The main reason the picture to my right is a drawing and not a realistic picture is because this whale blog will be a special breakthrough whale who hasn't ever been photographed alive. I didn't want to post a picture of another dead whale when I love them so much. The species is so rare that it is categorized as "Data Deficient" by IUCN* and not listed by CMS*. Although not until December 2012 was this animal ever actually seen since the 1950's. Scientists still know quite a bit about the animal however, from bone and skeletons collected and analyzed from over the years. These whales were said to have the ability to dive down to 800m. Thats insanely deep, even for whales. Also these dives could last up to 87 minutes at those depths.
In November 2012 when two Spade tooth beaked whales were beached on Opape shore in New Zealand, measurements were taken and a mother, about 17 feet lie beside her son, who was about 11.5 feet in length. Thats about double and triple my height. I am Imagining something so big just lying lifeless upon the beautiful shore, it makes me think how those whales got there, what happened? and what can we do to prevent it? Although it also makes me think just how crazy that this animal we have hardly ever seen just appears and all the sudden we have specimens to study. Hopefully there will be more where they came from in a more live manner. By learning about species from our pasts we can hopefully predict how to preserve the ones we have today and new ones of tomorrow at the best of our ability.
If you don't believe me when I say that these creatures are some of the most graceful surprising in our world, go find out for yourselves, Whale watching is available pretty much anywhere there is a coast. Enjoy!
*Enigmatic-Adj. Difficult to interpret or understand; mysterious.
*IUCN- International Union for Conservation of Nature
*CMS- Content management system
*CMS- Content management system
I think you got me obsessed with whales after reading this post! Right after I write this I'm going to read all of your other posts! You are a very good writer an I love the way this blog is set up! I like the background and the font and I really like the pictures. I can't wait to learn more about whales! Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteI have never been whale watching before, and your blog definitely convinced me! I love animals and sea creatures and I really want to do something to help their environment so this post shows people how beautiful of creatures they are and how important they are to our ecosystem.
ReplyDeleteI have never been whale watching before, but after reading your blog I might try it out one day.
ReplyDeleteI've gone whale watching before. I threw up on the boat. I did see some whales though. Maybe next time I go I can catch a glimpse of this rare whale!
ReplyDeleteThat's so cool that they are still discovering and learning about new animals today. Sea life is something that has always been such a mysterious part of earth.
ReplyDeleteI really admire your love for whales. :D They are also one of my favorite mammals~ I have yet to go whale watching, but I would like to do so soon.
ReplyDeleteWhat a cool discovery! I am glad you are spreading the news about this new species. We all could do with more education about whales.
ReplyDeleteI use to think whales are so friendly but you make me think they are cute as well! (:
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