Whaling Museum: April vacation week with the annual Right Whale Day celebration

The New Bedford Whaling Museum will kick off April vacation week with the annual Right Whale Day celebration on Monday, April 21. Every year, the Museum celebrates the highly endangered North Atlantic Right Whale and raises awareness of a species whose survival depends upon humans wisely using ocean resources. This family friendly event provides many fun learning activities for kids and adults, with a focus on fostering greater awareness and appreciation.

Guests are invited to walk inside a life-sized inflatable right whale and stand next to a life-sized inflatable right whale calf for a photo. Take the coastal obstacle course challenge where participants attempt to survive the dangers right whales face in their migrations. Test your observation skills by identifying individual whales based on their markings. Learn to draw a right whale with author/artist, Peter Stone. End the day with a slice of “right whale cake”. The fun starts at 10:00 a.m. under the massive right whale skeleton on permanent exhibit in the Jacobs Family Gallery.

Right Whale Day full schedule of activities includes:
10:00 a.m. – 1:15 p.m. Right Whale Obstacle Course (presented by the Museum’s high school apprentices)
10:00 a.m. – 1:30 p.m. Go Inside the Inflatable Whale (presented by Whale and Dolphin Conservation)
10:00 a.m. – 1:30 p.m. Make Right Whale Magnets & Whale Origami (presented by the New England Coastal Wildlife Alliance)
10:00 a.m. – 1:30 p.m. Right Whale Crafts & Learning Activities (presented by Museum docents & high school apprentices)
10:00 a.m. – 1:30 p.m. Inflatable Right Whale Calf, Right Whale Information & Photo-Op with the Right Whale Calf (presented by the NOAA Office of Education)
11:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m. Right Whale Identification Activities (presented by Museum volunteers)
11:30 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. “Waltzes with Giants” readings with author/artist Peter Stone
12:00 p.m. – 1:00 p.m. Learn to draw right whales with Peter Stone
1:35 p.m. Celebrate the now-permanent ‘Ship Strike Rule’ with some Right Whale cake

Vacation Week Activities
Join the Museum throughout April vacation week for crafts, hands-on activities and lots of family fun. Participate in a highlights tour, go below deck on the world’s largest model whaleship, learn to throw a harpoon, create your own scrimshaw (with soap and shoe polish), and more.

The following April vacation week activities will take place from Tuesday, April 22 through Friday, April 25:

10:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. Free crafts and family activities. Create your own scrimshaw (using soap and shoe polish), throw a harpoon with our family-friendly harpoons and target rings, and more.
11:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. and 1:00 p.m. to 2:00 p.m. Participate in a 45-minute highlights tour with a Museum Docent. Tours leave from the front desk. (Regular admission rates apply)
10:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. Free film “Ocean Frontiers: The Dawn of a New Era in Ocean Stewardship” in Cook Memorial Theater. “Ocean Frontiers” is an engaging, inspirational film that features four very different, but equally important success stories of ocean stewardship, including one that is taking place in Massachusetts Bay.
11:00 a.m. to Noon Go below deck on the Lagoda! (Regular admission rates apply)

Friday, April 25, from 10:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. All aboard the Lagoda! Join the crew of Captain C. Weade on board the Lagoda for an adventure on the high seas! Travel the world, interact with new cultures, learn the ropes of a whaleship, and go a-whaling. (Regular admission rates apply).

Right Whale Day activities and April Vacation Week activities that take place in Jacobs Family Gallery, Cook Memorial Theater or on the Museum Plaza are FREE. Regular admission to all other galleries applies. Children must be accompanied by an adult. For more information, call 508-997-0064 or visit http://www.whalingmuseum.org/programs/april-vacation-week-2014.