Did You Know??

Did you know...?
1. that the Atlantic population of gray whale went extinct in late 17th Century.
2. Gray whales migrate farther than any other known animal, about 12,000 miles every year.
3. The blue whale's tail can generate 500 horsepower.
4. The population of blue whales is dangerously low with only an estimated 1300 to 2000 left.
5. Whales and dolphins sleep by shutting down half their brain so it can rest, while the other part is fully active and aware of their surroundings.
6. The early people of Korea were hunting whales as far back as 5000 BC.
7. Whalers in Norway started whaling 4,000 years ago.
8. The invention of the exploding head harpoon was invented in 1856.
9. The earliest type of whaling, called drift whaling, consisted of harvesting whales that had washed up on the shore, mainly after storms.
10. In 1932, the first attempts to regulate/restrict whaling.
11. The IWC(International Whaling Commission) began their efforts in the 1960's to limit the number and species of whales that could be hunted.
12. The Indian Ocean, the oceanic waters off Mexico, a number of South Pacific island nations and territories, and Antarctica have been declared whale sanctuaries.
13. In 2006, after more nations favoring commercial whaling joined the IWC, it narrowly voted to support the eventual return of commercial whaling. =[
To end on a more interesting/upbeat note,
14. A blue whale's tongue weighs more than a whole elephant, and is large enough for fifty people to stand on it.