Why Are Whales So Big?
But Why: A Podcast for Curious Kids
Vermont Public
4.4 • 4.9K Ratings
🗓️ 23 October 2020
⏱️ 31 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
How do whales spray water? Why are humpback whales so fat and blue whales so long, and why are blue whales blue? Do whales have belly buttons? How do you weigh a whale? And how do whales drink water in the salty ocean? We have a whale of a time answering questions about these ocean-dwelling mammals with paleontologist Nick Pyenson, author of Spying on Whales: The Past, Present and Future of Earth's Most Awesome Creatures.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | This is But Why, a podcast for curious kids from Vermont Public Radio. |
| 0:25.8 | I'm the host Jane Lindholm. |
| 0:28.3 | On this show you tell us what you're interested in and what your questions are about that thing |
| 0:33.3 | you're interested in. |
| 0:35.0 | And we use your questions to guide what we talk about on the show. |
| 0:39.0 | Your curiosity dictates what we explore. |
| 0:43.3 | When I was young I really wanted to be a marine biologist. |
| 0:47.5 | That's a scientist who studies things that live in the oceans. |
| 0:51.1 | And lots of you are interested in marine biology too. |
| 0:55.1 | We've done episodes about fish and about why the sea is salty and other things related |
| 1:00.2 | to oceans. |
| 1:01.5 | Like our jellyfish really made out of jelly. |
| 1:04.2 | Spoiler alert, they're not. |
| 1:06.6 | But now we're going to focus on one particular type of animal that lives in the oceans that, |
| 1:11.9 | like me, a lot of you are fascinated by. |
| 1:15.8 | Can you guess what animal we might be discussing? |
| 1:22.9 | Whales, that is the sound of a humpback whale singing. |
| 1:29.2 | And that sound comes courtesy of the federal government's NOAA Fisheries website. |
| 1:34.8 | But we're not going to focus on the way whales communicate today. |
| 1:39.0 | That's going to be a future episode, so be sure to listen for that one too. |
| 1:43.4 | We want today to have a better understanding of what whales are and how they move through |
| 1:49.0 | the oceans and occasionally through rivers too. |
... |
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