Instructify

April 13, 2009

Quick whale facts: go! Whales are a member of the Cetacea order of animals. Narwhals are the magical unicorn ones. Whales eat a variety of stuff, including marine life, plankton and wooden puppets who wish to become real boys. In a strange way, whale song audio tracks are good for both relaxation and for haunted house soundtracks. Blue whales are the big ones.

Okay, so maybe not all of those facts are true. Some might only have just a loose cultural reference, but that’s still enough to fake people into thinking you know what you’re talking about. Meanwhile, you’ve successfully made a hasty escape. Yet out of all my questionable facts, there’s no denying the one about blue whales. Accounting for weight and volume it is the largest known living animal. Need some proof? Check out this life size blue whale from the Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society.

With one giant visual that you can navigate by a smaller inset image, this is a rather creative way to demonstrate the actual dimensions as they compare to your computer screen size. Even the coolest monitor seems a bit dwarfed. Without sounding too 1997 cheesy, the internet is a window for looking out at the world — no, wait, that is too cheesy.

The WDCS wants to get the message out about the endangered status of the blue whale, with the distinct message that this might be the last life-size blue whale you see. Right there’s a nice tie-in for ecology/environmental science lessons. Moby Dick was a different species of whale, so maybe this is slightly less ideal for your Herman Melville lesson. Maybe in a technology lesson you could use it to illustrate how images appear on different monitor aspect ratios? I’m starting to grasp at straws now. If you can think of other ways to use this giant whale then share it in the comments below! –NICK YINGLING

WDCS – Life size blue whale

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