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Do the mothers' discipline their babies/kids?
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The calves are very dependent on their mother's milk for the first 7 months of life. If a calf gets separated from its mom, it will die. Most of the time mom and calf are touching each other. If a calf stays from mom, you will see her swim over to the calf and bring it into line. The purpose of discipline is to correct behavior, once the calf gets in line - all is well.
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What do the babies first eat when they get off their mother's milk?
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Once mom and calf reach the rich Alaskan waters, mom will teach the calf how to eat their favorite food - called an amphipod crustacean. The calf will learn how to eat this shrimp like food, but will depend on its mom's milk. The mother will only take care of the calf until it is 7 or 8 months old. Mom will then move on, and let her young forage for itself.
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When do they first begin to get barnacles?
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The barnacles and lice quickly move between mom and calf within days of the calf's birth. There are not as many on the calf as on mom, but they are still there.
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Are the barnacles good for them?
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The barnacles anchor themselves through the skin into the blubber of the whale, forming great colonies. These barnacles feed by filtering microscopic food from the water and belong to a species found only on the gray whale. Since the gray whales spend a great amount of its time in nutrient-rich water it is easy to see how the barnacles benefit from "hitching a ride." We don't know if it is a benefit or not for the gray whale to have barnacles.
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Do whales sleep?
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Cetacea is the order of marine mammals, which includes whale, dolphins and porpoises. All of these animals are involuntary breathers - they have to think to breath. So unlike us humans who can go to sleep and continue to breath, whales cannot do that. Research on dolphins indicates that turn one half of their brain off to rest. The one side keeps them breathing and the other is "asleep." You will see whales just floating, not appearing to move, they may be "sleeping."
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Is there a chance someone will not pet a whale?
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The whales are wild animals and we are there to enjoy all of their wonderful behavior. We will not approach the whales, they will come to us if and when they want. Some whales like to look at the boats, but not be petted, others seem to seek out the boats and make sure that everyone in every boat has petted it. Bob and Joyce have not petted whales on a number of our trips, but Joyce has kissed a whale. We will see.
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What does a whale feel like?
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The most common answer is like a babies bottom. I guess you could also say like the Michelin man. It is soft and smooth, sort of bouncy to the touch.
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Will there be beer and wine at camp?
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You must be kidding! You think that Joyce would pick a place that didn't serve wine? Beer, wine and soft drinks are provided with meals and at cocktail time.
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| Last Revised: Sun, Sep 29, 2002 |
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