Contests
Name
the Humpback Whale
Contest Open to Students in Grades K-12
Deadline is March 31, 2006
Each year, whale researchers and whalewatch naturalists gather to name the new humpback whales spotted during the previous season. Since the 1970s, over 1,900 whales in the Gulf of Maine have received names. At one time calves also acquired monikers, but scientists established that the pigmentation patterns and scarring on the flukes of the animals changed dramatically in the first few years, thereby necessitating a delay in assigning names. Now, only new older whales or second year sightings of calves become subjects in the naming process.
This
year, the Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary will once
again sponsor a whale in the Whale Naming Workshop. Students (Grades
k-12 or homeschoolers at equivalent levels) are invited to submit
suggested names for the 2003 calf of Thalassa (the sex of this
whale is unknown at this time). Thalassa is a productive female
who has brought several calves, including this one, to Stellwagen
Bank where they learn to feed on the small schooling fish. The
sanctuary staff will select the best entries and actively support
those names at the workshop during the voting process.
The
Rules of Whale Naming are few and simple:
1)the name should be short;
2) it should be descriptive about the whale's fluke pattern, scars,
trailing edge or other identifiable feature;
3) it cannot be gender specific;
4) it cannot be a person's name; and
5) the name cannot duplicate another name on the list.
This
year's whale naming contest subject has some good marks. Whale
researchers who will be studying this animal in the field suggest
that you base the name on specific marks, like the v-shape on
the left fluke, the prominent black mark on the right fluke or
the white scratches on the right trailing edge. These marks are
distinct, show up well in the field, and will probably not change
over time.
For
a list of the 1,700+ names that have already been used for Gulf
of Maine whales, click here to go to the New Whales section of
this web site.
To
submit your suggested name to the Stellwagen Bank National Marine
Sanctuary for the Whale Naming Contest, send an e-mail to stellwagen@noaa.gov
with a subject line of Whale Naming Contest Entry. In the body
of the text, include:
Whale Name*:
Justification for Name*: (we will need a reason to support the
suggestion at the naming workshop - justification may be up to
100 words in length)
Name of Student:
Age:
Grade:
Teacher's Name:
School:
School Address:
School Phone Number:
E-mail Address (student):
E-mail Address (teacher):
If
you do not have access to e-mail, you may submit your entry to
the sanctuary by mailing the required information to: Whale Naming
Contest, SBNMS, 175 Edward Foster Road, Scituate, MA 02066.
The
winning entry will be announced through a press release and notice
on this web site. Finalists will receive the sanctuary's Humpback
Whale poster and a certificate of participation.
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