It may not quite be Summer yet, but whales are one nautical theme that's already taking the world of kiddie gear by storm! From the bathtub to the bedroom, there are plenty of fun ways to incorporate whales into your kids' decor, wardrobes, and more. Thar she blows!
Whales, the gentle giants of the sea, are an au courant decorating motif, but these sweet sea creatures weren't always used in a benign manner when it came to home decorating. Starting in the mid-1700s, whalers would use whale bones, teeth, and baleen to create scrimshaw — engraved pictures and lettering etched into these animal parts.
Thankfully, scrimshaw is in no danger of becoming trendy again. Homages to the great whale, however, can be seen silk-screened on pillows, shaped into mobiles, or taking the form of furniture and accents. 
Get excited for Summer days on the coast with some whale additions to your home. I'm particularly loving this Whales Pillow ($34) created by artist and textile designer Lourdes Sánchez for West Elm. The silk pillow is hand screen-printed and is the perfect touch for perking up your living room. Check out more whale accents below.
Baby Beluga in the deep blue sea, swimming right into the nursery! The beloved marine mammals have a presence under the sea and in lil one's lairs with their beautiful tails and spouting blowholes. The creatures are a welcome addition to wee ones' nurseries and seem to be popping up everywhere. Check out these marine-inspired items.
Whales, the true tale of gray whales trapped under the ice of the Arctic Circle, is assembling somewhat of a dream cast, for me anyway. Drew Barrymore was the first to sign on as a Greenpeace activist, then John Krasinksi snagged a role as a small-town reporter, and now another one of my faves is joining the film: Kristen Bell! She's in negotiations to star as an LA reporter who wants to make it big.
I love that Bell is getting a steady stream of movies these days — in September she'll pop up in the comedy You Again, then a few months later in the sexy Burlesque. There's no rest for the adorable.
Hot off winning a Golden Globe for HBO's Grey Gardens, Drew Barrymore is going back to the big screen. The actress is eying the role of a Greenpeace activist for Everybody Loves Whales, a Universal film following real-life events in 1988 when a group of whales got trapped under ice in the Arctic Circle. But this isn't just an environmental film — the incident also took a political turn, helping ease relations between the US and Soviets when President Reagan and Mikhail Gorbachev lent their power to help free Willy.
Ken Kwapis, who teamed with Barrymore for He's Just Not That Into You, is on board to direct Whales, which has me curious about the audience they're targeting. Is it a family film? A drama? Is Barrymore going to fall in love with an activist on an iceberg, only to have him never call? One thing's for sure — this news seems pretty untimely given the recent SeaWorld headlines. Perhaps they should rethink that title for now.
We all know that Hayden Panettiere wants to save the whales, but she's not the only one! Founded in 1977, the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society has been protecting the seas at the bottom of the Earth against Japanese whalers, and over the Winter season of 2007 to 2008, Animal Planet tagged along to document their journey.
In a seven-part series beginning tonight, we get a closeup look at how far the Sea Shepherds will go to protect the whales of the Antarctic. Not only are they intent on saving ocean dwellers, but they are also committed to protecting all wildlife, including seals that are hunted every year in Canada. Check out the clip above, and tell me: Will you be watching Whale Wars?
I just couldn't get that song out of my head so I dove right into a bunch of wild whale facts! Do you know anything about those baby Belugas (and adult ones too)? Test yourself when you take my quiz!
Sing it with me: Baaaa-by Be-luuuuga. Am the only one getting flashbacks to childhood whenever I see pictures of Beluga Whales? Anyway, the endangered mammals are best recognized by their distinctive white color and large foreheads (forget "fivehead" . . . more like twenty-fivehead). Prominent noggins or not, they are pretty cute . . . especially when blowing bubbles. Check it out in the video below!
When I heard that a chunk of Antarctic ice about seven times the size of Manhattan suddenly collapsed, I couldn't help but wonder about the animals. I know many creatures call this region home . . . but what do you know about them?
