By Caroline Grauman-Boss—
On the morning of Tuesday, June 28th the Salish Sea Sciences team received an introduction to one of Salish Sea’s great cetaceans, the orca whale. Science Director, Tim Dwyer, familiarized students with some of the vocabulary that distinguishes whale populations, most especially the fact that among mammals, whales are “cetacea” and that orca are odonticetes, or “toothed whales,” a subgroup of the dolphin family. There are three distinct whale populations in the Salish Sea at the southern end of Vancouver Island: Southern Residents, Transients, and Off-Shores.
Fun fact 1: people can tell which whales are breeding with which whales by tracking whale poop. How do they do that? Tucker the Labrador Retriever has a nose for it!
Fun fact 2: How do people know that the off-shore population eats shark? Shark skin grinds down their teeth!
Between 10:00am and 12:00pm, students gained deeper knowledge about Salish Sea whales and other mammals from Whale Museum program staff and exhibits. To learn more about Whale Museum programs, click on the following webpages:
Marine Mammal Stranding Network
Soundwatch Boater Education Program
SeaSound Remote Sensing Network