- 4 days ago
Season 6 (1989-1990)
Category
📺
TVTranscript
00:00Help all kids learn and grow with PBS Kids.
00:03Thank you for supporting your PBS station.
00:30Friends to know and ways to grow.
00:33A written rainbow.
00:35I can be anything.
00:42Take a look.
00:44It's in a book.
00:45A written rainbow.
00:48A written rainbow.
01:00Yes, they're going.
01:07Hi, good morning.
01:09We are up early to join the Cape Ann Whale Watch here in Gloucester, Massachusetts.
01:14There's our boat, the Daunty Five.
01:16She's taking us out in search of one of nature's most spectacular sights, humpback whales.
01:26Sounds like we're ready to get underway.
01:27Come on, let's go whale watching.
01:35Good boy, Tim Tim.
01:36Good morning, my father.
01:37Great, good morning.
01:39Welcome aboard.
01:42Half the spring, Jimmy.
01:57Whoo, this is great.
02:07Well, here we go.
02:09I'm hoping we'll be lucky and see some whales today.
02:12Humpback whales have been sighted not far from here along the North Atlantic coast.
02:16They migrate here to spend the summer's feeding.
02:19You know, whales have an amazing sense of direction.
02:24They seem to know just how to get where they're going.
02:27But sometimes they can make a mistake and take a wrong turn.
02:32Well, that's what happens to Humphrey in this true story.
02:36It's called Humphrey, the Lost Whale.
02:39Humphrey, the Lost Whale, a true story.
02:53By Wendy Takuda and Richard Hall.
02:57Illustrations by Hanako Wakiyama.
03:00Read by Jane Pauley.
03:10Far out at sea, a part of humpback whales was traveling south for the winter.
03:17Humpback whales are magnificent creatures that sing to each other underwater.
03:23In the whole world, there are very few of them.
03:26So each one is quite special.
03:30Every winter, they travel south.
03:33Every summer, they head north.
03:36And they always know the way.
03:39But even whales can make mistakes.
03:42And one day, a whale named Humphrey made a big one.
03:48He turned away from his friends
03:50and wandered under the Golden Gate Bridge into San Francisco Bay.
03:56Everyone was surprised to see Humphrey in the bay.
04:00He was a spectacular sight, as long as a city bus and as big as seven elephants put together.
04:08When he came up to breathe, people would stop whatever they were doing to watch him.
04:18Then, Humphrey did something no whale had ever done.
04:22Instead of swimming back out to sea, he went the wrong way, up the Sacramento River.
04:31The big river became smaller and smaller as Humphrey traveled upstream.
04:37He was looking for the ocean, but it was clear.
04:43Humphrey was lost.
04:46Hundreds of people came to see Humphrey.
04:50There he is, they shined.
04:52He was an amazing sight.
04:53But something was wrong.
04:58Whales are supposed to live in the salt water of the ocean,
05:01not in the fresh water of rivers.
05:04A whale would die if it stayed in fresh water too long.
05:09Humphrey was in trouble.
05:12The farther Humphrey went, the more worried everyone became.
05:19Then one day, Humphrey squeezed under a tiny bridge.
05:25It was so small, no one could understand how he had done it.
05:31Now he was really trapped.
05:33The river beyond the bridge was very shallow.
05:39Something had to be done to get him out of there.
05:44Humphrey looked sick.
05:46The scientists knew he would die if he didn't get back to the ocean.
05:50Time was running out.
05:54Scientists, Coast Guard officers, and many others
05:57got together to work out a plan to save Humphrey.
06:01They decided to bang long pipes together underwater
06:06and scare him back down the river.
06:10At the same time, they would play a recording
06:12that would broadcast underwater
06:14the sounds of whales eating.
06:19Maybe Humphrey would be so hungry and lonely
06:22he would swim toward the sound.
06:26It worked!
06:28Humphrey turned around
06:30and started swimming back down the river.
06:34Everyone was relieved.
06:36But the danger wasn't over yet.
06:40When Humphrey arrived at the little bridge,
06:43he stopped.
06:45He couldn't find a space big enough to go through.
06:48People kept banging the pipes.
06:53Humphrey became angry.
06:55He rolled from side to side
06:57and thrashed his great tail.
07:00People stopped banging the pipes.
07:02But they didn't give up.
07:05They decided to make the space under the bridge bigger.
07:08They brought in a huge crane
07:11and worked through the night
07:13to clear away some of the old pilings.
07:17The next day,
07:18the people began banging the pipes together again.
07:21The boats moved closer to Humphrey
07:26to urge him on toward the bridge.
07:29This was his last chance.
07:33Everyone watched nervously.
07:34Humphrey bravely approached the bridge.
07:40But as he tried to swim under it,
07:42his head became lodged between the pilings.
07:46He frantically bobbed his head up and down
07:49and thrashed his tail to free himself.
07:52Suddenly,
07:54Humphrey lifted one fin
07:55way out of the water,
07:58almost touching the bridge.
07:59As he twisted his body,
08:03he broke free from the pilings
08:05and swam through to the other side.
08:09There was a shout from the riverbank.
08:12And then another and another
08:14until everyone was cheering.
08:17Hooray for Humphrey, they shouted.
08:19He made it.
08:21Humphrey, the lost whale,
08:23was finally on his way home.
08:26The whole flotilla of boats
08:28and the clanging of pipes
08:30helped Humphrey find his way
08:32down the river.
08:35Finally, Humphrey arrived
08:37at San Francisco Bay.
08:39Humphrey spent one whole day
08:41happily swimming around the bay.
08:44He did tricks for the people
08:46gathered along the shore.
08:48Humphrey seemed to be saying
08:50goodbye and thank you
08:52to all his friends
08:53who had helped save his life.
08:55Finally, in the late afternoon fog,
08:59Humphrey swam under the Golden Gate Bridge
09:02and back out to sea.
09:05Humphrey, the whale,
09:06had made it.
09:14Of course, Humphrey's story
09:16is about a whale.
09:17But it's also about all of the people
09:20who cared enough
09:21to help him find his way home.
09:24The most amazing thing
09:27about Humphrey's story
09:28is that it really happened.
09:30As Humphrey swam up
09:31the Sacramento River,
09:33crowds of people
09:34came from everywhere
09:35to help the experts
09:37turn him around.
09:38They urged him on
09:42as he struggled to swim
09:43between the piling
09:44under the bridge.
09:47There were some tense moments
09:49for everyone
09:50when it seemed that Humphrey
09:52might not make it.
09:54And when he finally succeeded,
09:56everyone cheered.
10:03All the people in the crowd
10:05felt they had a small part
10:06in Humphrey's success
10:08as they watched him
10:09swim to freedom.
10:12And Humphrey
10:13seemed to agree.
10:17You and I might whale watch
10:19for fun and adventure,
10:20but scientists
10:21have different reasons.
10:23For naturalists
10:24like Cindy Belt,
10:25it's a great opportunity
10:26to study whales
10:27in their own environment.
10:32Hi, Cindy.
10:33Hi, Levi.
10:34This is so beautiful out here.
10:35Now, what do we expect
10:37to see out there today?
10:38Hopefully some humpback whales.
10:39Hopefully.
10:40Yeah.
10:41Cindy,
10:42you've got some whales
10:43off the starving vile.
10:46Whoa!
10:47Look at that!
10:49It's a humpback whale.
10:50It's a pretty big one.
10:51It's probably
10:5145 foot long.
10:58If you watch carefully,
10:59probably in a few seconds,
11:00the mouth will come
11:01right through there.
11:02Okay.
11:02Right there.
11:07Whoa!
11:08You can even see
11:09the mouth is open.
11:10That's amazing!
11:12And the baleen
11:12is right there
11:13filtering the water out, too.
11:14That's all the stuff
11:15inside the jaw?
11:15Exactly.
11:16Yeah.
11:17See, instead of having
11:18teeth in their mouth,
11:19they have something
11:20called baleen.
11:21There's this hairy fringe
11:22on the inside.
11:23And this hairy fringe
11:26acts like a big sieve.
11:28So when the water
11:29comes in
11:29and the fish comes in,
11:31the water just
11:32scoots right out
11:33and ends up
11:34in the ocean
11:34and the fish are trapped
11:35right against
11:36that hairy fringe.
11:39And actually,
11:39if you look really closely
11:40and if you listen closely,
11:42too,
11:42you can see
11:43and hear them breathe.
11:45They have two blowholes,
11:46just like we have
11:47two nostrils,
11:48and they open really wide
11:49and then close
11:50right down again
11:50so no water
11:51actually gets into the lungs
11:52or they drown.
11:53Or they drown, right.
11:57A big whooshing sound.
11:59That's when they exhale
12:01and then they have to inhale.
12:02That's when the water
12:03comes up, too, right?
12:04On the exhale?
12:05Well, it's not really water.
12:06It's more like
12:07when we exhale
12:08on a winter day,
12:09you can see your breath.
12:10It's moisture.
12:11It's not really water.
12:12Is that right?
12:13Mm-hmm.
12:16A lot of times
12:17when they go down
12:18on a deeper dive,
12:19they'll bring the tail
12:20up and out into the air.
12:21We call that fluking.
12:23Their tails are called flutes?
12:24That's right.
12:25And on the bottom
12:26of the humpback whale's tail
12:28is a pattern
12:29which is black and white.
12:30And we can actually
12:31tell individuals apart
12:32just like people do
12:33with their fingerprints.
12:34Right.
12:35So you can actually
12:36identify the whales
12:37by the patterns
12:38that are on their flutes?
12:40Mm-hmm.
12:46Look at that!
12:47The animal's laying on its side
12:49taking the flipper
12:50and slamming it on the water.
12:52Now, why does it do that?
12:53It's usually a social signal.
12:55So it could be signaling
12:55to other whales?
12:56Yeah, exactly.
12:57Wow.
12:59Whales are sort of
13:00laying on their belly
13:01when we see them.
13:01We only see their back.
13:02Right.
13:02So if you rolled over,
13:04your hand came up and out
13:05into the air,
13:05you slammed it down.
13:06that's like the arm
13:07of the whale, almost.
13:09Right.
13:09Except we call it a flipper.
13:13Look!
13:14The whale just leaped
13:15completely out into the air.
13:17That's amazing!
13:19We call that breaching.
13:20Usually it's for communication,
13:22but even calves will do it.
13:23Sort of like playing.
13:24Really?
13:25Yeah.
13:25So they're just fooling around
13:26and having a good time out there.
13:27Jumping for joy, almost.
13:28Yeah.
13:29Yeah.
13:29Yeah.
13:29Yeah.
13:29Yeah.
13:29Yeah.
13:29Yeah.
13:30Yeah.
13:30Yeah.
13:30Yeah.
13:31Yeah.
13:31Yeah.
13:31Yeah.
13:32Yeah.
13:32Yeah.
13:33Yeah.
13:33Yeah.
13:34Yeah.
13:35We hope that by watching
13:54and studying whales,
13:55we can help them to survive.
13:57But sometimes,
13:58as in Humphrey's case,
14:00human beings can step in
14:01to take action
14:02to save a whale
14:03that's in trouble.
14:04Well, recently on Cape Cod,
14:06not far from here,
14:08three young pilot whales
14:09found that out
14:10for themselves.
14:13It's December 3rd,
14:15a cold winter afternoon.
14:17Along the 20-mile stretch of beach,
14:19a mysterious event
14:20is taking place.
14:22Dozens of pilot whales
14:23are beaching on the shore.
14:27A team of scientists
14:28and volunteers
14:29rush to the scene
14:30to help,
14:30but this is no easy task.
14:32They struggle desperate
14:38to push the four- and five-ton animals
14:40back into the sea.
14:42If they can get the whales
14:43past the shallows,
14:45they have a chance.
14:46If not,
14:47they will die.
14:50Greg Early
14:51from the New England Aquarium
14:52leads the rescue team.
14:54Beaching is dangerous
14:55to whales.
14:57It's very injurious to them
15:00and fatal
15:01if they're out of the water
15:02long enough.
15:03They're animals
15:04that are meant
15:05to spend their entire life
15:06with their body weight
15:07supported by water.
15:09In water,
15:10they don't weigh a thing.
15:11When they're out of the water,
15:13they weigh a ton,
15:14a ton and a half.
15:15And their body
15:17just isn't equipped
15:18to deal with that weight.
15:19All night long
15:24and into the morning,
15:25Greg and his team
15:26of scientists
15:26and volunteers
15:27fight to save the whales.
15:29But the tide is out now
15:30and most of them
15:31are hopelessly stranded.
15:34Too badly injured
15:35to survive.
15:38By morning,
15:39more than 30 whales
15:40are stranded and dying.
15:43A heartbreaking finish
15:45for everyone.
15:46But the story
15:50doesn't end here.
15:56Three young calves
15:58who've lost their mothers
15:59are badly injured
16:00but have survived
16:01because they're young
16:02and small.
16:05For the first time ever,
16:07baby whales
16:08are carefully transported
16:09back to the New England
16:10Aquarium.
16:10When the whales
16:18first arrived back here,
16:20they really were traumatized.
16:22They were borderline shocky.
16:25They were not
16:26in very good shape.
16:27They didn't respond
16:29to each other.
16:29They didn't respond
16:30to being in the pool.
16:31They didn't respond to us.
16:33We were taking things
16:34literally hour by hour.
16:35It was touch and go
16:36at the beginning.
16:38In order to survive,
16:39the calves must eat
16:40until the rescue
16:41they've been nursing.
16:43Now the staff
16:44teaches them
16:44to eat fish.
16:50Herring becomes
16:51their favorite
16:52and to prevent infection,
16:53the fish are fortified
16:55with vitamins
16:55and antibiotics.
16:58By spring,
17:00the team's work
17:01has paid off
17:01and the calves
17:02are strong again.
17:04They are swimming
17:04and playing together,
17:06herding behaviors
17:07necessary for their survival
17:09in the wild.
17:12Now,
17:12the most difficult phase
17:14of the rescue begins.
17:16A plan is hatched
17:17to return the whales
17:18to the sea.
17:20The team must find
17:21pilot whales
17:22for the calves to join
17:23where their chances
17:23of survival are slim.
17:29Notch, Baby, and Tag
17:31now begin their journey home.
17:33The crew concentrates
17:49on keeping the whales
17:50healthy on the trip.
17:51This is the research vessel,
17:53Albatross 4,
17:54the research vessel.
17:55Zinc oxide prevents
17:56sun and wind burn
17:57and massage keeps muscles
18:01from stiffening.
18:12After 12 hours at sea,
18:14a herd of pilot whales
18:16is spotted.
18:20The plan is to lower
18:21all three
18:22and release them together
18:23into a pin
18:24attached to the side
18:25of the ship.
18:29Notch is first
18:30and immediately
18:32he's in trouble.
18:33The pitch and roll
18:34of the ship
18:35causes the harness
18:36to swing out of control.
18:38He almost slams in
18:40to the side of the ship.
18:41And when he gets
18:47to the pen,
18:48Notch panics.
18:53He's caught in the ropes.
18:55If the crew can't free him,
18:57he'll drown.
19:04Finally, the ropes are cut
19:05and Notch swims off
19:07alone.
19:10A bitter disappointment
19:11Notch has little chance
19:12to survive on his own.
19:15Now the crew works
19:16quickly to release
19:17Baby and Tag together.
19:22Suddenly,
19:23Notch returns
19:24and Baby and Tag
19:27swim to join him.
19:31What a feeling!
19:34Notch, Baby,
19:35and Tag are home.
19:41One of the best ways
19:44for us to help
19:45protect the whales
19:46is to know more
19:47about them.
19:48So,
19:49here are some books
19:50that will help you
19:51to scratch the surface.
19:54But,
19:55you don't have to
19:55take my word for it.
19:58Hi,
19:58I'm Sean Teal.
20:00I like to tell you
20:00about a book
20:01that's going to take you
20:02on a great adventure.
20:04You might even call it
20:05a whale of an adventure.
20:06The name of the book
20:08is Whale Watch.
20:10The kids in the book
20:11go on a whale watch
20:12in the Pacific Ocean.
20:14They get a chance
20:15to watch the whales
20:15breach,
20:16which means to come
20:17straight out of the water.
20:19I think it'd be neat
20:20to be out in a boat
20:21and be right next
20:23to a whale.
20:24I can't wait
20:25to go on my first
20:26whale watch.
20:27If I were a whale,
20:29I'd swim all over the world
20:31and show off
20:32for whale watchers.
20:33But since I'm not,
20:35I'm going to go home
20:35and read my book again.
20:37Why don't you read it, too?
20:39Hi,
20:40my name's Michael Ruffet.
20:42I'd like to tell you
20:43about a new book
20:44called The Life Cycle
20:45of the Whale.
20:46It's filled with
20:47lots of fun facts
20:49about whales.
20:51Did you know
20:51that many great whales
20:52don't have teeth?
20:54Instead of teeth,
20:56these whales
20:57have baleen.
20:59My favorite picture
21:00was of a baby
21:01humpback whale
21:02and its mother.
21:04This is a great book.
21:06I hope you'll enjoy
21:07the pictures
21:08and find the information
21:09interesting.
21:10I did.
21:11Read The Life Cycle
21:13of the Whale.
21:14Hi,
21:15I'm Nicholas Saunders.
21:17Did you know
21:17that humpback whales
21:18can actually sing songs?
21:20Well,
21:21neither did I
21:22until I read this book
21:23called
21:24All About Whales.
21:26The book describes
21:28how a whale
21:28lives and eats.
21:30Did you know
21:31that a humpback whale
21:32eats about
21:33a ton of food a day?
21:36That's enough
21:36to last a human
21:38a whole year.
21:40There are so many
21:41interesting things
21:42about whales
21:42that someday
21:43I hope I can see one.
21:45But in the meantime,
21:46I can read books
21:47about them
21:48and so can you.
21:49One of the most
21:52extraordinary discoveries
21:53about humpback whales
21:55is that
21:55they sing.
21:58During the mating season,
21:59male humpbacks
22:00compose songs
22:01sometimes hours long.
22:03Now,
22:03how and why
22:04they sing
22:05is one of nature's
22:06great mysteries.
22:08But they compose
22:09beautiful,
22:10haunting melodies.
22:12Just listen.
22:13Underwater melodies,
22:39drifting on currents,
22:42rising up
22:43toward the sky.
22:50Well,
22:51singing so mysteriously,
22:53I want to sing along,
22:55but the words
22:56just pass me by.
22:58Sail away,
23:06sail the sea.
23:11With the whales
23:13is where I want to be.
23:18Dances of the deep dark sea,
23:22dancing with the waves,
23:24flying oh so high.
23:26In ocean choreography,
23:35I want to dance with you,
23:37but I feel a little shy.
23:44And I sail away,
23:48sail the sea.
23:52With the whales
23:55is where I want to be.
23:58And I sail away,
24:00sail the sea.
24:06With the whales
24:08is where I want to be.
24:13Sail away,
24:15I'm sailing free.
24:18With the whales
24:21with the whales
24:22is where I want to be.
24:25Many years ago,
24:39there were hundreds of thousands
24:41of whales in our oceans.
24:43Today,
24:43they're almost gone.
24:45Why?
24:47Well,
24:47mostly because of hunting
24:48and pollution.
24:50Now,
24:50hunting has been outlawed,
24:52but we still pollute our oceans.
24:55Take this stuff for example.
24:57Plastic bottles
24:58and wrappers thrown into the water
25:00are deadly
25:01to the sea life that lives there.
25:04When you finish your beach picnic,
25:05please,
25:07lean it up.
25:09That's one way
25:10we can be sure
25:11that years from now,
25:13your children
25:14will be able to enjoy
25:15the thrill
25:16of watching whales
25:17and maybe even
25:19hear
25:19the humpback sing.
25:23I'll see you next time.
25:24more than that.
25:25I'll see you next time.
25:32I'll see you next time.