03x03 - A Whale of a Time/That's Snow Fun

[bunniefuu]

Hey, everyone-- it's me, Molly!

♪Molly of Denali ♪

Let's go!

♪ She's Molly of Denali

[laughing]: Whooo!

♪ By plane or sled or snowshoe ♪

♪ She is ready to explore

♪ From Kaktovik down to Juneau ♪

♪ Always wanting to learn more ♪

Yeah!

♪ Together with her best friend Tooey ♪

♪ Always by her side And Trini!

♪ Discovering the outdoors

♪ On adventures day and night

♪ Come along with Molly

♪ Molly

♪ Through fields of fireweed

♪ Come along with Molly

♪ Molly

♪ From tundra to the sea

Mahsi'choo-- let's go!

♪ Molly of Denali

Yeah!

♪ She's Molly of Denali

♪ Come on ♪ Let's go!

♪ Molly of Denali

♪ She's Molly of Denali

MOLLY: "A Whale of a Time."

[phone chirps]Hey, everybody!

We're on our way to Cook Inlet for something amazing.

Nina's writing an article on beluga whales,

and invited Tooey, and me,

and Suki to come along.[Suki barks]

We've never seen a beluga whale before.

NINA: In the United States,

you can only see belugas in Alaskan waters.

And we're gonna see 'em!

Okay, everyone, prepare for landing.

[laughing]: Whooo!

♪

[birds calling]

See you guys tomorrow in Anchorage.

Have fun camping!

Bye, Mom!See you later,Layla!

Thanks for the ride, Layla!

[computer beeps]

MAN [on video]: Beluga whales are known

for their snowy white color.

[whales chirping]

They're called the canaries of the sea.

[whales chirping]

Whoa, they're talking to each other.

That's so cool!

MAN: Friendly and playful,

belugas communicate with all sorts of sounds.

[whales chirping and squealing]

[laughing]

I'm gonna write some of this down,

so we won't forget.

Good idea.

But first...

Mmm.

[sniffing]

MAN: The waters in Cook Inlet are muddy.

So how do belugas hunt for food

when they can't see it?

See the bump on the beluga's forehead?

It's called a melon, and it makes a clicking sound.

[clicking]

That's one big melon.

MAN: The clicks bounce off its food,

like salmon, to help the belugas find it.

This is called echolocation.

[computer beeps]

♪

[whines]

[sniffing]

[whines]

Ooh, glad to see you two so interested.

The more people learn about Cook Inlet belugas,

the more chance we have to save them.

Save them?

Are they in trouble?

Afraid so.

The belugas here are endangered.

There are fewer and fewer of them in Cook Inlet.

And so far, nobody knows why.

That's a big reason why I'm writing the article.

Can we help?

I can give you some notes on echolocation.

Thanks!

I'd love the help.

Be ready to get up bright and early

so we can hike to the viewing station

and meet my friend, Professor Locklear.

[gasp]

[Suki barking]

Suki! Come back!

[Suki barking]Wait, Suki!

Suki, stop.

[sniffing]

♪

MOLLY: What's the viewing station like?

How many belugas do you think we'll see?

Oh, will we be able to hear them?

NINA: Can't say.

But I do know we'll see some citizen scientists.

Today's the annual belugas count event.

Volunteers count and photograph the whales

to help marine biologists.

[Suki barks]

[panting]

And there she is!

My buddy Nina.

Oh, really glad you could make it.

Wouldn't miss it, Professor Locklear.

I brought two new volunteers for you,

Molly and Tooey.

[barks]

Make that three volunteers.

Good to see you again.

Welcome to one of

the belugas count viewing stations!

Professor Locklear's a marine biologist.

He studies living things in the ocean

and works for NOAA Fisheries.

Best job in the world, and an easy commute.

I live right there in my village of Tyonek.

Did you always want to be a marine biologist?

Ever since I saw my first pod of Qunshi.

Belugas have always been important

to the Tebughna people.

When I was a boy, you could see them every day.

But now we have less than belugas.

Whoa.

How come?

That's the big question,Molly.

We aren't quite sure.

For years, people have been

trying to help the population recover.

Our elders told us this was something

we'd have to prepare for.

Oh!

High tide's in, which means Qunshisightings.

Let's get rolling!

♪

Want to take pictures for me?

Yes!

Mahsi'choo,Nina.

[yelling over helicopter]: Watch for white blobs

in the water!

[helicopter engine roaring]

[yelling]: Did you hear him?No.

[helicopter engine fades]Also look for blows...

[ship horn blows][yelling]: ...water spraying up in the air

when the belugas surface to breathe!

[horn continues]

[horn blowing, helicopter engine roaring]

Wow, it's pretty noisy.

I wonder if it bothers the whales.

You're onto something, Molly.

Underwater noise from boats and airplanes

may prevent belugas from successfully hunting fish.

Right!

Melons.

"The belugas use echolocation to hunt for food."

And if the noise messes that up, they can't find it.

Exactly.

But that's just one theory for why there are fewer belugas.

There!

Right there!

Sorry.

Just a whitecap.

Wait! I see a blob.

Where?

TOOEY: But it's more of a log blob

than a beluga blob.

[ship horn blaring]

♪

[sighs]: Oh, it's been hours.

I guess the belugas aren't going to show themselves today.

We still have a little time before we have to meet your mom.

You're right, Nina. We can still try.

Come on, Tooey.

[Suki barking]

Suki, wait!

[barking in distance]

♪

[both panting]

Suki?[panting]

Down there!

[barking]

[creature chirps]

[barking]

You silly girl.[whining]

[creature chirping]

[barking][chirping]

Who is she talking to?

Doesn't sound like a fox.

[gasps]: Wait a minute, wait a minute.

[chirping][Suki barking]

TOOEY: Belugas!

Quick, count 'em up!

[chirping]

[camera clicks]MOLLY: One, two.

Three, four.

MOLLY: Five.TOOEY: Six.

Seven.Eight!

I got eight.Same.

♪

[whales chirping]

[Suki barking]

Hey, a dolphin.

[camera clicks]

Really? Where?

[Suki barking]

Hmm, I know I saw it.

Wonder what a dolphin's doing with a pod of belugas.

♪

Nina! Professor Locklear!

We saw them. Eight belugas!

We took pictures, too.

That's great.

It sure is.

I wish we could include them in our count.

What? Why not?

We scientists have to be consistent,

or we'll be inaccurate.

That's why we only count whales at viewing stations.

Oh.

Well, I guess you can't count the dolphin, either.

I think it might be lost.

Dolphin?

What exactly did you see?

It was playing with the belugas.

Molly!

You may have made an important discovery.

Me?

What you saw just might be a baby beluga.

But it wasn't white.

It was gray.

Exactly!

Beluga calves are born darkish-gray.

It takes years before they turn the snow white of adult belugas.

[gasping]: That's it!

That's what I saw!

A baby beluga's good news, right?

Yep, it might mean the population's growing.

We just need to confirm it by seeing the baby calf from here.

Keep your eyes open.

♪

So sorry, kids, but we need to go soon

and meet your mom,Molly.

Okay, Nina.

Mahsi'choo, Professor Locklear.

We learned so much.

Chin'an,thank you for helping at belugas count.

[creature chirping]

Yeah, Molly?

I didn't say anything.

You didn't just call my name?

[creature chirping]Like that?

You don't think...

TOOEY: There they are!

[chirping]

Hey, would you look?Oh, wow!

MOLLY: Look! There's the baby beluga!

WOMAN: Oh!MAN: Oh, wow!

WOMAN: I can't believe it!

[all exclaiming][whale chirps]

Nice work, Molly and Tooey.

[chirping]

[camera clicks]

Mom, look!

Nina put my photo in the article,

and even used the caption I wrote.

"A baby beluga in the deep blue sea of Cook Inlet."

And Tooey used his notes

to help write the section on echolocation.

So you were big helps to Nina.

Don't forget about Suki, who talks to whales.

[mimics whale chirping]

[barking]

[chirping][barking]

[Molly and Layla laughing]

MOLLY: Hey, everyone!

Molly here to answer your questions

about life in Alaska.

Enrique from El Paso, Texas, asks,

"What's a blanket toss?"

My friends in Utqiagvik can show you.

BOTH: Hi, Molly!

GIRL: Right now, we're in Utqiagvik,

which is the homeland of the Iñupiaq people.

This is gonna be my first time on the blanket toss.

The adults are jumping right behind me.

♪

GIRL: A long, long time ago,

our people used to use the blanket toss

for spotting whales.

Now we use the blanket toss to celebrate

a successful whaling season.

[cheering]

GIRL: There's a lot of people around the blankets.

When you're about to fall, people will catch you.

♪

Some people get a candy bag,

and they hold it on, and then they start jumping,

and then they throw it up in the air

so kids and people can grab it.

BOY: When we're not getting tossed in the air,

we are getting lots of candy.

♪

Button just went on,

and he's gonna give me some advice.

Don't bend your legs too much, okay?

I got some advice.

I'm about to go on the blanket toss.

My brother's going up right now.

BOY: It looks big

when you're down on the ground.

But when you're on it,

it's actually pretty small.

[man grunting]

I did throw candy,

but I accidentally threw the bag.

Aw.

[group encouraging]

It was fun!

♪

GIRL: This year, I didn't get to go on the blanket toss,

but it was really fun because I got to watch my brother

on the blanket toss.

BOTH: Quyanaqpaq,Molly!

MOLLY: Mahsi'choo!

Thanks for asking and see you next time.

MOLLY: "That's Snow Fun."

[Suki whines]

[barking]

[wind howling]

[Suki barks, Molly laughs]

Okay, Suki, let's go over it again.

[barks]

Super snow swing.

Check.

Snowman station?

Check.

Silly snow angels.

Check.

But first...

TRINI:Molly!

[grunting]

Look at all this snow! [giggles]

I know.

Isn't it amazing?

I've got our whole day planned, and it's full of snow games!

[squeals]

I can't wait!

What are we playing first?

[gasps]

BOTH: Snow mountain!

[laughing]

[Suki barks]

Woo-hoo!

Zhah!

TRINI: Yay!

MOLLY: Yeah!

[laughing]

LAYLA:Girls!

Time to come inside.

MOLLY: Aww, Mom.

But we only just played snow mountain.[barking]

The radio said it's turning into a blizzard.

[wind howling][shivering]: Adzoo!

[bell rings]

[wind howling]

[panting]

[panting][slurping]

Mmm, that cocoa is so good,

I think I'd like to live inside this mug.

What's wrong?

I had so many snow games planned.

I never thought there'd be too much snow.

Um, I'm sure there are other games

we can play.

You're right, Trini.

Just because there's no snow inside

doesn't mean we can't play a game.

Let's go find some fun.

[sighing]: , , .

I counted .

What are you two doing?

Playing count the ceiling boards.

Wouldn't you rather play a game?

We've already played all the games.

Board games, card games, video games.

Old games, new games, mind games.

Hey!

Maybe the blizzard has stopped

and we can get back to snow games!

I'll check!

[wind howling]

[yelps and gasps]

[grunting]

I guess not.

Well, there might be something

more fun than counting ceiling boards in this box.

Ooh!

Hmm?

What is it?

Just some old stuff of mine from when I was a kid.

Grandpa dropped it off yesterday.

Spirit Wind.

Traditional Yup'ik Songs.

Cool.

What is this?

Oh, I know.

That's an Alaska Native yo-yo.

[gasps]: Look!

There's another one, and a book.

How to...Yuuyuuk?

It's so soft!

What's it made of?

MOLLY: I think it's seal skin.

[whining]

My cousin Randall taught me how to use one.

He's really good.

Whoa!

[teeth clamp, Suki whines]

MOLLY: Sorry, Suki.

This is a person toy, not a dog toy.

Hey!

Let's call Randall.

Maybe he can teach us some tricks.

Let's do it!

It's called aYuuyuuk in Yup'ik.

BOTH: Yuuyuuk.[sniffing]

We'll start with something simple.

The Arm Stop Trick.

Whoa.Teach us that one.

Sometimes I turn on music

to help get me into the rhythm.

[disco music playing]

Okay, first, get yourYuuyuuk going.

[music continues]

[whines]

Now, here's the tricky part.

Watch closely.

You have to make sure... [audio skipping]

[computer beeping]

[lights click and thud]

[gasps]Uh-oh.

MOLLY: Oh, no!

Randall froze.

I think the power just went out.

[groans]

I really wanted to learn that trick.

Maybe we could just teach ourselves.

Hmm...

[gasps]

How toYuuyuuk.

♪

Hmm...

"What is a Yuuyuuk."

"How to make a Yuuyuuk."

[sniffing]

Ah! Here we go![whimpering]

This is the heading we want.

"YuuyuukTricks."

Wow, there are a lot of subheadings.

"The Over the Head Trick," "The Round the World Trick."

[gasps]: Wait! I think this is it!

"The Arm Stop Trick."

MOLLY: Great! All the steps are here.

And it looks pretty clear.

Let's do it.

Okay.

First, we just get one end of the Yuuyuukgoing.

Good! Next,

you add in the other end.

Got it.

What's next?

Just one more step.

Stick your other arm out so it briefly stops the Yuuyuuk.

[gasps]

Molly!

I think I just...

[chomps][shrieks]

Suki! No!

[Suki barks]

[girls panting and grunting]

[barking][grunts]

[girls panting]

[whimpers]Hi, Mom!

Sorry, Mom![Suki barks]

[girls panting]

[growling playfully]

[whimpering]

[Trini murmuring][barking]

MOLLY [panting]: It's no use.

She's too fast.

[growls playfully]

[panting]We'll never catch her.

[both sigh]

[lights buzz and click]

Well, at least the power's back on.

Okay, Suki, you win.

[whines softly]

[gasps]

And the Yuuyuuk definitely lost.

Look.

[groans]

Well, we still have one Yuuyuuk.

We can take turns trying to do the trick.

Let's see.

I think I did something like...

This?

No, that's not it.

MOLLY: Here, let me try.

Okay, that's step one.

[grunts]: Why is this so hard now?

Wait!

What about music?

Randall said that it helped him get into the rhythm.

That's a great idea.

And I know just what to put on.

Spirit Wind.

I hope this wind inspires our Yuuyuuking.

[beeps]

[drum pounding out rhythm]

[tapping to drumming]

[drumming continues]

That's it.

Keep it going.

You did it!

You did the Arm Stop Trick!

I did, didn't I?

That looked really professional, almost as good as Randall's.

It's all because of

the music.

It makes me feel like dancing.

Me, too.

[drum continues] Yuuyuuk, Yuuyuuk, Yuuyuuk...

Trini, you just gave me an amazing idea.

♪

Ladies...

MOLLY: ...and gentlemen.

TRINI: And dog![whines]

You're about to witness something amazing!

[imitating echo]: Amazing, amazing, amazing.

Something that will change Yuuyuuking forever!

[imitating echo]: Forever, forever, forever.

The one and only...

BOTH: ...Yuuyuukdance!

[beeps]

[drumming begins]

♪

Woo-hoo! Yeah!

[laughing]: Nice moves!

[drumming continues]

♪

Yay!

And now, the moment of truth!

♪

BOTH: Ta-da!

[both cheering]

[barking]

RANDALL [laughing]: All right!

Wow! A two-person Arm Stop Trick?

Never seen that before.

And set to Yup'ik music.

Shroonchyaa.[whining]

Didn't turn out to be a bad snow day after all, did it?

It was the best.

[Suki barks]

BOTH: Suki!

Get back here!

[Layla and girls laughing]

♪