And now for the very best kind of “exploding” whale… From  BBC News : After 15 months of pregnancy, Qila the Vancouver Aquarium’s 12-year-old beluga whale has given birth to her first calf. The birth was captured live by television cameras. Qila was the first beluga whale to be conceived and born in a Canadian aquarium. She has remained in the aquarium with her mother Aurora, who is 21 years old.  BBC news also has a great  video of the birth .  Next, Jon Murray of  The Province  has a nice  gallery of photos : Finally, the  Vancouver Aquarium  has posted an official  announcement  of the birth as well as their own  video on YouTube : And if you just can’t get enough of this baby beluga, tune into the Vancouver Aquarium’s “ belugacam ” — not to be missed!

In a long-lost piece written from the perspective of happy homemaker Patricia Halsworthy, the venerable satirists at  The Onion  let loose on the “have fun or else” mentality of the modern family vacation in… “I Refuse To Let Some Beached Whale Ruin Our Family Outing” The story is relayed as Patricia’s side of a conversation between her and her family following their arrival at a popular beach destination. Husband, Eric, and kids, Joshua and Kylie, are less than thrilled when they realize that the otherwise gorgeous, pristine beach has been fouled by a huge, reeking dead (or possibly still dying?) whale. Patricia is determined to see that their guidebook getaway will carry on as planned. In fact, the whale is almost an afterthought in her nonstop ramblings about sunscreen, badminton, and “when I was your age” adages: Kids, I’m already worried about this sun. There’s not a cloud in the sky, and they say the sun is at its most damaging in the late morning. We should move into the shade.