NATURALIST'S 



NOTEBOOK 



TOP LEFT: A curious whale cavorts for the camera along the North Carolina coast. TOP RIGHT: An unknown humpback breaches near Cape Cod. 

 BOTTOM: Stranded sperm whale Trouble on W right sville Beach, spring 1928. The skeleton of Trouble can be seen at the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences 



in Raleigh, along with many others, including a blue whale and humpback whale. 



The aquarium, located south of 

 Wilmington, adjacent to the Fort Fisher 

 historical area, has a full-size mock-up of Salt 

 and one of her calves, "Salsa." The exhibit uses 

 Salt to tell the tale of a humpback whale and its 

 life throughout the year. 



This is an interesting tale because "people 

 want to understand more about these mysterious 

 animals," says Peggy Sloan, educational curator. 



"People are very curious about marine 

 mammals because they, like humans, are large 

 brained, warm-blooded animals, but they live in 

 a completely foreign environment," adds Sloan. 

 Soon that environment will be the coastal waters 

 off North Carolina, as Salt migrates to the Gulf 

 of Maine for summer feeding. 



In the spring, a newborn calf would be big 

 enough to travel, but still dependent on Salt's 



milk. Every day, humpback calves drink 130 

 gallons of milk and gain about 200 pounds. 



Salt will swim three to five miles a day as 

 she begins the long journey to her cold water 

 feeding grounds. She will swim continuously 

 along the continental shelf and pass our coast in 

 March or April with her pod. A humpback pod 

 is usually a small family, containing only a bull 

 (male), cow (female), and a calf. 



28 WINTER 2003 



