Kids Get a Whale of a Lesson

Some fourth-grade students at Serrano Elementary School on Wednesday learned about something that has a heart the size of a Volkswagen Beetle, lungs the size of a small bedroom, gains 250 pounds a day when young--and lives to be 150 years old.

In a special presentation at the Villa Park school, Jack Detling’s 28 students got a lesson on the mammoth size of some whales. They had the chance to feel and smell real baleen, which some whales use instead of teeth to capture their food. They viewed a jar of marine plankton, the primary food source for baleen whales. And they examined a replica of an 8-foot pectoral fin--from an adult female right whale--that has five fingers.

Students learned about different species of whales, such as blue whales, southern right whales and humpback whales, and heard the sounds they make.

“We give them a better understanding about whales, sea life and the ocean,” said Melissa Love of Anaheim Hills, an educator who works with the Whale Conservation Institute, based in Lincoln, Mass.

Love is among educators conducting the Whales program at 100 Orange County elementary and middle schools. The Whale Conservation Institute worked with the Orange County Marine Institute to put on a teacher workshop and a special Imax event to view the “Whales” film.

Detling, who participated in the workshop and received teaching materials on whales, said he wanted to give his students a better understanding and appreciation for whales and make them aware of the whale species along the California coast.

A main objective of the program is to encourage youngsters to learn more about opportunities in the field of marine science, Love said. She told the students that even if they don’t choose a career in marine science, they can still get involved as a hobby and do volunteer work.

“We’re trying to give them the inspiration and tools, and the message that they’re the ones who will be saving whales and becoming ecologists trying to save the environment,” Love said.