A call came down to the main lab this morning from the bridge.

“Whales on the starboard side. Blues!”

Close to the ship swam a pod of Blue whales sending narrow, vertical spouts into the air as their tiny dorsal fins broke the surface. “I’ve never seen that many whales at once,” Ben Grosser said. “There had to have been at least 20 of them.”

Blue whales feed by gulping mouthfuls of water, which they shoot back out through their baleen filters. With their giant tongues, they lick the inside of the baleen for their favorite food, krill - small shrimp-like crustacean. They can consume up to 8 tons of krill a day.

We are surveying 15 nautical miles west of Isabela, and for a brief period of time, a few of the leviathans escorted us from a mere three ship lengths away. Blue whales are the largest living animals on Earth, reaching lengths of 100 feet and weighing up to 200 tons. They migrate from the Polar Regions to the Tropics every year in search of krill.

Before dinner another blue whale made an appearance, spouting off the starboard bow. “I see whales all the time, almost every other day,” says Chief Mate Eric Wakeman. “Most often it’s Humpbacks off of California or Southern Right whales around Antarctica. The Right whales will stick their heads up out of the water and look around. I think they’re checking us out, making sure we’re not causing any trouble.”

It was a rare treat to view today’s Blue whales. In 1965, an international agreement banned commercial whaling of the Blue whale. Hopefully, with these conservation measures, future expeditions will continue to admire these magnificent creatures.

Dive and Discover Water Word Puzzle [Click here for a printable version of Dive and Discover Water Word #1] Check back tomorrow for the solution.

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