animal songs for kids

Four Ways to Help Animals Adapt to Their Habitats

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Watch a Humpback Whale calf do a penduncle throw | Sing Humpback Whale Song for Kids

Dear Whale-Loving Friends,

I had the pleasure of crewing on Captain Dave’s Dolphin and Whale Safari today during this beautiful encounter with a Mother humpback whale and calf. Watch the calf do a peduncle throw! The creator of this video suggests that the calf was throwing a tantrum when it lifted the entire lower half of its body and tail out of the water and landed it right on top of mom. What do you think?
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SAVE THE VAQUITA PORPOISE WITH A SONG! Join our campaign!

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My new song about the endangered vaquita porpoise

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“I Belong to the Earth” – A new song and message from Birdsong (and the whales and dolphins!)

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Birdsong meets Eastern Tropical Pacific killer whales!

Dear Friends,

I saw orcas off the coast of Newport Beach, CA (USA) on January 7th! They were a rarely seen pod of Eastern Tropical Pacific killer whales, including 1 large male and 1 calf. Thanks to the Gray Whale Census Team and Alisa Schulman-Janiger for first spotting them from land at Palos Verdes while counting gray whales. Thank you also to my employer, Capt. Dave’s Dolphin Safari, for bringing us to the whales. I’ve included my photos of these beautiful creatures, taken at sunset. The tall, distinctive dorsal fin in the top photo is that of the male orca.

These types of killer whales, identified by their darker saddle area behind the dorsal fin, are usually seen from south of San Diego to Central Amercia. Because they are rarely seen, we don’t know much about them yet. It was a very fortunate sighting, indeed.

Check out the drone footage of these orcas taken by Newport Coastal Adventure at: Newport Coastal Adventure/YouTube and read more about this killer whale visit at: OC Register On-line. You can also hear my song about another type of orca, called Southern Resident Killer Whales, in my previous blog post. Sightings such as these  and the opportunity to teach about cetaceans are two of the many reasons why I love my job as First Mate and Naturalist.

Glad to be singing on the sea,

Birdsong

Common Dolphins and Birdsong wish you a happy new year!

Dear Friends,

I have the good fortune of seeing common dolphins several times a month off the coast of Southern California.  I encountered hundreds of them off the coast of Dana Point, CA over this holiday season; and I couldn’t think of a better way to wish you a happy new year than to share this photo that captures their playful spirit.

Common dolphins earned their name because they are “common” to all oceans in the world. They are beautiful animals that often travel, hunt and socialize in large pods of a hundred or more. We have a population of about 450,000 common dolphin off the coast of California, so they are very dear to me. Their cooperative and playful nature always brings joy to my heart and inspires me to squeal, whistle and sing. And sing I often do, sharing my dolphin song “Clickety-Clack” with the children on the boat!
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