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Elders bless a new canoe with lighted sage, song, and traditional dances.
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Blessing a New Canoe

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A life-size, meticulously detailed model of the North Atlantic right whale Phoenix hangs in the Smithsonian’s Sant Ocean Hall in the National Museum of Natural History, Washington, DC.
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Model of Phoenix

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A view of the injured fluke belonging to Phoenix’s mother, Stumpy. It is not known what caused this injury. It possibly could have been an entanglement.
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Stumpy’s Tail

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A drawing of Phoenix from the North Atlantic Right Whale Catalog documents her callosity pattern and other identifying marks.
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Who’s That Whale?

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The fringed baleen plates are easy to observe as this North Atlantic right whale skims the water’s surface while it feeds.
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Baleen in Action

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North Atlantic right whales were long hunted for their baleen—the fringed plates hanging in their mouths that they use to strain the seawater for food. Baleen was used in a number of consumer products, such as corsets.
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Whale Baleen from a Dead Whale

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A view of the Pacific from Moorea, where scientists are working to catalog the life forms of the entire ecosystem.
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Marine Biology on the Island of Moorea

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A model marker applies paint to the life-size, meticulously detailed model of the North Atlantic right whale Phoenix.
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Painting the Model of Phoenix

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Dinoflagellates are major producers of oxygen in the ocean (and freshwater). But some species can grow out of control, causing a red tide.
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Dinoflagellate

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The Carrie Bow Cay Marine Field Station supports marine research year-round.
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Field Station at Carrie Bow Cay, Belize

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A view out of the tiny window of the Johnson-Sea-Link submersible.
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Johnson-Sea-Link Submersible

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A thresher shark was killed after becoming stuck in a gillnet.
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Thresher Shark Killed by a Gillnet

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