Dead whales do tell tales

“Moe Flannery”

Whale Specialist

Whales are among the biggest and oldest animals and they live in every ocean. Experts think that whales are smarter than dogs. If humans are respectful of them, they seem non-aggressive and friendly. It’s very important to keep them safe because they are crucial for the aquatic ecosystem.

Our May Special Camp was Moe Flannery, Ornithology and Mammalogy Senior Collection Manager at the California Academy of Sciences in San Francisco. She shared her knowledge and insights about whales uncovered during recent whale post-mortem exams along the northern California coastline. This means she collects specimens from dead whales and studies them to understand better the causes of their deaths, etc. By looking at the bones, teeth, baleen, earplugs, etc. you can learn so much about what the whale had to go through. The big word our kids learned was “necropsy”, the term used for examining dead animals while an autopsy means the same for dead people.

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