Dear Haley and Friends,

I just wanted to write you and let you know about

how much fun I got to have during my visit from Flat
Stanley! Flat Stanley came
to visit me in beautiful
Northern Californian
where I go to college. I
live in Eureka, CA which is
also in Humboldt County.
We are known for having
some of the tallest trees
in the world! Currently the
tallest Redwood tree here
is 379.1 feet tall and is 26
feet wide! Here is a
picture of some of the
Redwoods you pass while
driving on the highway.
 Flat Stanley and I also had a lot of fun visiting some
of the
beautiful
beaches we
have here in
Northern
California. I
was told that
Flat Stanley
didn’t like
water so we
had to be very careful so the waves wouldn’t catch us! Here
is a picture I snapped of Flat Stanley enjoying a sunset at
the beach!

I also decided
to bring Flat
Stanley with me
to school since I
spend so much
time there. I go
to Humboldt
State University and am studying to be a zoologist! I really
love animals so I brought Flat Stanley with me to my marine
mammals class and taught him all about marine mammals!
Here is a picture of Flat Stanley and a pilot whale skull!
 Here is Flat Stanley and the lower jaw of a Sperm Whale!
Look how big it is compared to Flat Stanley! One of the
things he
learned about
Sperm Whales
is that they are
the deepest
diving marine
mammals! They
can dive 980ft
to 2600ft and
hold their
breath for 2
hours! Sperm
Whales are also
Odontocetes,
which means
they are whales
that have
teeth!

Other whales rely on baleen to catch their food, these

whales are known as Mysticetes. Here is Flat Stanley with
different types of baleen from different whales. This short
and very robust baleen comes from Gray Whales. Gray
Whales are known as grubbers and will pick up mud and
squish it through their baleen and catch tiny invertebrates
to eat!
 Other whale feed
different ways. This
baleen belongs to a Right
Whale. Look how much
longer and thinner it is
compared to the baleen
of the Gray Whale. This
is because Right Whales
are skimmers. This
means instead of
grubbing mud, they
filter feed
by swimming
with their
mouth wide
open all the
time!
 I also got to show
Flat Stanley some of
the skulls of other
marine mammal I was
learning about. Here is
Flat Stanley on a
Walrus skull. The
tusks of the walrus
are so large that the
skull has to sit upside
down! Here is skull of
a Steller Sea Lion!
Look how much bigger

it is compared to
Flat Stanley.
Steller Sea Lion’s
are much bigger
than Californian
Sea Lions which
are the ones you
often see in zoos!
After my marine
mammals class Flat
Stanley and I
headed to my next
class which is held
in our Marine
laboratory that
overlooks the ocean
in Trinidad, CA.
 I think coming along
with me to my
Invertebrate Zoology
class was one of Flat
Stanley’s favorite things
we did! Here are some
pictures of Flat Stanley
and some of the critters
he met during my class!
Flat Stanley loved
checking out these sea
anemones!
 Here is
Flat Stanley
checking
out some
star fish!

Oh no! Watch out for that octopus Flat Stanley!

 Phew! That was close! Luckily Flat Stanley survived his
encounter with the octopus and my Invertebrate Zoology
class. Right after my class I got a very important phone call
from my job! I am the Humboldt County Stranding
Coordinator for the Northcoast Marine Mammal Center and
was receiving a call about a possibly injured seal! So Flat
Stanley and I hopped in my truck and were off to the beach
again! Luckily this is what we found:

A Northern Elephant Seal!

 Fortunately this little girl was healthy and not injured.
Elephant Seals go through a catastrophic molt ever year
which is kind of like when you dog or cat sheds. They shed
their fur and top layer of
skin!

Sometimes though,
there are seals and sea
lions I check on that are
sick or injured. When
this happens I rescue
them and bring them up to
our rehabilitation center.

At our rehabilitation
center we treat all the
seals and sea lions that we

rescue. Their wounds are cared

for and sicknesses are treated.
We always hope to nurse them
fully back to health and
release them back into
the wild!
 I had an amazing time
having Flat Stanley with me and
teaching him all about my life
and where I live! I hope you all
have just as much fun reading
about our adventures and
learning about marine mammals
as we had! Next time I hope
Haley comes with Flat Stanley!!
I love you and miss you Haley Paige!

Love,
Aunt Amber