07x01 - Humphrey the Lost Whale: A True Story

[bunniefuu]

♪ Reading rainbow ♪

♪ Butterfly in the sky ♪

♪ I can go twice as high ♪

♪ Take a look ♪

♪ It's in a book ♪

♪ A reading rainbow ♪

♪ I can go anywhere ♪

♪ Friends to know ♪

♪ And ways to grow ♪

♪ A reading rainbow ♪

♪ I can be anything ♪

♪ Take a look ♪

♪ It's in a book ♪

♪ A reading rainbow ♪

♪ Reading rainbow ♪

Let's see.
Camera and film.

Film. Where's the film?

Yes! Film.

Good morning!

We are up early to join

The cape ann whale watch
in gloucester, massachusetts.

Our boat, the daunty v,
is taking us

In search
of humpback whales.

[Honk]

Sounds like we're ready.

Come on, let's go
whale watching.

Ahoy, captain jim.

Hi, levar.

Good morning.

Half the string, jimmy.

Whoo!

This is great!

Well, here we go.

I'm hoping we'll see
some whales today.

Humpback whales
have been sighted

Along the north
atlantic coast.

They migrate here
to spend the summers feeding.

Whales have an amazing
sense of direction.

They know just how to get
where they're going,

But sometimes they can
take a wrong turn.

That's what happens
to humphrey

In this true story.

Far out at sea,

A pod
of humpback whales

Was traveling south
for the winter.

Humpback whales are
magnificent creatures

That sing to each other
underwater.

In the whole world,
there are very few of them,

So each one
is quite special.

Every winter
they travel south.

Every summer
they head north,

And they always
know the way,

But even whales
can make mistakes.

One day, a whale named humphrey
made a big one.

He turned away
from his friends

And wandered
under the golden gate bridge

Into san francisco bay.

Everyone was surprised

To see humphrey
in the bay.

He was a spectacular sight,

As long
as a city bus

And as big
as seven elephants.

When he came up
to breathe,

Appearing as if by magic,

People would stop
to watch him.

Then humphrey did something
no whale had ever done.

Instead of swimming
back out to sea,

He went the wrong way,
up the sacramento river.

The big river became
smaller and smaller

As humphrey
traveled upstream.

He was looking
for the ocean,

But it was clear

Humphrey was lost.

Hundreds of people
came to see humphrey.

"There he is!"
They shouted.

He was an amazing sight,

But something
was wrong.

Whales are supposed to live
in the salt water of the ocean,

Not in the fresh water
of rivers.

A whale would die
if it stayed in fresh water.

Humphrey was in trouble.

The farther humphrey went,

The more worried
everyone became.

Then one day,

Humphrey squeezed
under a tiny bridge.

It was so small,

No one could understand
how he had done it.

Now he was
really trapped!

The river beyond the bridge
was very shallow.

Something had to be done
to get him out of there.

Humphrey looked sick.

The scientists knew
he would die

If he didn't get back
to the ocean.

Scientists, coast guard
officers, and many others

Got together to work out
a plan to save humphrey.

They decided to bang pipes
together underwater

And scare him
back down the river.

At the same time,
they would play a recording

That would broadcast underwater
the sounds of whales eating.

Maybe humphrey would be
so hungry and lonely

He would swim
toward the sound.

It worked!

Humphrey turned around

And started swimming
back down the river.

Everyone was relieved,

But the danger
wasn't over yet.

When humphrey arrived
at the little bridge,

He stopped.

He couldn't find a space
big enough to go through.

People kept
banging the pipes.

Humphrey became angry.

He rolled
from side to side

And thrashed
his great tail.

People stopped
banging the pipes,

But they didn't give up.

They decided to make the space
under the bridge bigger.

They brought in
a huge crane

To clear away some
of the old pilings.

The next day, the people began
banging the pipes again.

The boats moved closer

To urge humphrey on
toward the bridge.

This was his last chance.

Everyone watched
nervously.

Humphrey bravely
approached the bridge,

But as he tried
to swim under it,

His head became lodged
between the pilings.

He frantically
bobbed his head up and down

And thrashed his tail
to free himself.

Suddenly humphrey
lifted one fin

Way out of the water,
almost touching the bridge.

He twisted his body.

He broke free
from the pilings

And swam through
to the other side!

There was a shout
from the riverbank,

And then another
and another,

Until everyone
was cheering,

"Hooray for humphrey!
He made it!"

Humphrey the lost whale

Was finally
on his way home.

A whole flotilla of boats
and the clanging of pipes

Helped humphrey find his way
down the river.

Finally, humphrey arrived
at san francisco bay.

Humphrey spent one whole day

Happily swimming around the bay.

He did tricks for the people
along the shore.

Humphrey seemed to be saying
good-bye and thank you

To all his friends
who had helped save his life.

Finally, humphrey swam
under the golden gate bridge

And back out to sea.

Humphrey the whale
had made it!

Humphrey's story
is about a whale

And all the people
who cared enough

To help him get home.

The most amazing
thing is

That humphrey's story
really happened.

As humphrey swam
up the sacramento river,

People came from everywhere

To help the experts
turn him around.

They urged him on

As he struggled
to swim

Between the pilings
under the bridge.

There were some
tense moments for everyone

When it seemed that humphrey
might not make it.

When he finally
succeeded,

Everyone cheered.

[Cheering]

All the people felt

They had a part
in humphrey's success

As they watched him
swim to freedom,

And humphrey
seemed to agree.

You and I
whale watch for fun,

But scientists
have different reasons.

For naturalist cindy bell,
it's an opportunity

To study whales
in their environment.

Hi, cindy.

Hi, levar.

What do we expect
to see today?

Hopefully some
humpback whales.

Cindy,
we got some whales
off the starboard bow.

Whoa! Look at that!

That's
a humpback whale.

It's big, probably


If you watch
carefully,

In a few seconds,
the mouth will come
through there.

Right there.

Whoa!

The mouth is open.

That's amazing!

The baleen is
filtering water out.

That's the stuff
inside the jaw?

Exactly.

Instead of having teeth,
they have baleen,

Which is hairy fringe.

It acts like a sieve.

When water
and fish come in,

The water scoots out,
and the fish are trapped

Against that hairy fringe.

If you look closely
and listen closely,

You can see
and hear them breathe.

They have two blowholes.

They open,
then close again

So no water gets
into the lungs.

Or they'd drown.

The big
whooshing sound.

[Whoosh]

That's when
they exhale.

That's when
the water comes up?

Well, it's not
really water.

When we exhale
in winter,

You see your breath.

It's moisture.
It's not water.

When they go down
on a deeper dive,

They'll bring the tail up.

We call that
fluking.

Their tails are
called flukes.

On the humpback
whale's tail

Is a black
and white pattern.

We can tell
individuals apart

Like people do
with fingerprints.

You can
identify whales

By the patterns
on their flukes.

Look at that!

It's laying on its side,

Slamming its flipper
on the water.

Why?

It's a social
signal.

He's signaling
to other whales.

Whales lay
on their belly
when we see them.

If you rolled
over and slammed
your hand down,

That's like
the whale's arm.

It's a flipper.

Look!

The whale just
leaped into the air!

We call that
breaching.

Usually it's
for communication,

But even calves will
do it, like playing.

So they're just
fooling around.

Jumping for joy,
almost.

We hope that
by studying whales,

We can help them
to survive,

But sometimes human beings
can take action

To save a whale
that's in trouble.

Recently on cape cod,

Three young pilot whales
found that out for themselves.

It's december 3rd,

A cold winter afternoon.

Along the 20-mile
stretch of beach,

A mysterious event
is taking place.

Pilot whales are beaching
on the shore.

Scientists and volunteers
rush to help,

But this is no easy task.

They struggle to push
the 4- and 5-ton animals

Back into the sea.

If the whales
don't get past the shallows,

They will die.

Greg early,
from the new england aquarium,

Leads the rescue team.

Beaching is dangerous
to whales.

It's very injurious
to them

And fatal if out
of the water long enough.

They're meant
to spend their life

With their weight
supported by water.

In water,
they don't weigh a thing.

Out of the water,
they weigh a ton.

Their body can't deal
with that weight.

All night long
and into the morning,

Greg and his team fight
to save the whales.

The tide is out now.

Most of them
are hopelessly stranded,

Too badly injured
to survive.

By morning,

More than 30 whales
are stranded and dying--

A heartbreaking finish
for everyone.

But the story
doesn't end here.

Three young, motherless calves
are badly injured,

But have survived
because they're young and small.

For the first time ever,

Baby whales
are carefully transported

Back to
the new england aquarium.

When the whales
first arrived here,

They really
were traumatized.

They were borderline shocky.

They were not
in very good shape.

They didn't respond
to being in the pool.

They didn't
respond to us.

It was touch-and-go
at the beginning.

To survive,
the calves must eat.

Until the rescue,
they've been nursing.

The staff teaches them
to eat fish.

Herring becomes
their favorite,

And the fish are fortified

With vitamins
and antibiotics.

By spring, the team's work
has paid off,

And the calves
are strong again.

They're swimming
and playing together,

Herding behaviors necessary
for their survival

In the wild.

Now, the most difficult phase
in the rescue begins.

The plan is to
return the whales to the sea.

The calves
must join pilot whales,

Or their chances
of survival are slim.

Notch, baby, and tag
now begin their journey home.

The crew concentrates
on keeping the whales healthy

On the trip.

Albatross 4...

Zinc oxide prevents
sun and windburn,

And massage keeps muscles
from stiffening.

After 12 hours at sea,

A herd of pilot whales
is spotted.

The plan is
to lower all three

And release them together
into a pen

Attached to
the side of the ship.

Notch is first, and immediately,
he's in trouble.

The ship's pitch and roll

Causes the harness
to swing out of control.

He almost slams
into the ship's side.

And when he gets to the pen,
notch panics.

He's caught in the ropes.

If the crew can't free him,
he'll drown.

Finally,
the ropes are cut,

And notch swims off...
Alone.

Notch has little chance
to survive alone.

The crew works quickly

To release
baby and tag together.

Suddenly, notch returns...

And baby and tag
swim to join him.

What a feeling!

Notch, baby,
and tag are home.

One of the best ways
to protect the whales

Is to know
more about them.

These books will help you
scratch the surface.

But don't take
my word for it.

Hi, I'm chantille.

Here's a book
that will take you

On a great adventure--

A whale of an adventure.

The name of the book
is whalewatch!

The kids in the book
go on a whalewatch.

They watch whales breach,
or come out of the water.

It would be neat
to be on a boat

And be right
next to a whale.

If I were a whale,
I'd swim all over the world.

Since I'm not,
I will read my book.

Why don't you read it?

Hi. My name's
michael roffe.

Here's a new book called
the life cycle of the whale.

It's filled with lots
of fun facts about whales.

Many great whales
don't have teeth.

Instead of teeth,
these whales have baleen.

My favorite picture
was of a baby humpback whale

And its mother.

This is a great book.

I hope you'll
find it interesting.

Read the life cycle
of the whale.

Hi. I'm nicholas saunders.

Did you know
humpback whales can sing songs?

Neither did I until I read
all about whales.

The book describes
how a whale lives and eats.

Did you know
a humpback whale

Eats a ton of food a day?

That's enough
to last a human a year.

Whales are so interesting.

Someday, I hope I see one.

In the meantime,
I can read about them.

One of the most
extraordinary discoveries

About humpback whales
is that they sing.

During the mating season,
male humpbacks compose songs,

Sometimes hours long.

Now, how and why they sing

Is one of nature's
great mysteries,

But they compose
beautiful, haunting melodies.

Just listen.

[Whales singing]

♪ Underwater melodies ♪

♪ Drifting on currents ♪

♪ Rising up
towards the sky ♪

♪ Whales singing
so mysteriously ♪

♪ I want to sing along ♪

♪ But the words
just pass me by ♪

♪ Sail away ♪

♪ Sail the sea ♪

♪ With the whales
is where I want to be ♪

♪ Dancers of
the deep, dark sea ♪

♪ Dancing with the waves ♪

♪ Flying, oh, so high ♪

♪ In ocean choreography ♪

♪ I want to dance
with you ♪

♪ But I feel
a little shy ♪

♪ And I sail away ♪

♪ Sail the sea ♪

♪ With the whales
is where I want to be ♪

♪ And I sail away ♪

♪ Sail away ♪

♪ Sail the sea ♪

♪ Sail the sea ♪

♪ With the whales
is where I want to be ♪

♪ Sail away ♪

♪ I'm sailing free ♪

♪ Oh, with the whales
is where I want to be ♪

♪ Mmm hmm mmm mmm mmm ♪

♪ Hmm hmm hmm mmm mmm ♪♪

[Whales singing]

Many years ago,

There were hundreds of thousands
of whales in our oceans.

Today, they're almost gone.

Why?

Well, mostly because
of hunting and pollution.

Now hunting
has been outlawed,

But we still
pollute our oceans.

Take this stuff,
for example.

Plastic bottles and wrappers
thrown into the water

Are deadly to sea life.

When you finish
your beach picnic,

Please clean it up.

That's one way
that years from now

Your children
will be able to enjoy

The thrill
of watching whales

And maybe even hear
the humpback sing.

See you next time.

♪ And I sail away ♪

♪ Sail the sea ♪

♪ With the whales
is where I want to be ♪

♪ So I wrote
this little song for you... ♪

♪ Sing along
if you want to ♪

♪ It's just a simple song ♪

♪ A love song to the whales ♪

♪ And I sail away ♪

♪ Sail away ♪

♪ Sail the sea ♪

♪ Sail the sea ♪

♪ With the whales ♪

♪ Is where I want to be ♪

♪ Sail away ♪

♪ I'm sailing free ♪

♪ Oh, with the whales... ♪♪

Today's reading rainbow
books are...

Humphrey the lost whale:
a true story,

Story by wendy tokuda
and richard hall,

Illustrations by
hanako wakiyama,

Published by heian
international, incorporated.

Whalewatch! By june behrens,

Photographs collected
by john olguin,

Published by
childrens press.

The life cycle of the whale,

By paula z. Hogan,

Illustrations by karen halt,

Published by
raintree publishers.

All about whales,
by dorothy hinshaw patent,

Published by
holiday house.