Whales: An Unforgettable Journey
- Year:
- 1997
- 44 min
- 217 Views
It's a place as alien as space
darkness and cold
and extraordinary forms of life.
Though at risk here, humanity
descends in shells of steel
compelled by
our insatiable curiosity.
Hidden in the haze of the sea
so mysterious, they seem unreal.
picked up through hydrophones-
The beat of a heart so large
it can be heard two miles away.
than the giants whose songs echo
across the vastness of the deep
who roam somewhere beyond
our view and our understanding-
the largest creatures
ever to live on earth.
For all life in the sea
successful feeding is
the key to survival.
Many creatures,
like the manta ray
take advantage of
a remarkable food source-
swarms found throughout the
ocean of plankton, larval fish
collectively the greatest mass
of protein in the entire world.
Filtering out the tiny food
through strainers in its gills,
the manta can live on the relatively
sparse plankton of the tropics.
toothless whales also filter feeders-
must find greater concentrations
of it elsewhere - or they'll starve.
The great whales'
search for food
can force them to journey
across an entire ocean.
Masters of starvation, they
while they wait for
the plankton swarms to reappear.
Barely visible to us as red
surface patches marked by birds
in cool upwellings or polar seas
are the primary food sources
sufficient to sustain
the greatest of all whales,
the rarely seen Blue Whale.
A blue often drives krill to the surface
clamping its huge mouth shut
like a trap while on its side.
Comb-like filters in its mouth,
called baleen
act like sieves, capturing the
krill as the water drains away.
the meal that's left.
More than a hundred feet long
and a hundred tons
the Blue Whale is the largest
animal ever to live on the earth
surpassing any dinosaur.
Its heart is bigger
than a small car.
through its largest arteries.
Their voices are equally mighty,
carrying at least a thousand
miles through the sea.
Yet as large and loud
as they are
most elusive of all creatures.
one we can piece together
only as fragments,
gathered species by species
from the farthest corners
of the world.
One of the best places to peer
into the lives of whales
southern coast of Argentina.
Each winter, Right Whales follow
unknown routes from
distant feeding grounds
to gather in
the calm shallows off Valdes.
of every continent
to the edge of extinction.
recovered to about 4,000.
Peninsula Valdes is one
of the great intersections
of sea, land and
wildlife left on earth.
by the thousands to breed
and share the beach
with Magellanic Penguins
who also migrate here
each year
then waddle ashore
Since 1970, biologist Roger Payne
This is my favorite place
in the world.
Here in Peninsula Valdes, Right Whales
come so close to shore
you can spend an afternoon walking
along a beach in their company.
And at night, whenever
the herd moves into the bay
the sound of
On the head of
appears on humans-
there are hard, white patches
of thickened skin called callosities.
We've found that no two patterns
are exactly alike
making it possible
to tell individuals apart.
The males have more
and bigger callosities
and they use them like horns
to fight over females.
Using callosity patterns
like human fingerprints
we can now follow the lives of more
than 1,300 individual Right whales.
Some, like Troff,
have become old friends.
The relatively quiet waters
of these bays
seem an ideal nursery
for the whales
while the cliffs provide
for Payne and his team
birth to one calf every three years.
Curiously, one in 50
is born white
but only remains so
for the first year of its life.
Fewer than ten white calves are ever
alive on the planet at the same time.
Like people, mother whales keep
their babies right next to them
where they can be watched
continuously - and protected.
Like children of all species,
whale calves seek attention.
And to get it, a mischievous calf will
sometimes drape its body
over its mother's blowhole
so she can't breathe.
Adults can also be playful.
A whale will often hold its tail
up as a sail and ride the wind.
They don't sail to get places.
Perhaps they do it just for fun.
Tail slapping and breaching
serve many purposes.
They may be a form
of communication.
It seems to be a challenge
to other whales
and often gets
the whole bay going.
When seas are calm, Right whales
often rest or sleep head down
Naturally buoyant, they got
their name from whalers.
Because they were rich in oil
which kept them afloat when killed
they were
the "right whales" to hunt.
On occasion, members
of Payne's scientific team
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