VOYAGE OF THE MIMI, THE: EPISODE 4: COUNTING WHALES (TV)
Summary
One in this series of educational children's programs about scientific expeditions, set on a boat named the Mimi. Following each episode, a cast member meets with experts and professionals to learn about a particular field. In this episode, the crew spends several days counting whales: in a team effort, they monitor a section of the ocean and observe the quantity, behavior, and species of whales and while gauging their distance from the boat. Then, they enter the information into a computer, which generates a chart of whale sightings. Captain Granville also shares with C.T. a journal belonging to C.T.'s great-great-grandfather, who worked aboard a whaling boat. By way of the journal, the crew learns a great deal about the brutality of the whaling industry, which nearly led to the extinction of whales. In the second portion, "Expedition 4 -- Whale Bones," Ben Affleck, who plays C.T., travels to the Smithsonian Institution in Washington D.C., where he visits with two resident scientists, mammologist Charles Potter and paleontologist Dr. Frank Whitmore. First, Potter explains that whales are mammals whose ancestors lived on land millions of years ago; he points out aspects of a whale skeleton that resemble that of a land mammal. Next, Dr. Whitmore shows Ben fossils of porpoises that date back fifteen, thirty, and fifty million years, citing them as evidence of the creatures' adaptation from land to sea. Finally, Dr. Whitmore points out the vestigial pelvic bones of a modern whale, which indicate its origins on land.
Cataloging of this program was made possible by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, 1999.
Details
- NETWORK: PBS
- DATE: November 30, 1983
- RUNNING TIME: 0:28:50
- COLOR/B&W: Color
- CATALOG ID: T:05027
- GENRE: Children's; Education/Information
- SUBJECT HEADING: Children's programs; Whales
- SERIES RUN: PBS - TV series, 1984
- COMMERCIALS: N/A
CREDITS
- Samuel Gibbon … Executive Producer, For "The Voyage of the Mimi"
- For "Expedition 4: Whale Bones":
- Jeffrey Nelson … Producer
- Jule Selbo … Associate Producer
- Richard Hendrick … Director, Writer
- Ben Affleck … Host
- Charles Potter … Guest
- Dr. Frank Whitmore … Guest
- Mary Fitzpatrick … Researcher
- For "Episode 4: Counting Whales":
- Peace River Films … Producer
- John Borden … Producer
- Jeffrey Nelson … Production (Misc.), Line Producer
- DÕArcy Marsh … Director
- Lee Nameche-Strong … Researcher
- Richard Hendrick … Writer, Head Writer
- John Griesemer … Writer
- Paula Cizmar … Writer
- Douglas Gower … Writer
- Jeff Lass … Theme Music by
- Peter Marston … Cast, Captain Granville
- Victoria Gadsden … Cast, Anne Abrams
- De Asis, Edwin … Cast, Ramon Rojas
- Judy Pratte … Cast, Sally Ruth Cochran
- Mary Tanner … Cast, Rachel Fairbanks
- Mark Graham … Cast, Arthur Spencer
- Ben Affleck … Cast, C.T. Granville