“We are watching,” Marina replied. “But we’re also counting them.”

“By noting any gray whales that pass by Ocean Bay on their way to the lagoons, we help keep track of their population,” Birch explained. “Of course, someone like me, who runs whale-watching tours, can actually be of huge assistance.”

“Huge assistance to who?” Rio questioned.

“A marine biologist set up a special whale counting database about six years ago,” Birch answered. “Although counting whales might not seem that big a deal in the grand scheme of things,” he continued, “the data collected is incredibly important information for marine biologists, scientists, and environmentalists in helping monitor their population and understanding any threats they face.”

This made sense. Rio supposed it was no different from the bird watch they did as a class project every spring—counting all the different types outside his bedroom window. Except this time, the animal involved was A LOT bigger.

“I’ll show you how it works.” Marina pulled out a laptop from one of the cubbyholes and opened it up to a website called Happywhale. “The whole point of the database is that anyone can join in, no matter how old you are or where you come from,” she said. “You don’t need to be a scientist or anything. All you have to be able to do is spot a gray whale and then upload your sightings to the website—either with a photo or just a description. Now there are thousands of people all along the Pacific coast who count them too!”

Rio thought back to his grandmother’s comment about his mom—how one girl can’t make a difference. She was wrong. You can make a difference when you all work together.

Although, one thing was still puzzling him. “But how can you tell the gray whales apart from the other whales?!”

Marina spat out her drink, and it sprayed all over the table. “Whales don’t look and sound exactly the same!” she gasped. “Watchers can spot the differences with their eyes shut!”

“Perhaps not shut, exactly,” said Birch. “But Marina is right. Every whale species has distinctive characteristics—from the size and shape of their fluke, the color of their skin, the position of the dorsal fin—even the height and shape of their plume can differ widely. All whale species, when you come to study them, are actually remarkably different from one another.”

“It’s the same with telling individual gray whales apart too,” Marina said. “Some have missing bits from their fins or their flukes. Others have unique markings on their skin caused by the parasites.”

She clicked a new tab on the laptop, and suddenly on-screen appeared a picture of the entire Pacific coastline. At various points along the coast were blue dots.

“What are those?” Rio asked, leaning forward.

“This is the best part!” Marina said excitedly. “Each of those blue dots is actually a gray whale!”

“The whales that are easily identifiable,” Birch said, “we can track using GPS coordinates of where they were each sighted along the coastline.”