The Humpback Whale
This past summer, I had the opportunity to go whale watching off the coast of Nova Scotia. It was an absolutely amazing experience. We saw more humpback whales than normal, around 14, which is a lot of whale considering that the average humpback is around 13 meters long. Since it was summer the humpback whales and many of their relatives were up north feeding, and are now making their way south for the winter. They are baleen whales, meaning instead of having teeth, they use baleen plates made of protein keratin (what our hair is made of) to feed. Basically, a whale will open their mouth, take a big mouthful of water, and close its mouth. Then it will filter the water out through the baleen leaving behind tiny krill, which the whale then eats. Did you know that when a humpback whale sticks up its tail, it often means it is going for a deep dive? Humpback whales are truly amazing creatures. If you ever get the opportunity to go whale watching, my advice to you is go for it!
By Anastasia (Grade 7 student- St-Laurent Academy- Canada)
Image above from M. Costello (Fisheries and Oceans Canada)
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