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Absolutely!!! First of all those eyes speak
volumes.. your words are wonderful and it
provides a really good place to talk about
what aquariums and zoos are like for animals.
Gini is very involved with her local zoo
and is alway asking that question too.
This photo grabbed my heart.. no question
it should be in Voices.
I keep thinking about your son looking at
the pictures there and it feels good. Does it
to him?
Posted 35 months ago.
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Oh yes. We allow him 30 minutes a day at the
computer and Flickr is one of his favorite
activities. We look through Voices, Marine Mammals, Marine Biology and a handful of other animal centered pools
every other day or so.
The pictures often lead us on journeys
across the web, his encyclopedias and my
marine biology books to explore the animals
we see in more detail (at his insisence!).
Flickr is for us a part of our classroom. A
very enjoyable classroom for our whole
family.
Right now he is organizing his collection
of toy animals by habitat and continent,
putting the ones he knows are endangered at
the front of each grouping to highlight them.
Thanks you for your advice and wonderful
comment.
Posted 35 months ago.
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What a shot! Nothing can describe the feeling
of looking into a whale's eye and this shot
captures that. This is beautiful! This would
be great in the rare wildlife pool as well.
I've heard how poluted these animals can
become in some areas. Of 6 of the Canadian
beluga populations 2 are endangered, 2
threatened, and 2 of special concern. Do you
know which population this animal was
abducted from?
Posted 35 months ago.
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JTC -
Thank you. So far in my life I have only
encountered a whale at aquariums. Inuk is an
amazing creature, and I have been fortunate
to spend quite a bit of time there. He has
touched my son's life deeply as well.
Johann had just turned three when he first
looked into those eyes, on a very quiet day
at the aquarium. That moment was magic for
him, and whenever it is quiet he will sit
there with Inuk, Kela and (arggh can't
remember the other female's name) for a long
time just watching, talking to them and
occaisionally looking them eye to eye.
Not sure where Inuk came from originally,
but I can try and find out from the staff at
the aquarium. I have heard that some of the
Canadian populations were under extreme
pressure from both pollution and trying to
recover from years of hostility by both the
commercial fishing and government.
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Wonderful to gaze at, and I have appreciated
the dialogue here too ;)
It is a loving thing you do for your son,
introducing him to natures wonders early in
his life~
Posted 35 months ago.
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This photo is very very touching... to be
gazed at with curiosity by an animal is such
an honor. I put up some more marine mammal
gazes to keep him company.
In the early 70's the efforts to protect
whales had just begun. I was teaching nursery
school and my son and his classmates
propelled me into what has become my lifes
work. Little kids at that time were hit hard
by the pleas for awareness and protections...
whales were like superheros to them gentle
giants... I still believe a lot of the energy
behind the first wave marine mammal
protection came from kids!
There was a whale symposium in Bloomington
Indiana (of all places) in 1973 and I went.
The tiny research groups on the east and west
coasts met for the first time .... nobody
knew what a live healthy whale looked like in
those pre-Cousteau days (only those that had
beached or were on flensing decks).
There were scientists, musicians, artists,
teachers at the symposium and many people
were working on whale curriculum as a way to
use whales as ambassadors from the sea. I
brought one home (a curriculum not a
whale)and took it around to various schools
in Vermont.
Here is the point.... on one of the school
trips, we went to visit Mystic and my son and
I spent hours with the Belugas that were
there at that time (don't know if any are
still alive). Sitting quietly in the dark
together sharing curiosities with those
lovely whales was part of what started me
down this path. Who knows what path they will
start you down?
My son has gone in another direction (more
people oriented) but still carries those
experiences in his heart.
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Would your son be willing to have a
photograph of his animal collections on
Voices?
Posted 35 months ago.
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An absolutely gorgeous close-up, and
wonderful information to go with it =)
Posted 35 months ago.
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Super beautiful photo. Beluga whales are my
daughter's favorite animal.
Posted 35 months ago.
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wow!...amazing photo! very mesmerising!
Posted 35 months ago.
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great shot!
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Thank you everyone for your comments.
Sparky, JTC & Yeimaya : Thank you
especially for your warming response.
It seems I am following a similar path to
you Yeimaya, for some time as a youth I
thought I would become a marine biologist and
dreamed even of somehow getting to Woods Hole
or Scripps. I have long counted Dr. Eugenie
Clark, Dr. Earle and Dr. Ballard as my heroes
following their careers and discoveries.
Unfortunately I took many detours, but find
myself once more on that path as I am
returning to school this fall to (finally)
get my degree in marine biology, and
hopefully pursue a masters degree as well. My
wife and son, Inuk and his companions at the
Aquarium, and the wildlife around here are
all inspirations for this return to school
and my original path.
Johann has declared for the past two years
that he wants to work with animals as a
scientist and researcher when he grows up.
Primarily now he wants to help understand
them and protect them. One of his animal
encyclopedias has a page after each Class
that lists the animals from that class that
are critically endangered, or extinct in the
wild. Johann's comment is always that
"there are too many endangered." Of
course then comes the hard to answer
question: "How can we protet them?"
As of now he wants to go to school for
Marine Biology, Biology, Zoology and Paleantology.
Posted 35 months ago.
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How old is your son? My son is 6 and is also
very interested in protecting animals. He
would like to be active in wildlife rehab
now. I tell him that if he is still
interested when he is old enough we will go
get certified together. I used to do
wildlife rehab a long time ago. He wants to
be a scientist (any science), paleantologist,
zoologist, diver, martial artist (tae kwon do
master with his own school), wildlife
rehaber, inventor, potion maker, actor and
doctor. I just keep telling him he will be
very busy.
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Oh, I should add that my almost 3 year old
daughter tells me she wants to be a monkey
when she grows up. Ha!
Posted 35 months ago.
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Gini - Lol!
Tell your daughter that it only take a bit
of imagination! My whole family often plays
"monkey" along with chimpansee,
lemur, and a whole whost of other primates
regularly. Never in my wildest dreams before
Johann was born (5yrs ago) did I imagine I
would be regularly acting like a monkey.
Posted 35 months ago.
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Such a lovely photo of such a beautiful,
intelligent creature.
Posted 35 months ago.
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gorgeous!
Posted 35 months ago.
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Wonderful photo, and a beautiful bunch of
comments.
Posted 35 months ago.
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And hello back at ya!
Posted 35 months ago.
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Fantastic photo.
Posted 35 months ago.
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A lovely close up - nice image - FAV
Posted 35 months ago.
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The framing's perfect!
Posted 35 months ago.
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Es una foto preciosa!me encanta!:-D
Posted 35 months ago.
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Lovely shot and lovely stories.
Posted 34 months ago.
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Hello, Inuk!
Call me Ishmael.
Posted 34 months ago.
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The eyes say to me, "So long and thanks
for all the fish."
Posted 34 months ago.
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Thank you all!
Yes Inuk is a very intelligent creature,
I'll have to tell about his halloween
performance sometime.
jkoshi - I'm glad he's communicating to you
through this photo! To me he's saying
"Hello, wanna play?"
Posted 34 months ago.
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Absolutely up close & personal!Excellent
shot!
Posted 34 months ago.
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lovely beluga..=)
my fav..
Posted 34 months ago.
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taht is such a great image!
Posted 34 months ago.
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this is really interesting......
Posted 34 months ago.
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He's such a marvelous creature. You've
captured him well.
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wonderful how you catch this picture;-)
Posted 34 months ago.
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He looks so incredibly friendly. And I love
that ear!
Posted 34 months ago.
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Belugas are stunning. Have you seen 'life in
the freezer' David Attenborough - the Belugas
star!!
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Thank you all! Your comments and fav'ing mean
alot to me.
He is wonderfully friendly. They have a
contact program at the aquarium, Inuk - like
many beluga - like to have his tongue patted.
Extremely intelligent too. He also has a
sense of humor and a mischievious side! A
real character.
Nuts In May - No, haven't seen Life in the
Freezer, but my family loves the Attenborough
series, eventually we will have to buy ll his
series of shows on DVD. Thanks for giving me
a heads up on that one.
Posted 34 months ago.
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wonderful
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What a beautiful photo of a wonderful mammal!
Posted 34 months ago.
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I want one! ;)
Posted 34 months ago.
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@ellectric,
Got 50,000 gallons of water? :)
Posted 34 months ago.
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Thanks all!
Ellectric -
Also needs to be cooled to the low to mid
50's, saline and properly filtered! You
should see the "behind the scenes"
filtering and maintenance requirements for
Inuk's facility. Amazing amount of work (and
cost!) I was going to volunteer to clean the
tank but I don't know if I can handle that
cold!
Volunteering for Seal rescue work instead.
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Congratulations!
Please add this photo to the
PORTFOLIO
In The Style Of National Geographic.
Please don’t forget to remove it from
SELECTION
Thanks for your marvelous collaboration!
Posted 33 months ago.
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I love this picture; it reminds me why I like
Flickr so much. If you hadn't posted this
here I may not ever have the opportunity to
see a great animal like this. He/she even
posed for you. Nice photo. Thank you for
posting & sharing.
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He smiled for you! Wow.
Posted 33 months ago.
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Oh wow, this is beautiful!
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I should probably read the auction bidding
rules - this photo is amazing of an amazing
creature.
$10 to start the bidding for the Katrina
Relief Auction!
Posted 33 months ago.
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Thank you everyone!
A print of this image is being auctioned
off to raise funds for the Red Cross towards
hurricane Katrina relief. If you are
interested in bidding on the image (high bid
will be paid to the Red Cross) Please visit
the Katrina Relief Auction topic for this image
Posted 33 months ago.
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WONDERLAND!
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Hi eclectic,
Sorry to do this here, but I'm new to
Flickr and don't have it all set up yet.
I've been away, and the auction thread for
Inuk seems to have been taken down now. Did
I post the winning bid? If so, I think the
next thing is for you to let Flickr know
that, and for me to post a cheque to
IRC...yes?
Thanks,
Witling
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eO' [deleted] says:
:))
Posted 32 months ago.
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This is an amazing shot. I also love the
dialogue in the comments.
When I was growing up, I always wanted to
be a marine mammal biologist. Unfortunately,
I went in a completely different direction in
school. But it's great to hear that your son
is learning about and appreciating animals at
such an early age.
Posted 31 months ago.
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K8tie* [deleted] says:
I'm inlove.. =)
Posted 31 months ago.
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love it
Posted 27 months ago.
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You are invited to post this image to
"Spectacular Nature, invite only
www.flickr.com/groups/spectacular_nature/
Time for this wonderful wise face to bubble
back up from your photostream.
Posted 27 months ago.
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really rare & amazing whale portrait!
Posted 27 months ago.
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i love Belugas!
Posted 27 months ago.
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I love it :) So distinctively cetacean even
on the thumbnail image on the 'Spectacular
Nature' pool page
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BRAVO !
This shot is invited to join the pool. The Best:BRAVO
Posted 26 months ago.
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Wonderful shot. Except for the eye, it looks
like ripples in a glass of milk!
Posted 26 months ago.
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Amazing close up.
Posted 26 months ago.
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Thank you everyone.
If you enjoy this image of a magnificent
Beluga originally from the waters of Alaska,
perhaps you would be so kind as to help
protect the now critically endangered
population of Cook's Inlet. This distinct
Beluga population has declined by over 70% in
the past 20 years and now stands at under 225
adults, qualifying it, unfortunately, as IUCN
Critically Endangered. Now the NMFS is
reviewing their status. Currently they are
not listed in the US under the endangered
species act.
Help Inuk's relatives and let the NMFS that
you care about this mazing Marine Mammal.
Please email them at:
CIB-ESA-Status-Review@noaa.gov
include in the subject line: "CI
Beluga Status Review"
Thank You.
Posted 24 months ago.
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Eric it is time for Inuk to be the icon for
Voices. It is such a beautiful face, so
searching and intelligent.
Could we trade.... I would love to have his
image looking over me at my desk, keeping me
honest.
Is there one you would like of mine. Is
there a way to emailing the images and
printing them ourselves. Stu has a huge
printer and some amazing paper.
Oh and what is the Halloween story about
Inuk?
Posted 24 months ago.
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Gale, I am honored to have Inuk as the Icon
for Voices.
I will find the master file nd send you an
Email.
No trade necessary but I can think of a few
of yours that I would be proud to have in my
office.
Oh, the Halloween story.....
For their halloween night (which is
attended mostly by Aquarium Members) they
come up with new shows. While we were there
a few days before during school hours, the
trainers were taking advantage of the lull
to do some training with Inuk for the show.
The idea was to have him pull and interact
with an inflatable dingy with a trainer in
it. The trainer was going to be dresses as
Captin Kidd I believe.
As we were watching at the side of the
pool, they lowered in the dingy and Inuk was
ok with it. The two females were getting one
on one training in a connected but separate
area. The trainer got in and Inuk got
interested in the dingy. He nosed it around a
bit, pushing it to one side. Then he decided
to taste the dingy...
Ooops. While not very sharp, Beluga have
strong conical teeth and very strong jaws. It
popped the disngy which started sinking
pretty quick. The trainer pddled as best as
possible to the nearest shore, which turned
out to be right were we were standing. She
grabbed hold of my arm right as the dingy
went completely flat.
Inuk came up to her while Tammy and I were
holding her arms and gave here a friendly
kiss...maybe guilty sorry? Then headed back
to the main area of the pool. We hauled the
trainer over the fence and she and Johann
talked for a minute before she headed off. It
was great of her to stop and talk to Johann.
Leetting him know it was the first time the
dingy had been in Inuks pool, he was curious
etc...
Johann thought the best part was when Inuk
came to "apologize". He is a
character with a unique personality.
Posted 24 months ago.
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 A Big Fave
Please add this to www.flickr.com/groups/bigfave
Posted 20 months ago.
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So dear Eric and Johann and Tammy when will
you show your lovely spirits again???
Posted 20 months ago.
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Amazing shot!
Unique and beautiful.
Posted 16 months ago.
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Lovely inuk... Lovely shot.
Posted 16 months ago.
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