Whale Watch

I am able to add words to a text so it makes sense.

Whale Watch

WHALE WATCH

Here is the story Max told about the time he went whale watching.

When I went on board the Whale Watch boat, Makawhio, I kept telling myself that I might not see a whale. But I really wanted to. I wore my dolphin necklace for good luck.

     Lester is Makawhiu's skipper. He took us five kilometres offshore. The water out there is one and a half kilometres deep. It's full of plankton and fish and squid – all the things that whales like to eat.

     I kept looking at the sea, but I couldn't see anything that might be a whale. Then I heard Lester talking on Makawhiu's radio. The skipper on another boat was saying that there was a whale not far away. Lester wrote down the whale's position on his map. Makawhiu'sengines started up, and we were off – whale spotting.

     When Makawhiu stopped, Lester put a hydrophone into the water. Under the sea, whales make squeals and clicking sounds that the hydrophone can "hear". But Lester said he wasn't picking up any sounds. That meant that the whale was on its way to the surface. Either that, or it was asleep, deep under the water!

We waited . . . and waited . . .

Then, close by, we heard a rush of air. A long, smooth, grey sperm whale was lying in the water close to the boat! Every time it let out a breath, a shower of mist and water rushed out of its blowhole.

     The whale floated in the sea like a giant rubber raft. Only one-third of its body was above the water, but once, just for a minute, I saw the whale's wrinkly eye. The whale made me want to laugh and cry at the same time. I wished I could touch it. I wished I could watch it all day.

Source: School Journal, Part 1, No. 1, Learning Media, 1998.

(Text abridged).

Read "Whale watch" pages 14-19 in School Journal Part 1, Number 1, 1998. Then answer these questions.

a)

Max said he wore a necklace for good luck. What was the good luck he was hoping for?

To actually see a dolphin.

b)

Why did Lester put the hydrophone in the water?

So he could hear the noise the whale was making.

c)

Why did Lester take the whale watchers five kilometres offshore?

Because the water out there was deep and it was full of plankton and fish and squid all of the things the whale likes to eat.

d)

What are two possible reasons for the hydrophone not picking up any sounds?

i)The whale was on it’s way up to reach the surface.

OR

ii)It was asleep deep underwater.

e)

The words "We waited …and waited…" have been written in large print to make them stand out. What might this tell us about how Max was feeling?

Frustrated and Impatient.

f)

What was the first clue Max had, that a whale was at the surface near the boat?

Then, close by, we heard a rush of air. A long, smooth, grey sperm whale was lying in the water close to the boat!

g)

Describe a time you felt like Max.

I had to wait for an appointment at the doctors and I had to wait for 1 hour.