Meet Gus Whaley

This summer, the children of Huntsville and Madison County read 6,045 hours!

Our sponsors donated money for every hour read. At the end of the summer, it was enough that we were able to adopt a humpback whale from the Oceanic Society. They also gave him his name: Gus Whaley.

The Oceanic Society had this to say:

"Dear Summer Readers of the Huntsville Madison County Public Library, congratulations on reading 6,045 hours this past summer! You have more than earned your adoption of a humpback whale!"

About Gus Whaley: Gus Whaley, a male, was first photographed on July 22, 1988 off central California. Since that initial encounter he has been identified 40 times. Although this whale is capable of traveling great distances, he has not been sighted north of Monterey Bay California. The parallel white lines are healed scars left from the teeth of killer whales, which often grab the flippers or flukes of a humpback whale (especially calves or yearlings) to try to hold the whale underwater. Gus Whaley had rake marks on his flukes when he was first photographed; during 1994/1995 he accumulated additional rake marks. This is clearly a lucky whale to survive at least two killer whale attacks!

To find out more about humback whales like Gus Whaley: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Humpback_whale To find out more about The Oceanic Society: http://www.oceanicsociety.org/