By Julia Beauregard
Hometown Weekly Editor
To kick off summer vacation, Nile, the life-sized inflatable humpback whale, visited the Sherborn Library for a fun, interactive, and educational experience. According to their website, “The Whalemobile offers unique and innovative programming using a life sized inflatable whale. We bring this engaging and interactive learning experience directly to schools and libraries to foster a love for whales and the ocean and help cultivate the next generation of ocean advocates.”
Children were invited to discover the striking similarities between human beings and whales, as they were welcomed to step inside the 43-foot-long inflatable, while parents had to remain outside. All of the children were eager to line up and venture inside the whale for this immersive experience. One child, Hailie Beauregard, gave her firsthand account from inside the whale:
“On the inside of the whale, the presenter showed its organs, its ribs, and spine. But most interesting of all, it had three stomachs that we got to see!”
The children were allowed to become fully immersed in this experience as there were visuals inside the whale to showcase the information being presented. Makinley, the presenter who traveled with Nile and The Whalemobile, shared interesting facts about the humpback whale throughout the presentation. Hailie shared some of the most interesting facts she learned from the marine life presenter: “Some facts about the whale are that the whales are on the coast right now, but in two months the whales will leave and go to the Caribbean. The presenter talked about how the whales eat little sea snakes and that the whales eat up to 2,000 pounds to 3,000 pounds a day. Whales have top teeth but no bottom teeth whales have three stomachs because it is hard for them to break down their food.”
When the presentation concluded, children were excited to share with their parents what they had learned while sitting inside the inflatable whale. In the back of the community room, there were several pictures and real-life artifacts for children to engage with. For more information on The Whalemobile, please visit: https://thewhalemobile.com/
