MAKIAYA DELBRIDGEDATE:12/20/2013

READING

A Symphony of Whales

A SYMPHONY OF WHALES

Sei Whale, Balaenoptera borealis

GENRE

Fiction sometimes tells a story based on events that really did happen.

CHARACTERSGlashka

Narna the whale

Moskua

BY STEVE SCHUCH

MY FAVORITE CHARACTER

My favorite character is Narna the whale. Narna is my favorite character because the whale can swim really fast. It’s neat. Narna is a big pretty whale.

SETTINGThis story is about a girl named Glashka who saves a whale named Narna. She frees Narna out of the ice to get food and to survive.

PROBLEM

Narna the whale stuck in the ice.

SOLUTION

To help the whale out of the ice so the whale won’t die.

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FUN FACTSThe sei whale is smaller in size than the fin whale (Balaenoptera physalus), and can be distinguished from this

similar species because it has symmetrical colouring on the lower parts of its head . It is also similar to Bryde's whale (Balaenoptera edeni), but has only one ridge on the upper surface of the head, whereas Bryde's whale has three. The

'blow' or spout of the sei whale is a single thin cloud, which reaches about three metres in height . The skin is a mottled dark grey colour, with white grooves along the paler underparts . The baleen is grey to black. with paler

fringes and less than 80 centimetres in length The dorsal fin is obvious, has a slightly hooked shape and is located two-thirds along the length of the body. The common name

'sei' arose from the arrival of this whale off the coast of Norway tending to coincide with that of coalfish 'seje'.