Dear Colleagues at the Woods Creek School ,
I was quite pleased to receive your fine letter. The questions posed are
clear and direct.
1) I have consulted the IUCN Redbook and the NatureServe Explorer. The blue
whale is listed as vulnerable in some areas and secure in others. The North
Atlantic stock is vulnerable and is estimated at 1500 individuals. The
Pacific and Southern Ocean populations are estimated at 10.000 individuals.
That is a total of 11'500 animals.
2) The blue whale has at this time only one enemy the killer whale. Hunting
blue whales by people is illegal and has stopped for all intents and
purposes. Killer whales are opportunistic predators and as such help keep
the bulk of the blue whale population healthy.
3) The mother whale nurses the calf for one year. This is sufficient time
for the calf to learn how to feed itself. Blue whales form large pods . The
calves tend to remain associated with those herds for long periods of time.
Perhaps for their entire lives. It is estimated that blue whales may live
for 80 to 90 years.
4) Blue whales have one calf every three to four years.
These were excellent questions and are the type of questions that good
science is based upon.
Please keep your interest in fact finding questions throughout your school
years. You will all find that the search for complete answers is quite a bit
of fun.
Thank you for this opportunity to help your learning experience.
Dr. Tom Ford
> From: "Wendy Weber" <
> Date: Fri, 18 Mar 2005 19:50:37 -0600
> To: tjfketos@rcn.com
> Subject: FW: Whale Questions
>
> Hi there,
> I've had a little trouble e-mailing this...we really hope you respond!
> Thank you for your help!
>
>> From: "Wendy Weber"
>> To: <wenl1@hotmail.com>
>> Subject: FW: Whale Questions
>> Date: Mon, 14 Mar 2005 14:38:32 -0600
>>
>>
>>
>> Wendy Weber
>> Multiage 1/2
>> Woods Creek Elementary
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: Wendy Weber
>> Sent: Monday, March 14, 2005 2:38 PM
>> To: 'whale.wheelock.edu'
>> Subject: Whale Questions
>>
>> Hi there,
>> I teach a first and second grade multiage class in Crystal Lake, Illinois
>> at Woods Creek Elementary. We have been studying the ocean and learning
>> about whales. One of our projects was for the kids to write a letter to a
>> real scientist to ask some questions about whales...here is the letter we
>> wrote as a class. Thank you so much for your help! The kids are extremely
>> excited to hear from a real scientist.
>> Wendy Weber
>>
>> Dear Online Scientist,
>> We have been studying the amazing Blue Whale. We have a few questions
>> about Blue Whales that we'd like to ask an expert. How many Blue Whales
>> are living in the ocean today? We would also like to know if the Blue
>> Whale has any enemies? We were also wondering how long cows stay with
>> their calves and how many calves do they have? We would love to hear back
>> from you and thank you for your help!
>>
>> Sincerely,
>> Ms. Weber's ½ Multiage Class
>> Woods Creek Elementary
>> 1100 Alexandra Blvd.
>> Crystal Lake, IL. 60067
>>
>> Wendy Weber
>> Multiage 1/2
>> Woods Creek Elementary
>>
>
>
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