Review:  “Humpback Whales” at the Science Museum’s Omni Theater

It turns out that a “Nantucket sleighride” has nothing to with Christmas, snow, or even winter.

It’s what 19th century whalers called what happened immediately after they harpooned a whale — as in, they “got taken on a Nantucket sleighride” (grim but true).

humpback2The term also describes what can happen to 21st century Good Samaritans — marine biologists who attach buoys and other tracking devices to the flotsam that whales now regularly become entangled in and trail through the ocean (the would-be rescuers’ goal:  not to lose track of the stressed animal before they can get close enough to cut it loose).

Fortunately, the latter scenario often has a much happier ending:  the rescuers succeed, and the exhausted but relieved whale promptly vamooses (I believe that’s the scientific term).

I got all that from MacGillivray Freeman’s terrific documentary, “Humpback Whales,” now playing at The Science of Museum of Minnesota.

“Bubble Net Feeding”

The other term I learned from the movie was “bubble net feeding.”

It refers to the ingenious strategy that groups of whales use to hunt krill and other small crustaceans, whereby one whale blows bubbles (yes, bubbles) to corral the prey while the others emit sonic blasts to scare them towards the surface.

Such educational tidbits aside, the gorgeous footage of humpback whales breaching, singing, and feeding is easily worth the ($8) price of admission.

About the author

Ross Kaplan has 19+ years experience selling real estate all over the Twin Cities. He is also a 12-time consecutive "Super Real Estate Agent," as determined by Mpls. - St. Paul Magazine and Twin Cities Business Magazine. Prior to becoming a Realtor, Ross was an attorney (corporate law), CPA, and entrepreneur. He holds an economics degree from Stanford.

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