I KNOW the jigsaw puzzles are a favorite, so let’s have some MORE fun with a jigsaw puzzle of the book’s back cover!

The grid icon in the center of the puzzle lets you change how many pieces there are. Hit the OK to start the play.

How about some fun videos about our whales and their lives in the open seas?

…AND now for some of the crazy amount of research I did for this Adventure (just in case you are a “need-to-know” person like me!

Pride of Maui: Do All Humpback Whales Come to Hawaii?
https://www.prideofmaui.com/blog/activities/do-all-humpback-whales-come-to-hawaii
the Kohola, or Humpback, is the only species of whale that makes this trek every year. The specific subspecies that comes to visit us in Hawaii is the North Pacific Humpback Whale.
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Dana Wharf: Gray Whales: A Comprehensive Guide
https://danawharf.com/blog/gray-whales-a-comprehensive-guide/
Quick Facts about the Gray Whale
Gray whales are one of the oldest baleen species, existing for around 30 million years.
They have a mottled gray coloration on their skin, covered in patches of barnacles and whale lice, giving them a distinct and recognizable appearance.
Gray whales have two rows of baleen plates in their upper jaw. These plates, made of keratin (the same material as human fingernails), allow the whale to filter-feed on small prey.
These whales earn the nickname “gentle giants” and gain recognition for their curious and friendly behavior towards humans. They often approach boats during migration, making them a popular subject for whale-watching tours.
Gray whale mothers are incredibly protective and nurturing of their calves. They are known to be affectionate and display maternal care for their young.
Gray whales are bottom feeders. They feed by scooping sediment from the ocean floor and filtering out small prey, like amphipods, through their baleen plates.
Gray whales lack a dorsal fin, typical of most baleen whales. Instead, they have a series of “knuckles” along their back.

Baja California, Mexico: During the winter and early spring (from December to April), many gray whales migrate to the breeding and calving grounds along the western coast of Baja California, Mexico. Places like Magdalena Bay, San Ignacio Lagoon, and Scammon’s Lagoon are popular spots for whale-watching tours, where you can get up close to these magnificent creatures.
…Oregon and Washington, USA: During the northbound migration in the spring (late March to June), some gray whales pass by the coasts of Oregon and Washington.
Alaska, USA: During the summer and fall (from June to October), gray whales can be found in the feeding grounds off the coasts of Alaska. Places like Kodiak Island, the Kenai Peninsula, and the Aleutian Islands…

What does a gray whale sound like?
Gray whales make a variety of sounds that are used for communication and echolocation. Most of the gray whale’s vocalizations occur underwater and are only easily audible to human ears with specialized equipment. Researchers use underwater hydrophones to study and record these sounds to gain insight into the whales’ behavior and communication patterns.

Song-like Melodies: Gray whales produce complex, melodic songs that can last several minutes. These songs (made of moans, groans, and whistles) happen during breeding season when the males try to attract females.
Clicks and Pulsed Sounds: Gray whales emit rapid clicks and pulsed sounds, likely used for echolocation. They can navigate and locate food sources in dark or murky waters by sending out these sounds and analyzing the returning echoes.
Social Sounds: Gray whales are highly social animals, and they communicate with each other using various sounds. These social sounds can include grunts, growls, and other vocalizations that help them maintain social bonds and coordinate group activities.
Breaching and Slapping Sounds: When gray whales breach (leap out of the water) or slap their flukes or pectoral fins on the surface, they produce distinctive sounds heard both above and below the water. These actions serve as communication signals or be a form of play or territorial display.

What do gray whales eat?
Gray whales are filter-feeding mammals. Their diet primarily consists of small, shrimp-like crustaceans known as amphipods and other benthic (bottom-dwelling) organisms.

During the feeding season, gray whales swim close to the seafloor and scoop up sediment with enormous mouths. They use their tongue and baleen plates to filter out the water while trapping the tiny prey in the baleen, such as amphipods and other small crustaceans. Once the water is expelled, they swallow the captured prey. Gray whales eat about 3,000 to 6,000 pounds of food per day.

How giant are gray whales?
The average length of a gray whale is 40–50 feet, but some can reach up to 60 feet in length. They typically weigh between 30 and 40 tons, equivalent to about 60,000 pounds. The size of a gray whale can vary depending on its age and sex. Females tend to be slightly larger than males, and adult whales are generally larger than younger ones.
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Gray Whale Facts
https://whalestaildepoebay.com/gray-whale-facts/
Do gray whales sing?
Gray whales make gurgles and warbling sounds, but nobody really understands what these sounds mean.

How long does a gray whale live?
Grays whales live about 40 to 60 years, some can live 70 years.

…By the time she reaches the warm lagoons, the baby has been developing for 11-12 months and is ready for birth. A female usually has one calf every two years.

What makes the lagoons good nurseries?
The lagoons are safe from hungry orca’s whales (killer of whales). The warm water helps the calves stay warm until they gain blubber, also the salty water makes the babies more buoyant, so it is easier for them to nurse… Calves can gain 60 to 70 pounds every day on their mother’s milk; they can reach 18 to19 feet in length in their first 3 months of life.

Why do mothers and calves stay in the lagoons for 2-3 months?
It allows the calves to build up a thick layer of blubber, they need blubber for energy to swim during the northward migration, and blubber keeps them warm in the colder waters.

Are whale’s good mothers?
Yes, mothers are very protective of their calves

How do gray whales eat?
Since gray whales have no teeth, they capture and strain their baleen, which hangs from the roof of the mouth; grays are the only bottom feeding whales. When they feed, a whale dives to the bottom, rolls on its right side and gulps mouthfuls of mud from the bottom. As the whale closes its mouth, water and sediments squirt out through the baleen plates. This leaves the amphipods stuck to the baleen inside their mouths. Whales then use their tongues to loosen the amphipods from the baleen, and swallow.

What are baleen plates?
Baleen whales have a series of 130-180 fringed, overlapping baleen plates hanging like curtains from each side of the upper jaw. Baleen is made of a fingernail-like material called keratin. The plates are off-white and about 2-10-inch-long. Baleen plates filter water out and trap food in, the baleen is replaced about every 5 years.

How fast do gray whales travel during migration?
Gray whales cover about 100 miles a day; they can travel from Unimak Pass in Alaska to Baja California in an average of 50-60 days.

Why do gray whales migrate along the coast?
The coastline may help them navigate the long distance, and being benthic (bottom) feeders, they have evolved with an orientation toward the seafloor where their food is located.

How far from the coast do they usually travel?
Along the coast of Oregon, gray whales will migrate within 2-5 miles of the shore. Gray whales may pay more attention to water depth than distance from shore.

Whales Tail – Depoe bay – humpback whales
https://whalestaildepoebay.com/humpback-whales/
Humpback whales migrate up to 16,000 miles each year and feed mainly in the summer in polar waters and migrate to tropical waters to breed and give birth in the winter. During the winter, humpbacks fast and live off their fat reserves; their diet consists of krill and small fish. Humpback whales like all baleen whales are seasonal feeders that feed on crustaceans, plankton, and small fish.

A humpback whale will eat about 5,000 pounds of plankton, krill, and small fish every day during the feeding season, one feeding technique they use is called bubble net fishing. This is where a group of humpback whales swim rapidly in circles around a school of fish and blow air through their blowholes. The bubbles form a barrier that helps to confine the school of fish within an area, and then one or more whales will swim upwards and through the bubble net with their mouth’s wide open and gulp thousands of fish.

Humpback whales breathe air at the surface of the water through two blowholes located near the top of the head. Their blow is a double stream of spray that rises 10-13 feet above the surface of the water. The tail flukes of a humpback whale, which are lifted high in the dive sequence, have wavy rear edges. The deeply notched flukes (tail) are between 10- 12 feet wide, an adult usually ranges between 39-52 feet long and weighs approximately 36 tons, and these whales can live between 50-70 years.

Both male and female humpback whales vocalize, however only males produce the long, loud, complex songs for which this whale is famous for. Each song consists of sounds in a low register that vary in amplitude and frequency, and typically lasts from 10 to 20 minutes. Humpbacks may sing continuously for more than 24 hours. Cetaceans have no vocal cords, so whales generate their song by forcing air through their massive nasal cavities.

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Gray whale spends record amount of time in San Francisco Bay, concerning scientists
https://phys.org/news/2023-04-gray-whale-amount-san-francisco.html
A gray whale has been in the San Francisco Bay since early February, a record amount of time that could put the animal at risk of being struck by a ship, according to the Marine Mammal Center.

The whale, which arrived Feb. 9, was spotted Monday—75 days later—by a research team on a boat, according to Bill Keener of the cetacean conservation biology team at the Marine Mammal Center, a nonprofit rescue organization. The previous record for a gray whale in the bay was 46 days.

… The whales breed in lagoons in Mexico and migrate to Alaska to feed, sometimes stopping in the bay along the way.

The waters in the San Francisco Bay are calm, and whales sometimes linger to eat and rest.
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The Bump: Kaipo
https://www.thebump.com/b/kaipo-baby-name
Meaning:
sweetheart
Origin:
Pacific Islander
Kaipo is an endearing gender-neutral name of Pacific Islander origin. Expressing deep affection with every call, Kaipo means “sweetheart” and is used most favorably in Hawaii. A darling name for your new beloved, Kaipo will no doubt go on to inspire many flattering gazes and warm embraces.
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I am Flo Gato, the Underwater Sea Explorer, a nod to Jacques Cousteau
https://www.google.com/search?gs_ssp=eJzj4tDP1TcwMclJN2D0EshKTC4sTS1WSM4vLS5JTSwFAHfkCUk&q=jacques+cousteau&rlz=1C1VDKB_enUS969US969&oq=jacques+Cos&aqs=chrome.1.69i57j46i10i433i512j0i10i512j46i512j0i10i512l5.8223j0j7&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8

Wikipedia
Jacques Cousteau (1910-1997) was a French naval officer, oceanographer, filmmaker and author. He co-invented the first successful open-circuit self-contained underwater breathing apparatus (SCUBA), called the Aqua-Lung, which assisted him in producing some of the first underwater documentaries.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacques_Cousteau
1910-1997

The Underwater World of Jacques Cousteau 1966-1976
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Undersea_World_of_Jacques_Cousteau
Rent from Amazon:
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0192937/

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Website: AFAR
You Can Spend the Night in These 7 Charming Lighthouses
https://www.afar.com/magazine/5-charming-lighthouses-that-you-can-actually-sleep-in

Photo:
https://afar.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/5260a7b/2147483647/strip/true/crop/2000×1333+0+0/resize/1440×960!/quality/90/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fafar-media-production-web.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com%2Fbrightspot%2Fdc%2F3e%2F73c3254d6aab0d3820e15bcb5921%2Foriginal-new-dungeness-wa-1-12-2019-credit-kip-tulin-2.jpg

3. New Dungeness Lighthouse
Location: On Washington’s Olympic Peninsula between Port Townsend and Port Angeles | Find on Google Maps
Book now: The light station recommends volunteers stay for one week, which costs $490 per person (this will increase to $510 in 2025), with all proceeds going to the upkeep of the facility.
Situated in the Dungeness National Wildlife Refuge on Washington’s northwest coast, the New Dungeness Lighthouse enjoys views of the Cascade and Olympic mountain ranges. It also sits in the middle of a migratory bird route from northern Canada to the southern United States, so in addition to whales off the coast, visitors might glimpse both land and sea birds such as bald eagles and Pacific loons.

Built in 1857, the lighthouse has undergone major modifications; in 1927, the top was lowered 27 feet due to crumbling stonework in the tower. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1993, and soon after, it became one of the first lighthouses to accept volunteer lightkeepers. In fact, general manager Chad Kaiser notes that volunteers have staffed the site nearly every day for the past 23 years, helping to raise and lower the flag, give tours, and pick up trash.

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Kenai Fjords National Park for the final location
Glacier
https://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=https://www.tripsavvy.com/thmb/g4NsRgMhfftZZQOerhIiEHoULeA%3D/1500×0/filters:no_upscale():max_bytes(150000):strip_icc()/GettyImages-523837768-d8db3dd9768549fc9a3716c7f6edfecc.jpg&tbnid=mI0m5MH3A9d9SM&vet=1&imgrefurl=https://www.tripsavvy.com/kenai-fjords-national-park-guide-5209507&docid=O2AwN9NcKM_xxM&w=1200&h=800&source=sh/x/im/m1/2&kgs=edd8580193df8cac&shem=abme,trie

As the southern terminus of the Alaska Railroad, Seward is one of Alaska’s oldest settlements, with a colorful history from the early fur trade through its heyday as a supply port for Alaska’s interior, thanks to the ice-free shelter of Resurrection Bay.Feb 2, 2024

Kenai Fjords National Park encompasses over 600,000 acres outside of the harbor town of Seward and was created in 1980 to protect some of Alaska’s most incredible glacially carved landscapes. Snow and ice cover 50 percent of the park, with the vast Harding Icefield stretching over 700 square miles.

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Bigfoot
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bigfoot
Bigfoot, also commonly referred to as Sasquatch, is a large and hairy human-like mythical creature alleged by some to inhabit forests in North America, particularly in the Pacific Northwest.[2][3][4] Bigfoot is featured in both American and Canadian folklore, and since the mid-20th century has grown into a cultural icon, permeating popular culture and becoming the subject of its own distinct subculture.[5][6]

Enthusiasts of Bigfoot, such as those within the pseudoscience of cryptozoology, have offered various forms of dubious evidence to prove Bigfoot’s existence, including anecdotal claims of sightings as well as alleged photographs, video and audio recordings, hair samples, and casts of large footprints.[7][8][9][10] However, the scientific consensus is that Bigfoot, and alleged evidence, is a combination of folklore, misidentification, and hoax rather than a living animal.[3][7][10][11][12][13]

Folklorists trace the phenomenon of Bigfoot to a combination of factors and sources, including the European wild man figure, folk tales, and indigenous cultures.[14][15] Examples of similar folk tales of wild, hair-covered humanoids exist throughout the world,[16][17] such as the Skunk ape of the southeastern United States, the Almas, Yeren, and Yeti in Asia, the Australian Yowie,[14][18] and creatures in the mythologies of indigenous people.[19][20] Wishful thinking, a cultural increase in environmental concerns, and overall societal awareness of the subject have been cited as additional factors.[21]

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Kite Surfing
https://www.ikointl.com/blog/complete-beginners-guide-know-everything-about-kitesurfing
a water sport that involves standing up on a surfboard, strapped in a waist harness while being pulled along by a large kite up 25 meters in the air

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Underwater Volcanoes

act as pressure valves for the planet by periodically releasing heat and molten rock from beneath the surface.

Hawaii underwater volcanoes (Samoa) but gives a great idea of what these are.