food, and the hunting, prepara- presenters, discuss their decision, At the heart
tion, and use of the whale became a and present it to the class. Have them
develop their arguments for the first of the bow-
central part of their culture. At the
heart of the bowhead controversy part of the debate for or against the head contro-
was the need to save an endangered take of bowhead whales. versy was the
species or to save an endangered cul-
ture—or, more importantly, to find a need to save
Part B of the debate
balance between the two. After the first round, have the stu- an endan-
dents reconsider their positions and gered species
Read the background information develop a compromise statement.
about the Eskimos’ harvest of bow- Allow each side to present their com-
or to save an
head whales. Discuss the information promise statement. The Commission endangered
from the reading to build an under- should again settle on a ruling and culture.
standing of native cultures and the present it to the opposing sides.
importance of natural resources to
their livelihoods and their culture. Open discussion for a class debriefing
Conduct a mock hearing to determine about the bowhead controversy. Does
the policy for bowhead protection. the commission ruling satisfactorily

The Great Whales

resolve the issue? Arrive at a class de-

cision about allowing bowheads to be
harvested for cultural purposes. Was
the students’ conclusion and resolu-
tion of the issue similar to the actual
agreement that was reached?

The Great Whales

an important resource, responded quickly and

Bowhead Whales and formed their own whaling commission, which
they called the Alaska Eskimo Whaling Commis-
Native Alaskans sion (AEWC). They worked to organize the native
Bowheads are found in the far north Pacific in Alaskan whaling communities to begin manag-
the Arctic ice sheets. They have been hunted ing the harvest of bowheads themselves.
and harvested by Eskimos for thousands of
years. The harvest and use of the bowhead was At first, there was much discussion and conflict
so important to these people that many ceremo- between the two whaling commissions. The
nies and cultural practices became associated conflict peaked with a bitter standoff in the fall
with the hunt and preparation of the meat. Vari- of 1980. Out of this conflict came an agreement
ous parts of the whale were prized for its flavor between the National Oceanic and Atmospheric
and would be divided and distributed among all Administration (NOAA), the federal agency re-
members of the community. sponsible for managing whales, and the AEWC.
They signed a Cooperative Agreement on March
Bowhead harvest came to provide livelihood, 26, 1981, in which NOAA delegated to the AEWC
meaning, and identity to the Eskimo whalers management authority for the Eskimo whale
and their communities. The communal nature harvest. This allowed the AEWC to manage the
of the hunt became an important part of and hunt without the presence of federal agents in
remains today a spiritual and cultural center of the whaling communities. The AEWC Manage-
the community. ment Plan governs the whales, and the AEWC
reports to NOAA on the results of each spring
Butchering and sharing the whale with the and fall whaling season.
whole community are a ritualized and highly
valued cultural practice. Select parts of the The agreement was a victory for the Eskimos,
whale are divided among the whaling crews at as they succeeded in replacing the ban with a
the butchering site. Shares are set aside for im- small quota. Scientific studies showed that the
portant members of the community, including population of bowheads was higher than previ-
the elders and widows. Some parts of the whale ously thought. Better methods for estimating
are stored to be used at important festivals, the population of bowheads have helped the
such as the traditional feasts of Nalukataq and whalers to eventually secure an increased quota,
Qagruvik. Everyone at the festival can take part based on the established historic need of the
in the ceremony and has access to the whale whaling communities.
meat. Eventually, the tons of meat find their way
throughout the region, all year long. Source
Henry Huntingon, Inuit Whaling. Published
In 1977, due to concerns over the decreasing by Inuit Circumpolar Conference, June 1992.
numbers of bowheads, the International Whaling Special issue http://www.highnorth.no/Library/
Commission imposed a ban on the harvest of Hunts/Other/al-es-wh.htm. Retrieved February
bowhead whales by Alaskan natives. The Es- 2004.
kimo community, dismayed by the loss of such

The Great Whales

about harvesting Minke whales, as sustainable

Minke Whales harvest levels have not been established.
Balaenoptera acutorostrata (balae =
The name “Minke” was the name of a Norwe-
baleen or whale, optera = fin or wing,
gian whaler who was known for breaking rules
acuto = sharp, strata = layer); Minke = and taking smaller whales than was allowed.
the name of an infamous Norwegian All small whales came to be called Minke, but
whaler eventually the name was used solely for this one
small whale.
The Minke (pronounced minky) is one of the
smallest of the baleen (filter-feeding) whales, Research interest: Since Minkes are being har-
seldom growing larger than 32 feet (10 meters) vested, establishing reliable population data
in length. Its sharp, pointed head and the white about the stocks is of interest, and the respons-
band on its flippers are distinctive for this spe- es of Minke population numbers to the harvest
cies. Minkes are found all across the world’s are important. Their migrations and calving and
oceans, ranging into the icy polar regions. feeding grounds have not been
identified.
The largest popula-
tions of Minke whales
are found in the
southern hemi-
sphere.
There are
also
Like other cetaceans,
Minke whales are also threat-
populations in the ened by degradation of their habitat.
western Atlantic, the north Threats to the whales such as overfishing, pol-
Pacific, and the Indian Ocean. Minke lution, and global climate changes need to be
whales are also found in the north established. The number of Minke whales that
Atlantic and are commonly sighted off the become entangled in fishing nets each year is
coasts of Ireland, Great Britain, and Scotland. not known.
They are also sighted in the Pacific off Alaska
and the northwest U.S. coast. Sources
Stocks of Minke Whale. http://www.highnorth.
Minkes are rorqual whales and have the same no/Library/Hunts/Norway/ci-no-dr.htm. Re-
expandable throat pouches as the larger species trieved April 2004.
of rorquals. They feed on larger prey than most
baleen whales, searching out a variety of fish, Minke whales. http://ourworld.compuserve.
squid, and krill for food. com/homepages/jaap/minke.htm. Retrieved
April 2004.
They are one the most abundant of the world’s
whales, with the total population estimated to
be at least 1 million. They are currently being
*The next reading sections deal with lesser-
hunted and used for food in the Scandinavian
known whales. One activity at the end applies
countries and in Japan and Siberia. In the mid-
to all three whales—Minke, sei, and pygmy right
1990s, several hundred Minkes were taken in 1
whales.
year by Norway. There is concern and discussion

The Great Whales

venture into more shallow areas. Sei whales

Sei Whales usually appear alone or in groups of two to
Balaenoptera borealis (balaen = baleen, five. This fact, coupled with their preference for
deep-water habitats, makes them less accessible
optera = fin, borealis = boreal* region),
and therefore more difficult to study.
“Finned whale of the boreal region.”
Common names: sardine whale, pollock Seis mature at 6–10 years of age and are be-
whale, and coalfish whale. lieved to grow to 65 or 70 years of age. They
*Boreal = northern temperate climate with cold give birth to one calf every 2 or 3 years.
winters and warm summers.
Seis frequent the same waters as blue and fin
The sei (pronounced “say”) whale may grow whales, which were once heavily hunted. Once
from 25 to 50 feet (8 to 25 meters) in length and the populations of blues and fins were deplet-
weighs up to 40 tons (40.6 metric tons). Norwe- ed, whalers turned to sei whales, taking large
gians used the name sei as this whale arrived in numbers of them in the mid-1960s. One year’s
Norwegian waters at the same time as Sei, the harvest of over 25,000 whales occurred during
Norwegian name for coalfish. It is the third-larg- that period. By the late 1970s, the harvest had
est baleen whale, smaller only than the blue and caused the sei’s numbers to fall so low that in
finback whales. 1979 they were assigned protected status. They
are still listed as endangered, although total
Seis have the long population estimates are only
throat grooves rough guesses.
characteris-
tic of the

rorquals, but they do not display Research interest in seis

the characteristic gulping, sometimes focuses on establishing reliable
called lunge-feeding behavior. Rather, population estimates and identifying birth-
they feed by skimming on their sides at the sur- ing grounds and migrations. Threats to these
face for small crustaceans and fish (copepods, whales are also poorly identified. There are
krill, and small fish). The sei’s baleen is gray few, if any, recorded fisheries interactions, and
with a lighter-colored area near the tip of the mortalities from collisions with ships are poorly
snout that is similar to that of the fin whales. documented.

Seis live in all oceans of the world in temperate Sources

regions. These are the areas of the oceans with Hebridean Whale and Dolphin Trust. http://
moderate temperate ranges. The whales feed whales.gn.apc.org/whale5.shtml. Retrieved April
in the summers in the subpolar waters of both 2004.
hemispheres and migrate to warmer, subtropi-
cal waters during the winters. They are rarely New York State Department of Environmental
sighted in polar and tropical latitudes. They Conservation, Fish, Wildlife and Marine Re-
spend their time offshore in deeper waters, near source Division. http://www.dec.state.ny.us/
the margins of continental shelves, and seldom website/dfwmr/wildlife/endspec/sewhfs.html.
Retrieved April 2004.

The Great Whales

The Bryde’s whale is sometimes called “sardine

Bryde’s Whales whale” because it feeds on small fish.
Balaenoptera edeni (balaen = whale,
optera = wings, edeni = Eden), Eden’s The Bryde’s whale has not been heavily hunted.
Very little is known about this species of whale.
whale. Named for Johan Bryde, pioneer
It has no known long migrations and is different
of whaling in South Africa in 1913. from most baleen whales in that it often feeds
Common names: tropical whale, sardine in groups of up to 100.
whale.
Research interest in the Bryde’s whale is focused
The Bryde’s whale and the pygmy right whale on identification of stocks, their locations, and
are the smallest of the great whales. Little is population sizes. Big gaps in information re-
known about their life styles and population main about Bryde’s whales regarding population
numbers. Bryde’s whales size in most of the ocean regions in which they
are very similar in ap- occur.
pearance to sei
whales.

Bryde’s whales prefer waters of 20 Source

degrees C and occur only in tropical International Fund for Animal Wel-
or subtropical waters. They are known to fare. http://www.ifawct.org/whaledb/whale12.
be deep divers. They feed on schools of small htm. Retrieved April 2004.
fish, such as herring or anchovies, and krill.

The Great Whales

Pygmies are the smallest of the great whales,

Pygmy Right Whales reaching 5 to 6 meters (16.4 to 19.7 feet) in
length. In appearance, the pygmy is similar to
Caperea marginata (Caperea = to
the right whale in that it has a high, arched jaw
wrinkle, refers to the earbone;
and the head makes up 1/4 of its body length.
marginata = margin, refers to the dark But pygmies are more closely related to the
border on the baleen of this species) rorqual whales.

Pygmy right whales are found only in the south- The pygmy’s baleen is fine, indicating that small
ern hemisphere. They are usually found food prey such as copepods and krill are most
in temperate to sub-Antarctic likely its primary source of
waters. They inhabit both food.
open ocean and shal-
low bays and are
common in
waters off

Tasmania and Australia. There are big gaps in the amount

They’ve also been sighted off the coasts of information known about pygmy right
of South Africa, southern Australia, New Zea- whales. We know little about their reproduc-
land, and Chile. They have a low profile in the tive cycles, feeding and social behaviors, and
water, an insignificant blow, and a short surfac- feeding areas. The pygmy right whale is so rare
ing period, making them difficult to observe. and unstudied, it is not even known how rare it
That, coupled with low numbers and a secretive really is.
nature, makes them a very difficult animal to
study.
Source
Pygmy right whale, Caperea marginata. http://
www.cetacea.org/pright.htm. Retrieved April
2004.

The Great Whales

■ Develop questions to be answered.

Activity 24: ■ Determine who might finance
Design a Research your study. (States or countries
with whale populations may fund
Project research, or research grants may
This activity allows students to select be obtained from fisheries man-
and design major aspects of a re- agement agencies.)
search project.
■ Conduct a literature search to
find out what is known about the
Concepts whale to be researched. (Check
■ There are a number of steps out Web sites on the whale you
involved in conducting a research are researching. Scientists use
project. libraries and literature searches of
past research projects.)
■ Students will develop inquiry
skills by designing a research ■ Develop a plan:
project on one of the smaller, less- —Where to conduct the work.
known whales. Check the Internet to see where
stocks of the whales are located.
—Will you conduct field work?
Materials Lab work?
c Writing materials —How long do you estimate the
study will take?
Subject —What equipment will be needed
to conduct the research? Whale
■ Biology research might require the use of
ships, radio tags, satellite time,
Time nets and water bottles to test
One period, or homework water, high-resolution binoculars,
cameras, etc.
Design your own research project
for one of the lesser-known whales
■ Conduct the project—list the
steps you will take to gather the
such as the Minke, sei, pygmy right,
data you will need.
or Bryde’s. Research on these whales
may be as simple as answering ques- ■ Analyze the data.
How will you tions about what they eat, where their
favorite feeding areas are, whether ■ Disseminate the results of the
extend to the project. For example: write pa-
they migrate from summer to winter
public the in- areas, how often they have calves, pers to be published in scientific
how old they are, whether they live in journals, give presentations at
formation you
groups or alone, etc. meetings to other scientists, write
have gath- fact sheets for distribution to the
ered? Research projects often follow much public, or set up a Web site.
the same format, which includes How will you extend to the public
some or all of the following: the information you have gath-
ered?

The Great Whales

7. Whale Research
Whale Research What do the data from tags and satellites tell
us? Some of the sensor-rich tags Dr. Mate has
and Technology used on whales have given answers to these
questions:
Tailing the whales—using ■ Where do the whales go and what is the tem-
satellites perature of the water there?

W
e know we could never put enough ■ How long are their dives?
ships in the ocean to watch all of the
ocean and find out where whales live! ■ How long does a whale stay at the surface?
So we need another way to watch for whales.
■ How often do they dive?
Scientists are adopting the most sophisticated
technology to study whales. Dr. Bruce Mate, of ■ How deep do they go on a dive?
Oregon State University, has pioneered the use
of radio tags and satellites to unlock mysteries ■ What percentage of their time do they spend
of whale behavior and carries on active tagging at specific depths?
research. Satellites high above the Earth can
pick up radio signals and record broad areas of Another battery-operated tag Dr. Mate will use
ocean at one time. Some satellites carry cameras is smaller and much simpler. It gives location
to photograph and transmit digital information data and a count of the number of surfacings
to computers. The information is made into pic- a whale makes. The tag transmits data that is
tures and reveals a lot about the ocean habitat. collected by “ARGOS” receivers onboard NOAA
But more is needed than just taking pictures satellites overhead. However, the tag can trans-
of the ocean. Pictures can’t show where whales mit only when out of water, so the placement of
go throughout their lives. Once scientists know the tag on the whale’s back is critical. The tag
which parts of the ocean and which habitats the will be exposed to air when the whale comes up
whales use, then photos can be used to find out to breathe. If all goes well, the data will reveal
more about those places. the whale’s migration path and other movement
patterns until the tag falls off or the battery
To track a whale, the scientist attaches a radio runs down.
transmitter called a radio tag to the animal’s
body. The radio tag sends a signal to the satel- Tagging is done from a small (often inflatable,
lite, and the satellite relays the signal to com- Zodiac-style) boat about 15 to 24 feet long. The
puters. researchers use a compound crossbow or air-
powered line thrower to dart the tags from close
Attaching radio tags to whales seemed pretty range.
crazy when scientists first thought about it. But
it was really the only way they could keep track After experimenting with different tag designs
of whales over a series of months. Big problems and improving the design over a number of
had to be solved to make this work. The first years, researchers developed a tag that is about
thing to consider was how to keep the tag at- the size of a cigar. The tag has an antenna wire,
tached to whales that swim over thousands of which sends the signal to the satellite, and a
miles and rub against rocks, the ocean bottom, conductivity switch, which keeps the antenna
and other whales. Also, whatever was designed from sending signals when the whale is under
must not hurt the whale. Once those problems water. This saves battery power. The tag sends
were solved, the next issue was how to power its signal (a transmission) to an overhead satel-
the tags so they could send signals to the satellite, which then sends tag data down to a data
lites. processing center in North America. The tags
are programmed to send a signal only when

The Great Whales

there is a receiving satellite overhead,

again saving battery power.

The tag is implanted into the whale’s

upper side, where the blubber layer is
thick. When it is implanted, only the
antennas stick out from the whale’s
skin. Since the blubber layer has Radio tag (about 1/2 actual size).
little or no blood vessels and nerve
endings, the process is believed to be painless The data from this research always gives new in-
to the whale. Many whales don’t even flinch formation about whale migrations and habitats.
when they are tagged. To some whales, it prob- Tags help to locate their winter and summer
habitat areas and migration
routes.

Satellite tracking is being used

on more than whales. Birds,
sea turtles, and elephants are
just a few of the creatures
scientists are following around
with satellites.
The U.S. National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration
(NOAA) operate the satellites.
They are the same satellites
used to track global weather
patterns, and they do much
more than monitor radio tags.
These satellites are polar
Dr. Bruce Mate “darts” a whale with a radio tag. orbiting—they circle the planet
over both the north and south
ably feels like getting a vaccination. If the tag poles. They have special instruments designed
is attached long enough, it encapsulates like a to listen for transmissions from radio tags
splinter would in your finger. Again, this doesn’t and determine their location. This might seem
seem to hurt the whale at all. simple to do, but it isn’t. Each satellite circles
the earth every 101 minutes, meaning it is over
OSU researchers have tagged gray, humpbacks, any one place on Earth for only about 10 to 15
blues, fins, bow-heads, right, and sperm whales. minutes. Then, the whale must be on the ocean

Whale with radio tag implanted.

The Great Whales

surface when the satellite is overhead. The more ther explore the oceans and learn more about
transmissions received from a satellite passover, whales.
the more accurate the location of the whale.
Also, the transmissions come with an estimate Animals make sounds for many reasons. Birds
of how accurate, or reliable, the location data sing to attract a mate or mark a territory, dogs
is. So the locations can be a little off at times. growl in threat, humans speak to communi-
Using computer mapping programs or hand cate complex ideas and emotions. In the ocean,
plotting the location data, scientists can visually sound is more important than in most places.
see where the whale is, the route it is travelling, This is because vision is not of much use in the
and roughly how fast it is swimming. dark ocean depths, and the sense of smell is
very limited in water. So marine animals, es-
The radio signals also transmit a digital code, pecially whales and dolphins, have developed
from which scientists can determine informa- very sophisticated ways to both make and hear
tion about the whales’ diving behavior—how sounds in the water, and use them to communi-
deep they dive, how long they dive, and how cate and “see” their surroundings.
much time they spend on the surface. We can
download this data in Oregon State University’s The toothed whales (sperm whales, orcas, be-
laboratory at Newport, Oregon. lugas, dolphins, porpoises, etc.) use all kinds
of sounds to communicate with each other—
We can use the satellites for more than just grunts, whistles, chirps, and squeals. They also
tracking the whales. The SeaWIFS satellite use very high-frequency sounds, called echolo-
provides important data on ocean productivity. cation, to find prey. They send out the sounds
SeaWIFS stands for the Sea-viewing Wide Field of and wait for the echo to return to their ears. The
View Sensor, designed to measure the amount echo tells them how far an object is from them
of phytoplankton in the ocean and the seasonal and what it is—the same way we use vision.
changes in distribution. They can also measure
surface currents, water temperatures, salinity, The baleen whales (blues, grays, humpbacks,
the amount of sediment in ocean water, ocean fins, Minke whales, etc.) are not thought to
ice cover, and much more. The observations are use the type of echolocation used by toothed
made with radar, lasers, and color- and infra- whales. The sounds scientists have recorded
red-sensing scanners. The maps these satellites from baleen whales are low frequency, as op-
produce translate ocean temperatures into color posed to the high-frequency sounds used in
patterns. Infrared patterns show false colors, echolocation. Baleen whale sounds are usually
but different temperatures can be assigned to described as moans or thumps. These are prob-
each color to identify masses of cold and warm ably used for communication and possibly to
waters. The same can be done with plankton probe the environment for navigation, to hear
blooms, and the satellites can sense the amount echoes off seamounts, continental shelves, ice-
of chlorophyll (green pigments) in the plants. bergs, etc. Humpback whales seem to have the
Chlorophyll maps of the ocean can identify most complex calls of any of the baleen whales.
areas of productivity and plankton blooms, Male humpback whales sing “songs” that consist
and on land the changes of the seasons can be of a series of sounds put together and repeated
recorded. over and over. This sometimes goes on for
hours.
These methods rely on electromagnetic radia-
tion, which can’t penetrate ocean water very Other species have their own distinctive calls
well. This means that all these observations are that allow us to identify them. Bryde’s whales
limited to the upper few meters of the ocean. make slow, low-frequency grunts; right whales
So we still have to use ships to get many of the make a querulous, rising moan; and fin whales
measurements needed from below that depth. make a short pulse. Sometimes there are differ-
ences between stocks of whales as well. Each
Using sounds to study whales humpback stock seems to have its own song,
Technology now allows us to put listening de- and the songs change from year to year. Re-
vices (hydrophones) into the ocean to listen to searchers have also discovered that the eastern
sounds. Researchers are using sounds to fur- Pacific (west coast of the U.S.) blue whales make
different sounds than those in the western
The Great Whales
Copyright © 2008 Oregon State University Marine Mammal Institute 113

Student Page Whale Research

Pacific off Japan, which in turn are different Along with whale sounds, hydrophones pick up
from those off South America or Antarctica. many other noises such as earthquakes, ships,
and drilling noise. With all these overlapping
Scientists studying whales by analyzing hydro- sounds, it is sometimes difficult to tell whale
phone data can learn about the seasonality and sounds from other sounds on hydrophone re-
distribution of whale calls, and in the case of cordings. Because blue, right, and sperm whale
some species, what they may be doing. Certain calls are very distinct, filters have been devel-
call types are made only by males or only by oped that isolate these calls from the ocean’s
females and are probably related to breeding other noises. The filters are applied to digitized
or mother-calf communication. Other sounds hydrophone recordings that isolate and identify
are associated with feeding. When combined the whale calls.
with tagging and other ways of studying whales,
sound gives us a clearer picture of the life of the Once the whale calls have been identified in the
whales. recordings, it is sometimes possible to “track”
a calling whale’s location. If a particular call is
Whale call research is trying to relate their picked up by at least three hydrophone stations,
behavior (singing) to sound pollution in the the position of the whale can be calculated
oceans. One researcher discovered that hump-
back whales change their songs when loud Navy Sound is caused by a pressure wave, meaning
sonar sounds are present. Do their songs change that it is transmitted as a vibration from mol-
when powerful explosions are released into the ecule to molecule. Think of a vibrating guitar
oceans? When noisy oil-exploration ships go by? string, which causes the air molecules around
These are all topics of research. it to vibrate, with the vibration being passed on
from molecule to molecule until it reaches your
Sperm whales produce the most intense sounds. ears. This is true whether the sound is traveling
Scientists believe the first attempts to tag through air, water, bone, or steel. Sound travels
sperm whales failed because the intensity of the almost five times faster in seawater than air.
sounds shattered parts of the radio tag. The higher the salinity or pressure, the faster
the sound travels. The lower the temperature,
Some scientists believe humpbacks sing to at- the slower the sound travels.
tract a mate or defend their territory, but they
don’t know for sure. In fact, they don’t know In seawater, different temperatures, salinity,
very much about what many whales’ sounds and pressures work together to create layers of
mean. water in the ocean. Scientists have discovered
a kind of sound pipeline, which they called the
Whales don’t have vocal cords like humans SOund Fixing and Ranging channel, or SOFAR
do. If they tried to make sounds the same way channel. The laws of refraction work to trap
humans do, they would probably swallow lots sound in the channel. Sounds are trapped and
of water! Whales make sounds by moving air focused in this layer, continually being bent
around in the larynx and throat area. Sperm back into it by water layers with different tem-
whales create clicks that are amplified as they peratures and densities. Sound introduced into
pass through the spermaceti and the junk. The this SOFAR channel thus can travel thousands
constant stream of clicks is used for echoloca- of miles horizontally with minimal loss of sig-
tion and communication. nal.

Toothed whales receive sounds very differently What a useful tool to begin to explore sounds in
than you do. Humans hear very poorly under the oceans. For instance, sounds from a loud-
water because the air trapped in our ears acts speaker in the SOFAR channel west of Australia
as a plug or barrier to the sound. Whales do not were detected near Bermuda in the north Atlan-
have external ears, but the internal parts of the tic ocean! Scientists studying whales by analyz-
ear are connected to the outside of the whale ing hydrophone data from the SOFAR channel
by the lower jawbone. The sound travels up the can learn the seasonality and distribution of
jawbone to the bones inside the ear. After that, whale calls, and in the case of some species,
it works just like our ears. what they may be doing. For example, hump

The Great Whales

Sperm whale echolocation. (Illustration by Tai Kreimeyer.)

backs make specific calls when bubblenet feed- navy destroyer, knew the depth of the SOFAR
ing. channel, it could set its depth charges (under-
water explosive devices) to go off at that depth,
Humans have used the SOFAR channel in a where the submarine was likely to be. Today,
number of ways. In fact, the channel has been naval ships monitor the depth of the SOFAR
important to submarines and submarine warfare channel, as do submarines.
since World War II. Sound waves, including so-
nar, are bent when they encounter the edges of Scientists are sorting through the vast number
the SOFAR channel. Submarine captains figured of sounds they are recording from the sea. Many
out that if they could get just under the SOFAR they can identify, but there are just as many
channel boundary, the sonar waves would be that are still a mystery. From ice cracking in
bent away from them and they could remain icebergs to the rumblings of earthquakes and
hidden in a “shadow zone.” This was pretty volcanic activities, sorting through the many
clever, except that if a submarine hunter, like a strange and just plain weird sounds is a fasci-
nating task.

Habitat studies
Once areas are identified where whales feed and
give birth, these habitats are investigated. Sam-
pling is conducted to gather data on water tem-
perature and chemistry, using state-of-the-art
equipment. Bottom studies are conducted using
sonar or robots to define water depth and bot-
tom topography. Other issues to be investigated
are sources of food, including krill, copepods, or
schools of fish that we know the various species
of whales rely on, and what human impacts are
present in the areas these whales inhabit. All
these studies are brought together to build a
SOFAR channel map. picture of whale habitats.

The Great Whales

■ Explosions and loud sounds may

Activity 25: harm marine mammals.

The SOFAR Channel Materials

(a Demonstration) c Computer
c Pencils
Concept
c List of sounds for each student
■ Sound is reflected off materials of
different density, creating a spe-
cial channel in the ocean. Grouping of students
Work individually
Materials
c Megaphone
Time
10 minutes
Subject Subject
■ Physics ■ Physics
Time Play the sounds of the whales and
10 minutes other sounds recorded by researchers.
The NOAA Vents Acoustic research
Compare the SOFAR channel to a Web site, at http://www.pmel.noaa.
megaphone that cheerleaders use. gov/vents/acoustics.html, offers both
The megaphone funnel is denser than a tutorial about acoustics and a num-
the air. Sound is trapped and bounces ber of recorded sounds that can be
off the denser material of the sides, played. Each sound is accompanied by
focusing the sound—similar to what a spectrogram (picture of the sound).
happens in the SOFAR channel. Students can see the sounds as well
as listen to them. Explore the many
Law of Refraction: the turning or underwater sounds as well as whale
bending of a wave when it passes songs recorded on this Web site. En-
from one medium into another of dif- courage students to match the tones
ferent density. of the sounds to the spectrogram
Sound is patterns.
Reference
reflected off National Academy of Sciences, Beyond A number of sounds are available on
materials Discovery: “Sound Pipeline.” http:// the Web site:
www.beyonddiscovery.org/content/
of different view.page.asp?I=224.
■ Boat
density, creat- ■ Humpback song
ing a special ■ Blue whale
channel in the Activity 26: ■ Fin whale
ocean. What’s that Sound? ■ Unknown sound
Concepts ■ Earthquake
■ Sound studies are expanding our ■ Volcanic eruption
knowledge of the oceans.
■ Sound is important for whales to There is an abundance of other Web
survive in the ocean. sites that have recordings of dolphins,
The Great Whales
116 Copyright © 2008 Oregon State University Marine Mammal Institute

Whale Research

whales, and other aquatic mammals blocks of wood on the desk in a

such as hippos. Any Web search formation such as an X, a circle, a
should yield plenty of sites that have square, parallel lines, etc.
recorded marine mammal sounds for
students to explore. ■ Cover the arrangement with the
. construction paper or manila fold-
NOAA acoustics research Web site ers so the formation is not visible.
with sound recordings: http://www. ■ Rotate teams of students to a new
pmel.noaa.gov/vents/acoustics/ station. Each team will have an
sounds.html. invisible formation to explore.
■ Press the on button of the stud
sensor and move it slowly in a
Activity 27: grid pattern over the paper. When
the sensor reaches the edge of a
Mapping Hidden block, the light will blink. Mark
Objects on the paper the point where the
light came on.

Concept ■ Completely cover the area of the

puzzle and connect the dots with
■ Sound and radio waves can be lines to reproduce the pattern of
used to locate and map invisible
the blocks.
items.
■ Lift up the paper to compare the
Materials pattern they created with the
blocks under the paper.
c Stud sensors
c Wood blocks (any small pieces Discussion
of wood will work, 3/4 inch by 3 The experience of locating and map-
inches is ideal,) ping invisible objects is a simulation
c Large sheets of construction pa- of how whales locate objects in the
per oceans using sound. Stud sensors cre-
ate a weak radar signal (radio waves)
that can detect the capacitance of
Subject materials. Capacitance is the abil-
■ Physics ity of a material to store electrons.
When passed over one material to
Whales make
Time another, the change in capacitance is sound waves
measured. As the sensor detects the that travel
20 minutes edge of the wooden block, the mea-
surement changes and activates the through the
Many stud sensors use radio waves to sensor to flash and beep. water and
locate hidden wooden wall supports.
The process is similar to whales using bounce back
Whales make sound waves that travel
sound to locate masses of krill, or through the water and bounce back from the ob-
schools of fish. This activity allows from the object. The echoes are ject.
students to experience locating and picked by the whales and used for
mapping invisible items. navigation.

Teacher instructions Note: Radar uses radio waves that are

Divide students into pairs. Give each part of the electromagnetic spectrum.
pair six small blocks of wood and one Sound waves are not electromagnetic.
piece of paper.
■ Teams of students arrange the
The Great Whales
Copyright © 2008 Oregon State University Marine Mammal Institute 117

Student Page

8. National Science Education

Standards for Great Whales

Unifying Concepts and Processes
Systems,

order, and organization Section # Activity #
Evidence, models, and explanation
Change, constance, and measurements
Evolution and equilibrium
Form and function

Content Standards
Science as Inquiry
Content Standard A: 6, 7
5–12 Understanding about scientific inquiry 16, 17, 24
Abilities necessary to do scientific inquiry 24, 17

Life Science
Content Standard C 3, 2, 6
5–8 Structure and function in living systems 4, 5, 6, 22
Reproduction and heredity
Regulation and behavior 5, 18, 20
Populations and ecosystems 8, 16, 18, 19, 20, 21
Diversity and adaptations of organisms 1, 4, 5, 6, 22

Content Standard C 4, 5, 7
9–12 Interdependence of organisms 15
Matter, energy, and organization of living systems 8, 21
Behavior of organisms 8, 18, 16, 27

Science and Technology 6, 7

9–12 Content Standard E
5–12 Abilities of technological design
Understandings about science and technology 16, 21, 26

Science in Personal and Social Perspectives

Content Standard F 4, 5
5–8 Populations, resources, and environment 12, 13, 14, 16, 22
Natural hazards 18

Content Standard F 4, 5
9–12 Population growth 13, 14
Environmental quality 15
Natural and human-induced hazards 9, 13, 14, 15, 18, 19

Think critically and logically to make relationships 10, 11

Use mathematics in all aspects of scientific inquiry 9, 19, 24

The Great Whales

Science Process and Essential Learning Skills

Problem solving
Analyzing

Classifying
Comparing

Estimating
Observing
Predicting

Inquiring
Recalling
Applying

Inferring
Activity

#1 Whale Facts
#2 Are Whales Mammals? √ √
#3 Whale Families √ √
#4 Whale Adaptations √ √ √
#5 Suckers, Skimmers, Etc. √ √ √
#6 Baleen Types √ √ √
#7 How Much Do they Eat? √
#8 Identifying habitats √ √ √ √
#9 Whales Then and Now √ √
#10 What’s your Opinion? √
#11 Managing Whales √
#12 Lessons Learned √ √ √
#13 People and Whales √ √ √ √
#14 Conservations Issues √ √
#15 Bioaccumulation √ √
#16 Sperm Whales √ √
#17 Whale Tails √ √
#18 Humpback Migration √ √
#19 Recovery or Loss? √ √ √ √
#20 Baby Blues √ √
#21 Build a Dome √ √
#22 Inside the Whale √ √
#23 Whaling Debate √
#24 Design a Project √
#25 The SOFAR channel √
#26 What’s that Sound? √
#27 Mapping Hidden Objects

The Great Whales

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