Today you're going to learn.

So I'll start with a dog update.
The family that visited yesterday will be taking Patience home with them this weekend. Yay for Patience! (A little sad for me, but still it's a happy thing because I know she's going to a good home.)

Alrighty.

So, today I'm going to teach you a little bit about whales.

So here's a quick sketch I did while I was away to get some of the basic anatomy information for whales.

purty, ain't it?

And here's another diagram, with a few more things labeled. (This particular diagram depicts a mystocete (baleen whale):

The top of their head is called their Rostrum.

A whale's tale is called their fluke or their caudal fin (it's also called a caudal fin for fish).

Pectoral fins are their side fins.

Whales may have a dorsal fin (a fin on their back). The North Atlantic Right Whale, for example, does not.

Within the order of Cetacea (whales), there are two suborders: Odontoceti and Mysticeti.

Odontocetes are toothed whales. They have teeth (obviously). Odontocetes have a single blowhole.
The suborder of Odontocetes includes sperm whales, pilot whales, beaked whales, dolphins, porpoises, and others.

Mysticetes are baleen whales. They have baleen (obviously). Baleen is used for filter feeding and is made of the same material as our hair or fingernails. Mystocetes have a double blowhole.
Some baleen whales (not all) also have throat grooves. (These types of whales are called Rorquals). The throat grooves allow for their throats to expand and allow them to take larger gulps.
The suborder of Mysticetes includes blue whales, humpback whales, right whales, bowhead whales, grey whales, and others.

I think that's all for now... maybe I'll come back later and add more when I think of more to add. And maybe I'll add some actual photos too to demonstrate some things further... We'll see.
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Trivia question for you all:
What is the largest dolphin?
Highlight for the answer: The Orca is the largest dolphin. Yep. The killer whale is actually a dolphin. 
Or click here.

HOORAY FOR LEARNING!

The Whistle

So here's a quick sketch I did one morning at The Whistle (a now-abandoned lighthouse on Grand Manan). There's a little wooden platform that I was sitting on. From there you can see the lighthouse, a bit of forest, and, of course, the ocean. This location is also a great point to observe the tides and currents of the Bay of Fundy. You can see the swirling water and the eddies created by the shape of the bay, and location of the island. It's quite cool. Because of this, The Whistle is also a great spot to see whales from the island.

Originally just a quick pencil sketch, then I inked it with a pen when I got back to my dorm. (Sorry, all I had available at the time was lined paper... And then sorry again for my scanner...)

A picture of the Whistle (sorry; it's from a slightly different perspective, but apparently it's the only picture I took of the Whistle...):

i'm writing something. also, pictures. - january 15th

I'm currently writing a post. (You're wlcome). It's not quite done yet, and I suspect It'll have to be split up into at least two separate posts. It's currently 5 pages long in Microsoft Word... So, yeah.

Anyway, here is your daily dose of whale camp pictures as promised:

Swallowtail Lighthouse

(sorry this is crooked. . . i straightened it ... but apparently uploaded the un-straightened one... sorry for the seasickness.)

puffins. what magnificent creatures. - january 14th

puffins are funny birds.

they're like half penguin, half toucan. 

when they try to fly, they resemble footballs. . . with wings. 

and their landings are less than graceful. 

and they moo.

the birds on the left-ish are razorbills; the ones in the middle are puffins. 

Graceful.

in flight

ADORABLE

january 13th

oh no guys ! it's friday the thirteenth !




anyway . . .  here are some birds. (gannets are the ones with yellow, the others are razorbills.)

^^ this wouldv'e been super adorable if it hadn't gotten blurry . . .

january 12th

i'm quickly realizing i have way more pictures than i do days in january . . .

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puffin island: 

january ahlevonth

Google chrome seems to think that " january " is wrong ( you know, because it's not capitalized . . . ), but it doesn't seem to have a problem with " ahlevonth "  . . . hmmmmmmm . . . . .

this is one of my favorites. so simple, yet i like the motion of the waves. and i love the bokeh that showed up. i <3 bokeh.

also one of my favorites. in the original image, there's like a rainbow of light going across. you can still kind of see it here (on the left side, king of on the water-ish?), but not nearly as vividly.

how to differentiate between grey seals and harbor seals - january 10th

grey seals: kind of ugly-looking . . . (but still pretty cute i guess (^_^) <3 )
( picture provided by teh interwebs . )

harbor seals: FREAKING ADORABLE.

( picture provided by teh interwebs . )

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my pics:

If you're every on a game show and you need to identify a seal species, now you know how. I expect a 63% cut of your earnings. It only seems fair.

january 8th

more boats

january 7th

boats

january 6th

fun fact . if you lick one of these suckers , you tongue goes numb . before you ask how i know that , ask yourself : do you really want to know ? i think you may already know the answer .

january 5th

funky tree