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In the book Life After Whale, what do blue whales eat?
Blue whales eat krill (and plankton & other tiny crustaceans)
In the book Life After Whale, what is an ocean current?
An ocean current is a continuous flow of water in the ocean; they’re like underwater rivers or big streams that continuously flow through the ocean carrying warm or cold water, tiny plants, and animals.
In the book Life After Whale, why doesn’t the 90-year-old blue whale travel to the feeding waters in the north?
Her heart is too weak; she's dying.
In the book Life After Whale, what are some examples of the scavengers that come to feed on the floating whale carcass?
sharks, fish, seabirds
In the book Life After Whale, what is Marine snow?
Marine snow is the microscopic bits of dead animals and plants and miniscule skeletons of diatoms that collect over time on the seafloor.
In the book Life After Whale, what is krill?
Krill is a small crustacean with an appearance similar to shrimp. They are found in colder ocean waters and grow up to about 6cm in length.
In the book Life After Whale, where does the 81-foot-long blue whale live?
She lives in the Pacific Ocean.
In the book Life After Whale, what is a whale fall?
A whale fall is when a dead whale's decomposing body becomes a lively ecosystem for a variety of sea creatures. The carcass eventually sinks to the bottom of the ocean and continues to support a unique ecosystem for many years.
In the book Life After Whale, why is the ocean water temperature warmer towards the surface and colder towards the bottom?
The sunlight can only reach the bright blue layer. No or limited sunlight equals darker waters and colder temperatures.
In the book Life After Whale, what are diatoms?
Diatoms are tiny algae that live in the sea.
In the book Life After Whale, how does their baleen help a blue whale eat?
It's like a filter attached to a whale's lower jaw and it lets the water flow through while capturing tiny crustaceans.
In the book Life After Whale, why does the author compare layers of wax in the blue whale's ear canal to rings in a tree trunk?
The rings in a tree trunk tell the age of a tree, and the layers of wax reveal the age of a whale.
In the book Life After Whale, what is an ecosystem?
An ecosystem is made up of all the living (plants, animals, microbes, etc.) and non-living things (soil, water, sunlight, air, temperature, etc.) in an area that depend on each other to survive.
In the book Life After Whale, what is bioluminescence?
Bioluminescence are the sparkles of light created within the bodies of creatures when chemical reactions inside the cells give off light.
In the book Life After Whale, why is it hard to sustain life on the seafloor located more than a mile deep?
Freezing cold temperatures, crushing water pressure, no light, very little food
In the book Life After Whale, what is a crustacean?
Crustaceans are animals that usually have a hard covering, or exoskeleton, and two pairs of antennas, or feelers. Examples include shrimps, crayfish, crabs, and lobsters.
In the book Life After Whale, what else can we learn from a whale’s earwax rings, besides its age?
We can learn about the ocean's temperatures and pollution; how many times the whale was pregnant; and about her feeding and travel.
In the book Life After Whale, why does a dead whale's body first float up to the surface of the ocean?
Gases expand in the whale's body causing it to float to the surface.
In the book Life After Whale, why is the bioluminescence in the surrounding waters less frequent as the whale carcass sinks deeper and deeper?
There are fewer creatures that can survive at such extreme ocean depths.
In the book Life After Whale, the author says that "food is scarce" on the barren ocean floor. Define scarce.
Difficult to find; not common; not easy to get
In the book Life After Whale, what is the largest animal ever seen on earth?
Blue whale
In the book Life After Whale, why does the blue whale have such a large heart (400 lbs.—the size of a golf cart)?
That large heart helps push blood and oxygen to every cell of her enormous body.
In the book Life After Whale, what is a scavenger in an ecosystem?
A scavenger is an animal that eats dead organisms, helping to break down organic material and return nutrients to its environment.
In the book Life After Whale, the author describes "an almost imperceptible shift to pure black." Define imperceptible.
Something so subtle (or small) that you can barely notice it or feel it
Who is the author and illustrator of Life After Whale
Author: Lynn Brunelle
Illustrator: Jason Chin