"Sir?" "Could you please show me where the Mimi is docked?" "Yeah." "Right on down the dock, down there, son." "" " Okay?" "" " Thank you." "Grandpa?" "Grandpa?" "Grandpa?" "Grandpa?" "We're going to the Mimi." "You ain't gonna find 'im" "Who?" "Granny" "You mean Captain Granville?" "Yep" "Went to town." "Said to tell you when you got here." "You ARE the scientists, Right?" "Yes." "Chartered the Mimi, Right?" "Yes" "Gonna look for whales, right?" "Right!" "You'll find plenty o' whales" "That's good!" "But you ain't gonna find HIM." "at least, not 'til later." "Said he'd be back in about a half an hour." "Uh huh." "Said not to load up 'til he got there." "Okay, well tell Granny we said thanks." "Don't guess I will." "Why not?" "He's not "Granny" at least, not to his face." "and you best not call him that." "Oh." "Thanks." "We'll remember that." "See ya 'round!" "Man, am I glad to get out o' that lab." "I really miss this." "" " We miss this..." "Ann, I miss the whales." "Okay, well, I'll park the truck." "Okay" "Mother!" "I get up at 5 A.M. to drive you 300 miles." "and all your father has to do is to have his secretary call the bank, and he manages to bungle even that." "For God's sake, mother, you've complained enough about Daddy," "Can't you just cool it long enough for me to get out of here?" "Don't you tell me to "cool it", young lady." "I won't have a child of mine using that tone of voice with me." "Good-bye, Mother!" "Don't forget to write from Rockland." "Hey!" "Rachel!" "Mr. Rojas!" "Hey, Rachel What are you doing over here?" "You got the wrong boat!" "I know." "This is the "Mary Conrad."" "We sailed against her a couple o' summers ago." "Dad and I?" "We beat 'er, too." "Wait 'til you meet the Mimi!" "Rachel Fairbanks, this is Ann Abrams." "our chief oceanographer." "Our ONLY oceanographer." "Well, she's the boss." "and this is Sally-Ruth Cochran." "our senior research assistant." "Nice to meet you." "and this is the Mimi !" "This thing?" "Well, it floats...." "Can it move?" "Well, she's not exactly an ocean racer.... but what character !" "It was built for work, not speed." "Right." "( Is she deaf?" ")" "Yes I am, but I can read lips." "How's the trip, Rachel?" "Pretty good !" "I hitch-hiked" "You're kidding !" "No, from Connecticut." "Took me all night." "You must be beat !" "No, I'm okay." "So, are we the whole crew, Mr. Rojas?" "You can drop the "Mr." We're not in school now, Rachel." "Besides, he's "Dr. Rojas" now." "Marine biologist..." "Ph.D......." "" " Yeah?" "Congratulations !" "" " Thanks" "Hi, Captain Granville !" "You people seen a young boy around here?" "" " No !" "" " No !" "He must 'a taken the wrong bus out o' Boston." "... my grandson... well, what does he look like?" "I dunno." "haven't seen 'im for eight years." "Get your gear on board." "I hope he'll show up on the next bus." "you C. T. Granville?" "Yes, sir." "you always put people out o' sorts?" "No, sir." "Well, you put me out o' sorts." "I was all over that bus station." "The driver let me out here." "I told him about your boat." ".. liked your card..." "It's a nice-looking calf." "Yeah, she's full grown, now." "How 'r things at home?" "Ma's okay." "but she still has to stay in bed for 2 months." "'til she has the baby." "Yeah, I know." "That's why you're here." "At least you'll be out o' HER hair." "Let's go." "Yes, sir." "Hi !" "You found your grandson !" "" " C. T. Granville " " Hi" "Hi" "He'll be sailing with us." "Give the lady a hand, son." "Uh, Captain Granville, is there gonna be room?" "We could squeeze him into the fo'c's'le [forecastle]." "That's what I was figuring." "Well, okay." "Let's get to work." "Galley" "Ms. Abrams here." "Looks good !" "My cabin, here." "Hey!" "First Class !" "Shower" "My darkroom!" "I like it." "and the rest of you in here..." "Women on the starboard side." "Men on the port." "Let's get the gear stowed." "Write what's in each can on the top." "But they got labels." "They get wet, they won't have labels." "You won't know your canned peas from your fruit cocktail." "The darkroom is all set." "Already?" "Yeah." "How come she uses sign language when she can talk?" "So we can ALL learn how to sign." "Well, who's this Arthur guy, anyway?" "Arthur Spencer." "Ann picked him." "He goes to high school in the Bronx." "and he's into computers." "Pass me some books." "Well, I thought I was the only student coming." "the only one from MY class." "So when's this Arthur guy supposed to get here, anyway?" "About an hour ago !" "Oh, Miss, would you hand me that hammer on the deck, there?" "Miss?" "You're gonna have to "hop to" a lot better than that if you're gonna stay on this boat." "It doesn't help to shout." "I'm deaf." "You're what?" "Deaf." "Ms. Abrams, you told me you'd hired an experienced crew." "and then you go and bring a deaf-mute." "She's not mute !" "Captain Granville," "Sally Ruth practically grew up on a boat." "What does her being deaf have to do with it?" "I'll show you what." "Sally Ruth!" "Watch out for that boom!" "That's what." "There are other ways to get 'er attention." "She feels the vibrations." "Bye." "Now you're sure you don't want us to take you to the ship?" "It's only a BOAT, Mom." "Besides, I'm already late." "Good luck, son !" "Hey, Artie!" "You forgot your radio !" "You really gonna look for whales?" "That's what we're all about!" "Humpback whales !" ".. you gonna hunt them?" "No, way!" "They're already being hunted." "almost to extinction." "We're gonna study them !" "I never seen a whale, never even seen the ocean 'til today." "Wait 'til you set eyes on your first whale!" "I'll be right back!" "Arthur !" "Hey!" "Turn that down !" "" " How ya been?" "" " Fine, fine" "Hey, sorry I'm late, doctor." "We got a flat tire on the turnpike." "" " This our boat?" "" " Yep." "Great." "Arthur, I don't know if this boat's gonna be the BEST PLACE for you to play your box." "Our captain's kind o' touchy." "Ah, that's cool." "I've got headphones." "I'm wired for silence." " and, Ramon Rojas." "" " Hi, Arthur, you can store your gear in the fo'c's'le." "Huh?" "You crash in there." "The fo'c's'le's the forward cabin." "All the way up front !" "The kid's name is C. T." "Yo!" "Arthur Spencer!" "Hi, I'm C. T. Granville" "Guess we're roommates, huh?" "Uh, that's Ramon's bunk." "We sleep here." ""We" ?" "... okay ..." "Some boat." "Who's the driver?" "You're the late one." "Yeah..." "What's that?" "Briefcase." "Stow it!" "Okay!" "All hands on deck!" "Stand by to cast off!" "That's my grandfather." "That dude is a grandfather?" "He's also the driver." "Stand by the bow line." "Cast it off." "Get it aboard." "What's that for, Grandpa?" "They wanted a way to get things up to the cross-trees." "Will we see whales today?" "You'll have to ask Dr. Abrams that." "Is that Ann?" "She said I could call her that." "Interior decorator, Ramon?" "I thought it wouldn't hurt to see what we're looking for." "That's nice !" "Okay, all hands on deck!" "All hands on deck!" "Let's get these sails up.." "get underway." "You and Rebecca get the staysail halyard." "It's Rachel !" "Staysail?" "Halyard?" "Come on." "Where do you want us, captain?" "You and Ms. Abrams get the stops off the mizzen." "take it right up." "" " Ready?" "" " Yeah" "There it goes !" "No, Arthur, Arthur!" "That's wrong !" "It's this one !" "Let's go on that Staysail !" "Grandpa, can I help?" "Just stay out o' the way !" "Raquel!" "Get that lacing line off the main !" "It's RACHEL !" "....geez..." "Cleat it, Arthur." ""Cleat it" ?" "Belay that line!" "On the double, Arthur!" "Let's move !" "Rachel!" "It's Ra' ... ..." "Stand by forward of the main mast." "Keep an eye on those parrel beads." "Make sure they don't get fouled." "Okay!" "Take 'er up!" "More on the peak!" "Okay, slay that peak tight!" "" " Are you okay?" "" " Yeah" "Oh !" "For crying out loud !" "Don't just stand there !" "Get that staysail back up !" "And this time, Rachel, belay that halyard right !" "Well, I didn't ..." "I'm sorry, Rachel." "It's okay." "You have to learn sometime." "Good work, you guys !" "Yeah, great..." "It only took us an hour to get five lousy sails up." "Amen !" "So what happens next?" "Lunch !" "What 're you gonna put on all these ?" "Peanut butter" "Holy chickens!" "That's all peanut butter?" "That's it." "Now do it fast." "So your parents have their own boat?" "They don't have anything." "They're separated." "My father has an ocean racer." "I crew for him." "Like this one?" "Are you kidding?" "Arthur, a racing sloop is like a Ferrari." "This thing...." "is a truck." "" " Here comes lunch!" "" " Hey, lunch !" "I'm starved !" "" " How can you go to college?" "" " It's a college for the deaf." "" " Everybody there is deaf?" "" " Just about...." "" " What's so funny?" " What's so funny?" "It's hard to read lips through peanut butter." "Can you read that?" "" " Should I sign?" " Oh no, I can read lips." "" " Okay" "All right." "In the next month, we'll gather information in this area, about humpback whales, and about the ocean." "Now, we'll study the whales' behavior, we'll count them, identify them, and we'll measure the ocean temperatures, and we'll study the bottom profile." "That's all?" "Today, with any luck, you'll see your first whales." "The humpbacks are returning from the winter mating grounds in the Caribbean." "and they've eaten nothing for almost 4 months." "They're running on "empty." Hungry!" "They concentrate where the food is, up here in the shallow areas called "banks."" "We'll be spending most of our time on George's Bank." "but today, we'll be here, on Stellwagon Bank." "and we should see whales." "and soon !" "You're right." "We're getting close." "Be careful up there !" "Now, the way you recognize a humpback whale is by these long white flippers, the bumpy head + chin, the small dorsal fin, and the black + white pattern on the underside, or the ventral side, of the flukes." "Now these "fluke patterns" are key." "If we couldn't identify individual whales, we couldn't learn about where they go, or how fast they travel, or about mating behavior, or anything but we're lucky with the humpbacks." "Their fluke patterns are as good as fingerprints." "...different for every whale." "You really mean we can tell one whale from another?" "Sure !" "You'll probably learn to recognize a few by sight." "When we get good photographs of the flukes, we compare them to the ones in this book." "It's like a catalog of humpbacks." "So they each have an I.D. number?" "Yep, and some of them have been given names, like, for example..... 0036 is known as "salt."" "Sally Ruth says there's whales!" "2 miles ahead!" "Wait a sec!" "They're still 2 miles off." "'n WE have a few more things to discuss." "On the other hand, we could do it up on deck." "" " Where are they, C. T. ?" "" " I dunno." "Rachel, where are they?" "I don't know!" "I can't see 'em." "Okay." "You all know your jobs?" "You and I concentrate on behaviors." "If there's more than one whale, and they're not together.." "you take the stern and the port, and I take the starboard and the back." "Right !" "Good !" "I record all observations and time as you call them out." "Right." "Now, Ramon's gonna be taking pictures from the deck." "and Sally Ruth from the mast head." "They'll be calling out to you, too." "" " What if I get behind?" "" " We'll throw you overboard !" "Look." "It's easy to get distracted once we're around whales," "They're exciting and fun." "And we can forget that we're here to make scientific observations." "Look!" "I see one!" "Over there!" "Right, C.T. That's a "blow." Did you see it, Arthur?" "About 300 yards off the port bow." " It's gone !" "Where'd it go?" " It dove, C. T." "" " How long can it stay under?" " 5, 10 minutes." "Even more, sometimes." "" " Unbelievable!" "" " Oh, look, again!" "Wow!" "Okay, those were "breeches." We have 2 apparently adult animals." "And they breeched first at.... 15:23" "Breeching!" "Off the starboard bow!" "Ann!" "Why do they do that?" "We don't know for sure, but we've seen them do it 50 times or more in one bout." "" " Oh, man, will you look at that one!" "" " Did you see that?" "Breeching, over there!" "" " Holy smokes !" "" " Double breeching !" "Off the starboard leads.." ""lob-tailing" over there !" "Hey, Grandpa!" "Look at that one !" "" " Arthur!" "12-2, range 27 !" "" " Got it !" "" " Ann, what's that called?" "" " Lob-tailing." "Mark that down, Arthur." "Listen to the noise they make with their flukes." "We don't know why they do that, either." "Are they mad at us?" "It's possible, but we've seen them do that from a long way off... so it isn't necessarily because of us." "Boy, look how close they are." "There 'e goes !" "That's tail-slashing, Arthur." "Rounding out !" "There's another one !" "Rounding out !" "Arthur..." "Roll 3, frame 14." "Got it !" "" " Do you recognize that one?" "" " I think so." "We'll know for sure when the film's developed." "Ramon?" "Hey, Sally Ruth developed the pictures already." "I DID recognize it." "Fantastic !" "Why don't we see if they can find it in the book." "Oh, good idea !" "This is a clear shot, you guys!" "You can use some practice in matching fluke patterns." "First one to match this fluke with the right one in the catalog gets...uh... gets out of doing the dishes for a week?" "" " It's a deal !" "" " A week?" "" " A week?" "" " C.T. Move your elbow " " It's not me!" "" " C'mon, Rachel!" "Don't hog the book !" "" " I'm not hogging the book." "Hey, maybe it's this one, number 1892." "" " No, it's not!" "Now look at it!" "That's not it." "" " Look how dark it is !" "Oh, look, look!" "How 'bout that?" "It's no good." "Nice try though, but no cigar?" "" " No, that's not it." "" " These are much too hard." "" " No, I think we should go further back." " starting at the beginning." "Look, wait!" "Which one's that?" "" " Okay, this is really hard." "" " We'll never find it." "There are a thousand of these things." "This is impossible!" "" " They all look alike." "Uh-uh, they don't." "" " Hey, look at this!" "" " Naw, this is a waste of time." "" " Wait a minute!" "No, it isn't!" "It's #0159!" "Look!" "" " Yeah, okay!" "What's that?" "It's a program we're working on to help us identify flukes." "See, we divide the flukes into 14 sectors." "and then we tell the computer the coloring, which means whether it's black or white, and any markings on each sector." "We choose from this list." "These are all the coloring and marking possibilities." "So the computer already has this information for each fluke in the catalog?" "Right." "And it just quickly compares the black + white patterns, and the markings from all the sectors, and then it gives us a list of the most likely choices." "We still have to make the final choice by eye." "Now, here's the computer's list for the same whale you've been trying to identify." "It is?" "Look!" "I told you!" "Number 0159 is in there !" "Yeah, he's right." "French is 0159." "Yeah, that was French." "She's an old friend." "We've seen her 3 years in a row." "" " I don't believe it." "" " Yahoo!" "No dishes for a week." "Get out of here, you lucky little creep." "" " Yeah, I can't wait 'til tomorrow." "" " Think we'll see whales again?" "" " You never know...."