Captain Joe had begun his lecture by explaining about whale migration. He told us that we were going out at a good time of year. December to April is ideal for observing the various cetaceans and other marine mammals, he told us, for that’s when these beautiful mammals swim north during their yearly journey.
That’s when I learned that whales were mammals. They have hair when they are born the captain told us. (Humpback whales even keep the hair on their faces. Does that mean they have beards, moustaches or whiskers I wanted to ask.)Whales breathe air just like we do, except the captain explained that they can hold their breath a lot better than we can. He told us that whales don’t need to breathe for a good thirty to ninety minutes, depending on the species.
We were also informed that whales gave birth to their young underwater. I couldn’t imagine producing a baby (a very big baby) in the middle of the ocean! But at least those babies never cried in the middle of the night, and no diapers were ever needed. (Of course that means they pooped in the ocean. If you think about all the fish and whales swimming around, plus sea snakes, octopuses, squid, and sea turtles, that’s a lot of poop! Good thing the ocean is so big.)
When Captain Joe added that the whale mother produces milk for their calves, Bob let out a, “No way. They don’t have any boobs, do they?”
I thought Timothy was going to go ballistic. I tightened my hold on his hand, and he looked down at me. “Sorry, my darling. I didn’t mean to employ uncouth thugs.”
Bob heard that and grew white as a bone. “Sorry, Penelope. I didn’t mean anything by it. I just . . .” He stopped due to the elbow in his ribs from Terry, so he probably didn’t see Timothy’s glare.
The captain merely waited for us to simmer down. “You can’t see their mammary glands because the mother has inverted nipples. When the calf nudges one, the nipple pops out with milk that is extremely fat-rich. A baby can drink ten percent of its body weight per day. That is a lot of milk!” The captain chuckled so hard we all ended up joining in. We were still laughing when he continued. “A blue whale can give her baby about fifty-three gallons a day. We couldn’t even fit that much milk in our refrigerators.”
The captain took a big sip from his water bottle, took off his red and blue striped woolen cap, scratched his head, and then replaced it. “
“Kyle, did you offer drinks to our guests?”