How to See a Whale Part 1

I’d like to see a whale. But not just any whale—a North Atlantic right whale. There are fewer than 500 left in the world according to the New England Aquarium, fewer than 430 by other accounts, and I’d like to see one.

My heart hurts for the North Atlantic right whale. The whales were called the right whale, because they were the right whale to kill during commercial whaling's heyday--they're slow-moving, float when killed rather than sink and have lots of fat. Right off the bat, this breaks my heart and makes me feel ineffable poignant heartbreak and love. They’re the underdog. And they’re not doing well right now.

According to National Geographic, no new calves have been seen out of this past breeding season. It's possible there are calves that have just not been accounted for, but so far none have been seen.

I don’t know why I want to see one so badly, but the moment I started putting this out into the Universe, the Universe replied. My uncle sent me a message that he’d take us out to search for whales this summer and my dad told me he has 4 Whale Watch tickets and 2 to Codzilla. I’m going to see a right whale this summer. I just have to figure out how. In the meantime, I’m going to learn about the whale.

What I learned today from my book, Disappearing Giants: The North Atlantic Right Whale by Scott Kraus and Kenneth Mallory:

The North Atlantic Right Whale is a baleen whale. There are two types of whale—baleen and toothed and the right while is baleen, as I said.

The North Atlantic Right Whales eat copepods.

The North Atlantic Right Whales hang out near me in Massachusetts in the Cape Cod waters. Their migrations take them from Canada's Bay of Fundy, through Cape Cod waters, all the way down to the Gulf of Mexico sometimes.