Hi there, my name is Nelly the Narwhal and I am a very friendly whale who loves travelling in a group of other whales!.
I am known as the unicorn of the sea as I have a large tusk in the front of my head that makes me extra special. We are going to have so much fun this term! Like me you are going to learn how to do whale blows out of our snorkels on snorkelling day, develop our stroke work-not to mention the fun we will have on our self-rescue day! Like my friends that have taught you previously, unfortunately I am too big to come in the pool but I will be watching you and know you will have a great term!
Let me tell you a little bit more …
We are very pleased to be able to offer even more great skills this term. We will focus further on front crawl sideways breathing in order to streamline the stroke and introduce the "T" float and sculling which are both great fun as the children practice buoyancy, breathing control and balance. Your child will also have the opportunity to practice their Back crawl swimming with little finger first entry and Butterfly legs through hoops with duck diving to touch the floor!
Our Self Rescue day will include "goggles off" entries to aid your child's confidence and orientation and the use of throw ropes and sculling. We still emphasis that children are never to attempt to save someone without adults help and remind them to SHOUT FOR HELP - TROUBLE IN THE WATER which they always enjoy! On our snorkel days your child will develop their airway control and have their first go at clearing a snorkel of water using a "Whale blow".
Have you seen a Narwhal before? We are also known as the Unicorns of the Sea, because of our long tusk that grows from our lip. We are not that unusual though as we are related to Dolphins and Belugas-you actually met my cousin Dipper last term! Belugas are actually our closest relatives and are quite similar and you will also meet my Uncle Oliver the Orca in the next couple of child levels.
We live in the Arctic Coastal waters and rivers, as we like the cooler temperatures. Life is quite busy though as we always have friends and family around. Most of the time we will be in groups of 5 or 10 but sometimes when we travel there will be up to 100 of us!! So never time to get lonely.
Like Beluga whales we get paler in colour as we get older. Never quite as White as the Belugas though, until we are very old. I am a girl Narwhal so my tusk won't grow very long. My Dad's tusk though is 3 metres long and he does like to show it off a bit to the other Daddy Narwhals. I am only 1 years old so I still have milk but when I am older I will be eating lots of fish like my Mum & Dad. Their favourites are Halibut, Cuttlefish, Cod and Shrimp.
As well as our amazing tusk another special thing about Narwhals is our diving skills. Dad tells me that Narwhals have made some of the deepest dives ever recorded for a marine mammal. Uncle Norris used to dive up to 4,900 feet about 15 times a day and he could stay down there for nearly 25 minutes. Daddy won't let me try that yet but I will one day. Maybe we can practise our diving down together?
Next term, you will be meeting Humphrey The Humpback