On The Big Screen Trail Of Blue Whales - And The Value Of Our Oceans

Blue whales in the film “Blue Whales: Return of the Giants 3D.”(Phillip Colla / Oceanlight.com)Blue whales are the largest animals known to have ever existed on Earth.They were plentiful in nearly all of our oceans until the end of the 19th Century, hunted almost into extinction until a worldwide ban on blue whale hunting nearly 60 years ago - and to this day, they remain scarce.Dr. Diane Gendron is known as the “blue whale whisperer.”She has spent more than three decades studying the marine mammals in Mexico’s Gulf of California - creating a database of more than 700 blue whales.This Thursday, Dr. Gendron visits Chattanooga - and she will participate in a discussion at the Tennessee Aquarium’s IMAX 3D Theater after a 6 PM screening of the film “Blue Whales: Return of the Giants 3D.”Thom Benson is with the Aquarium.Dr. Diane Gendron(Oceanic Films)