Animals to the Rescue!: Amazing True Stories from around the World

Animals to the Rescue!: Amazing True Stories from around the World — page 3
Whale of a Lifeguard September 2017 Rarotonga Cook Islands Rarotonga Cook Islands DIVE TIME On one September day in 2017 humpback whale researcher Nan Hauser was at work on her boat with her team in the South Pacific Ocean The researchers were observing the humpback whales behavior and snapping photos of their tails creating a record of each whale they saw July through October is the best time of year for observing humpback whales near the Cook Islands That’s when the whales pass the islands during their more than 4,000-mile 6,437 km meandering migration from Antarctica where they feast on small fish and shrimplike animals called krill to warmer waters where the females give birth and pairs mate However one thing was different about Nan’s daily research routine today A film crew had come along to create a documentary about her work 6 For more than twenty years Nan Hauser has studied both the surface and underwater behavior of humpback whales Like human fingerprints each humpback whale’s tail flukes are unique Scientists keep a photographic catalog to identify humpbacks by their tail shape and markings