Some humpbacked whales are 50 feet long and weigh 45 tons. They can be identified by their characteristic hump-like roll of fat on their backs. These whales are extremely strong, with large flippers, 1213 feet long, and huge, flat tails controlling their motions. They can swim 25 miles per hour and at times dive nearly a mile below the surface. Although they seem gentle and playful, they can be dangerous too. Anyone closing in on a mother with her calf will find her quite ready to smash their small boat with a slap of her tail.
Looking down on one of these whales from above, its black back is not easy to distinguish from the dark water, and looking up from underneath, its white underparts blend with the sky. These safeguards are provisions of the Creator, helping to protect them from their enemies -mainly people from above and sharks and killer whales from below.
Of all mammals, whales are most completely at home in water, although they have to come up to the surface for air from time to time. Rising to the surface, they blow out stale air from their lungs through “blowholes” on their backs. These look like waterspouts, shooting up 12 feet or more into the air. Actually, it is their hot, moist breath condensing as it hits the colder outside air.
Humpbacks are in all oceans, but the greatest number are in the Pacific Ocean. Many of these spend winters in the cold waters of Alaska and the Bering Sea where food is plentiful. Their thick coat of blubber keeps them warm in these cold waters. In spring they migrate, some to Mexico and some to Hawaii (distances of about 6000 miles). Both places provide warm tropical waters where the females give birth to their calves, and shortly thereafter all return north. In the Atlantic, similar migrations are made from northern Canadian waters to warm, southern areas. These migrations can be seen by people along those shores, just as they can be seen on the West Coast.
We may wonder how these large creatures know when it is time to leave for the southern waters and how they find their way over such great distances. Like all creatures that migrate, they follow God-given instincts that guide and instruct them.
How much more important it is for us to know the way to heaven, for we can never get there by our own efforts. The only way is by believing on the Lord Jesus Christ, who said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life” (John 14:66Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me. (John 14:6)). Are you trusting in Him?
(to be continued)
ML-05/07/2000