As part of the activities

L’Océan chez Fred

Québec Océan presents…

“Phoque C’est Assez: Les Mammifères Marins Débarquent Chez

Toi”

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1) Material required

To conduct this workshop, you will need the following materials:

● 1 blanket

● 1 fin or slippers

● 1 pool or shower helmet

● Glasses

● Paper

● Color pencils

● Scissor

● Scotch tape

*** If you wish to carry out the experiment and the explanations without interruption, we

advise you to draw and cut the big paper eyes and stick it to the glasses before starting the

video. If on the contrary, you want to have a break between the experiment and the

explanations, we will tell you in the video when to pause it so that you can draw and cut out

your big eyes.

2) Workshop introduction

Difference between mammals and other animals

● What sets us apart from fish: we don't have gills, fish can breathe underwater using gills.

Small note: sharks are fish

● What sets us apart from amphibians: we don't have slimy skin, unlike them.

● What sets us apart from reptiles: we have no scales.

● What sets us apart from birds: we have no feathers. Some mammals like bats can fly like

birds, but they don't have feathers.

Likeness between mammals:

What we have in common:

● We have hair.

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● We are warm-blooded, that is to say, we regulate our own temperature; we shiver when

we are cold and we sweat when we are hot.

● We breathe with lungs.

● We carry babies in our womb.

● Babies are breastfed by producing milk.

Marine mammals:

● Marine mammals such as seals have short hair, dolphins have some hair in childhood but

they lose it in adulthood. Whales have whiskers on their snouts (like cats) in order to

sense their environment and their prey.

● Whales are also able to regulate their body temperature, those that live in cold water

have a layer of fat between 10 and 30 cm to keep them warm.

● Dolphins also have lungs, their noses have migrated above their heads. The breaths we

see when we observe whales correspond to their expiration (They do not spit water). In

addition, they are able to hold their breath much longer than we do by storing air in their

muscles. For example, the sperm whale can stay up to 2 hours underwater.

● Whales also carry babies in their womb. Most pregnancies are longer than humans.

During parturition, the fin comes out before the head so that the baby whale takes a

deep breath before it comes out completely.

● Whales are capable of producing milk. The milk we drink contains between 0 and 3.25%

fat, the milk that women produce contains 4% fat. The whales produce milk with 35%

fat, so that the baby can quickly gain fat in order to stay warm.

● Some seals also produce highly concentrated milk, which can contain up to 70% fat.

3) Conduct of the experiments

As indicated in the video; to dress up as a seal, you would need a pool or shower helmet,

a blanket, an oversized palm or slipper and glasses with big eyes glued on.

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1. Put on the helmet, it is used to hide the ears. Seals don't have outer ears like we do,

they only have an inner ear and small holes on each side instead of ears. (It's the same

for whales).

2. Put on the blanket, it represents the short hair and allows us to hide our long arms,

so that we can have small legs like seals.

Seals' hair is not like our dog's or cat's, to keep their warmth, there are air bubbles

that will be inserted under their hair.

3. Put on flippers or slippers, they will represent webbed feet, to help propel themselves

better in the water.

4. Wear the big eyes, they represent the size of the seal's eyes, which are bigger than

our eyes. These big eyes allow them to see better in the murky water in which they

live.

Now you can move around like the seals, on the ground!!!

4) To go further:

For more information on the marine mammals of the St. Lawrence, visit the following

website: https://baleinesendirect.org

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L’Océan chez Fred

Acknowledgements

Communication

Astrid Tempestini

Script

Water Masses In The St. Lawrence River Pauline Fortin

Sharks Between Two Waters Ella Guscelli et Fanny Vermandele

Marshmallows’ Tectonics Carole Zafimihary

The Ocean Treadmill: Thermohaline Circulation Pauline Fortin

The Ocean Vinaigrette Anne Corminboeuf

In The Oceans’ Depths Ella Guscelli et Fanny Vermandele

The Ocean Salad Carole Zafimihary

Oceanic Molecular Cuisine Astrid Tempestini

“Phoque, C'est Assez: Les Mammifères Marins Débarquent Chez Toi !” Karole Blouin

A Bottle Of Oil In The Sea Ella Guscelli et Fanny Vermandele

Fact sheets for parents

Creation and layout Ella Guscelli et Fanny Vermandele

Translation Aura Barria, Ella Guscelli, Daniel Small et Fanny Vermandele

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Drawers of the animals In The Oceans’ Depths

Louis Allen-Martin et Simone Canazza

Distribution

Dialoguist Abïgaëlle Dussol

Director-Sound Engineer Abïgaëlle Dussol

Director's assistance Pauline Fortin

Camera operator-Head decorator Pauline Fortin

Costume-Make-up Carole Zafimihary

Voices

Sabine Abïgaëlle Dussol

Fred Pauline Fortin

Shell Carole Zafimihary

Generic Carole Zafimihary

Actresses

The Ocean Vinaigrette Anne Corminboeuf

“Phoque, c'est assez: les mammifères marins débarquent chez toi !” Karole Blouin

We would like to thank all the members of Québec Océan who participated, in one way or

another, in the organization of these workshops