The Ocean Society - Whale Guardianship Program

Whale Guardianship

441 Ridgewater Drive
Marietta, GA 30068
Local Tel (770) 977-1838
Toll Free (877) 61-OCEAN
Fax (770) 971-9419
email: info@oceansociety.org

The Right Whale Guardianship Module is a two-part program that is conducted in partnership with the Right Whale Research Team based at the New England Aquarium in Boston, MA. The first part of the module consists of six whales that are offered for guardianship. When a class selects a whale(s) they receive an 8"x10" color picture of their whale, a personalized guardianship certificate and a scientific drawing of their whale showing all of the identifying features used by the scientists to identify that whale. Also included, is the known history of the whale selected and a list of its most recent sightings. The second part of the module consists of research updates that the students will receive from the Southern Research Station. If there is the normal amount of whale activity on the southern grounds your students will receive research updates about every two weeks. This year, to insure a wider coverage for your students, we will be adding reports from the Center for Coastal Studies as they conduct research in Cape Cod Bay. By giving the students these updates, they feel they are part of the research effort as it is taking place.

MEET THE WHALES SELECTED FOR THE 2000-2001 SCHOOL YEAR.
click on pictures to enlarge

LUCKY -- is "lucky" to be alive after being struck by a ship's propeller in her first few weeks of life.

SHACKLETON -- was struck by a tug boat after he swam 80 miles up the Delaware River to downtown Philadelphia.

MAGIC -- Named by the students of River's Edge Elementary School, Fayetteville, Ga.--Magic is one of the 20+ calves we have watched grow from infancy to motherhood. She has very few scars from ship collisions or entanglements which is unusual. Although she brings her calves to the Bay of Fundy we do not know where she spends the rest of her time.

COLUMBINE -- Named by the students of Blue Ridge Elementary School, Evans, Ga.--Columbine was named as a living memorial to the students of Columbine High School, Co. Columbine is a female born in 1984 who had her first calf in 1994. She is the daughter of Zipper who was given that name because of the series of small scars on her side from a ship's propeller that looks like a zipper.

EVE -- Named by the students of St. Benedict's School, Evansville, In.--Eve has had several calves, thus the students named her Eve, which means "mother of life." For ten years she disappeared and we thought she was dead, but she reappeared in the Bay of Fundy in 1999. Where had she been?

ENIGMA -- Named by the students of Wm. Penn Charter School, Philadelphia, Pa.--Enigma is a total mystery. She is a female with four distinct patches of callosity behind her blowholes. Although she has been observed in several courtship groups and has made the migration to the calving grounds a couple of times she has not given birth. As we said--she is a mystery!