Electronic Whale

The migration of the California gray whale is a remarkable journey. Gray whales swim from Mexico to the Arctic and back each year. The trip covers some 22,000 kilometers (14,000 miles).

Gray whales were once hunted to near extinction. Protected from hunting in 1947, they were removed from the Endangered Species Act list in 1994.

All seemed well until about 2019. Since then hundreds of gray whales have washed up dead on the beaches from Alaska to Mexico. Most of the dead whales were skinny and malnourished.

What kinds of situations do gray whales encounter on their long trip that might help explain the death of these whales?

“Electronic Whale” is a computer simulation of half of the gray whale’s trip. A computer simulation “models” or represents real life. In this simulation, you will experience some of the things that a gray whale faces on its migration. You will also choose how your whale responds to what it meets. This means that no two runs of the simulation will be exactly alike.

The object of this simulation is to get your whale to the lagoon before a 90 day time limit expires. The 90-day limit represents the three-month migration.