Wednesday, January 21, 2009

Random thought- How to pet a Beluga whale's tongue



From great national euphoria to random silliness in a matter of moments (but that's just the way things are in my world).

A word of advice; if you ever encounter the treacherous, viscious (doesn't he look mean?) Beluga whale and he is about to devour you, there IS one way to sooth the savage beast. They love having their tongues scratched. No fooling...seriously. I worked at an aquarium in high school and Kandu was my good friend. I'd walk up to his tank in the morning and kick the side of the metal tank with my foot a couple of times. He'd immediately come zooming over and pop his head out of the water with mouth gaping wide hoping for a little love. Do you notice the two
nice rows of teeth on either side of his tongue? They were arranged as if they were designed specifically for the express purpose of a good tongue scratching from a human friend. If you just hold your hand up in front of you right now with the photo of Kandu in the background (go ahead, I'll wait) you will see this perfect design. Kandu's teeth fit perfectly between your index and little fingers and your middle fingers are in prime position to make Kandu a happy whale. Even if he playfully closes his mouth on your hand, your hand is safe from his sharp blunt teeth. In fact, just to mess with some Aquarium guests I use to go out and play with Kandu and wait for him to close his mouth on my hand and I'd say, "OOOWWWWW!!"...and the people would freak out. My 15 year old sense of humor got a big kick out of that.

Anyway, lesson over...now you know, just in case you ever find yourself in a close, potentially deadly encounter with the menacing Beluga whale.

2 comments:

  1. This brings back memories of visiting you with Bonnie while you worked at the old aquarium. I think you used to feed the seals, too? That place has changed! But you haven't.

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  2. I always tried to impress cute girls like you by pretending to wrestle with the Octopus or hand feeding the Piranha's (hey, where DID that little finger go?). Did I ever make the sea lion kiss you?

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