tofuwatch.com

Whale takes name of “Tofu,” showing that the word is not just for bean curd anymore

 

The name tofu originated thousands of years ago based largely on a soybean a bit smaller than the size of a person’s fingertip. More recently, a graduate student at MIT named his robot after bean curd.  

Now, a humpback whale in New Hampshire has joined this special fraternity and has been bestowed the name of Tofu, according to a seacoastonline.com article posted Wednesday.

The whale’s skeleton will be unveiled Saturday as part of a new exhibit at the Seacoast Science Center.

Biologists believe the 32-foot whale from the Gulf of Maine died after a ship hit her two years ago, reporter Casey Sullivan wrote.

The exhibit has been designed to bring more awareness about humpback whales, Sullivan explained. It will feature migration routes and videos about this type of whale.

Visitors also can learn about fluke patterns found on the tails of humpback whales. Scientists follow humpback whales largely based on this pattern, Sullivan wrote.

In the article, Sullivan quoted Karen Provazza, a science center spokeswoman, as saying that fluke patterns for this type of whale ”are as unique as human fingerprints.” 

“Tofu was named Tofu because she had an all white fluke pattern,” Provazza said in the article.

The science center has posted a photo gallery about the whale, including images of experts putting her skeleton together.

But Tofu, the whale, is not the first sea creature to take the name often associated with soybean cake.

The Florida Museum of Natural History posted an article from March on its Web site about a whale shark found in the waters off Taiwan.

The article noted:

The species is called the ‘tofu shark’ locally because its delicate meat purportedly looks and tastes like tofu. Whale sharks have been targets of harpoon fishing because their meat and fins fetch a high price on the international market.