Creature of the Month - Southern Right Whales

Anth and Bron are in the studio, with Anth reliving the glory of the Community Cup.

Hi again to the people in the Groovy Penguin in Penguin - Tas.

10- 5 July2005 - Students of Sustainability is on at Monash. Check the website

ACF Fund Raiser - Sharks 3D in Thursday 14 July. Email Julian Bently for tickets or check out the website

Ship Reunion Event 21 August at the Immigration Museum - call 9927 2754

Awards for Scientific Excellence (Junior and Senior). Take your first step to the Nobel prize. Vist the website

13FISH to dob in a poacher is working - with people cathing NSW abalone poachers

Anth talked about a new Bacterium has been found in the deep ocean - 2.5 km down - that uses light to photosynthesize! So what light does it use?! The tiny dim light that comes out deep sea venta. This thing metabolises sulphur and uses tiny bits of light in water that is a thin wedge of livable water temp between two extremes of 350C (inside the vent) and 2C in the surrounding ocean. Cool stuff hey!

Common Name: Southern right whale Latin Name: Eubalaena australis

Other Names Black right whale

Class: Cetecea
Order: Mysticete (Baleen Whale)
Family: Balaenidae

Description: Southern right whales have huge callosities (growths) on their heads which makes them easy to identify. Whale lice (cyamid crustaceans) live on the callosities and this is what makes them appear white, pink, yellow or orange.

The early whalers regarded the whale as the 'right' whale to hunt. They swam slowly and close to the shore, floated once harpooned, and yielded large quantities of oil and whalebone. The word 'Southern' relates to southern waters.

Whales are social animals and display degrees of organisation, behaviour and intelligence. To communicate whales use sound. Breaching

Length (metres): New-born calves are between 4.5 and 6 metres (14ft 9in - 19ft 9in) in length. Adults can be between 11 and 18 metres (36-59ft) long.

Weight: At birth, the southern right whale weighs about 1 tonne. Adults weigh between 30 and 80 tonnes.

Diet: Krill and/or other crustaceans

Behaviour: Southern right whales are slow swimmers but are often seen partaking in acrobatic activities! They wave their flippers above the surface, breach (up to 10 times in a row), flipper-slap and lobtail. Southern right whales also tip themselves upside-down vertically and wave their flukes in the air. 'Sailing' is another popular activity, which involves using the flukes to sail in the wind! .

Source: Whale & Dolphin Conservation Society

"It's oh so quiet"

"Emanuelle skating on thin ice"

"Love only hurts "

Bjork

The Gentle Waves

Blanche Dubois