[♪ INTRO]
Brr, it sure is cold out there!
My fingers got so cold, I had to stop building my snowman.
I had to come in and warm them up with some hot cocoa!
Whoa, Squeaks, what were you looking at?
[Squeaks squeaks]
Squeaks says he’s learning about different kinds of animals.
And he’s noticed that a lot of animals have whiskers.
[Squeaks squeaks]
Yes, cats have whiskers
[Squeaks squeaks]
rats have whiskers... yep, you too, Squeaks!
[Squeaks squeaks]
Even seals have whiskers!
Do you have any idea what whiskers might be for, Squeaks?
[Squeaks squeaks]
You’re right - they do look cute with those whiskers, don’t they?
[Squeaks squeaks]
Yes, your whiskers look cute too, Squeaks!
But they do more than just make that animal look cute.
Animals use them for sensing things!
Have you ever heard of senses, Squeaks?
[Squeaks squeaks]
Yes, hearing…
[Squeaks squeaks]
sight…
[Squeaks squeaks]
smell…
[Squeaks squeaks]
ooh, taste, that’s a good one!
And of course, there’s touch.
Sensing is how people and animals learn about what’s around them.
Body parts like our eyes, ears, and fingers let us sense different things.
Let’s think about the cat you were looking at.
It uses the whiskers on its face to sense things about its surroundings.
Like, how much space is around its face, so it can tell whether it can
squeeze through a tight spot!
And cats even have whiskers on their front legs.
Those work like the whiskers on their face and help them sense
when things are close by, especially in the dark!
Pretty cool, right?
[Squeaks squeaks]
There were other animals with whiskers too.
See this seal?
Seal whiskers are extra special.
[Squeaks squeaks]
Well, seals spend a lot of their time in water, where it’s harder for their eyes to see.
So they have to use other parts of their body to find their way.
Like their whiskers!
When fish swim, they make the water around them swirl.
If a seal is close by, those swirls will reach their whiskers and make the whiskers wiggle!
And those wiggles in the whiskers tell the seal a lot of information.
They can tell the seal where the fish went.
They can also tell it how far away it is from the fish, and even how big the fish is!
[Squeaks squeaks]
Well, that information helps the seal catch the fish for its dinner!
It knows whether the fish is just a little snack, or a nice big meal.
And it knows how far it has to go to catch the fish.
[Squeaks squeaks]
I know!
It’s really cool.
And there’s another super neat thing about the seal whiskers.
They even work in the cold.
[Squeaks squeaks]
Yes!
If I were to go outside right now, in that cold, wintery weather,
my fingertips would get chilly and it would be really hard for me to use
my sense of touch, because I couldn’t feel anything very well.
My fingers can’t feel things very well in the cold!
[Squeaks squeaks]
It’s okay, Squeaks!
That’s why we bundle up in warm layers, like gloves and mittens!
Scientists thought that seal whiskers wouldn’t work too well in the cold, either!
Which means that seals swimming in cold water would have
a very hard time finding fish.
But scientists found out that that’s not actually true!
Those seal whiskers work just as well in the freezing cold
as they do in warm temperatures!
This is super important for the seals, because this way they can find food
no matter what temperature the water is that they’re swimming around in!
[Squeaks squeaks]
I agree.
Seal whiskers are amazing, aren’t they?
[Squeaks squeaks]
That’s a great question, Squeaks!
What other ways do you think animals can sense things?
What other special body parts do they have that help them
learn about their environment?
And what do you think it would be like to have whiskers?
Thanks for spending time with me and Squeaks today!
If you want to keep visiting us, and all our friends,
don’t forget to hit the subscribe button.
We’ll see you next time, here at the Fort.
[♪ OUTRO]