"Mr Splashy Pants" to Ride the Great Whale Trail?

As of yesterday, more than 11,000 possible whale names have been submitted in a contest which has been whittled down to 30, ranging from Aiko, which means 'little love' in Japanese to our favorite, Mr. Splashy Pants (full list below). Several of the will be given to humpback whales currently traveling on the Great Whale Trail. The project is a collaboration between Greenpeace and scientists working on humpback whales in the South Pacific. The whales are being tracked via satellite as they migrate from breeding and calving areas in the tropical South Pacific to the feeding grounds of the Southern Ocean.

This project will produce important information on the movements and migratory destinations of humpback whales from small, unrecovered populations off Rarotonga (Cook Islands) and New Caledonia.

You can go to the Greenpeace website and choose your favorite name from among the 30 below and hit the submit button at the bottom of the page. You can only vote once but you can ask as many friends to vote as you like. The voting ends on the 30th of November 2007 at 17:00 Amsterdam time.

In the spirit of full disclosure: the Galaxy team is voting of course for #20 Mr Splashy Pants....

1. Aiko - means 'little love' in Japanese
2. Amal - means 'hope' in Arabic
3. Anahi - means 'immortal' in Persian
4. Atticus - named for Atticus Finch, the main character in the famous book "To Kill A Mockingbird"
5. Aurora - is Latin for 'dawn'
6. Babu - means 'grandfather or old man' in Swahili
7. Bumi - (pronounced 'boo-me') means 'Earth' in Malay
8. Cian - (pronounced keen or kee-an) means 'ancient or enduring' in old Irish
9. Echo - means...well, echo
10. Gana - means 'song' in Hindi
11. Humphrey - was just too popular not to have here
12. Jacques - named for Jacques Cousteau, environmental activist, educator and explorer of the oceans
13. Kaimana - means 'divine power of the ocean' in Polynesian
14. Kigai - means 'strong spirit' in Japanese
15. Libertad - means 'freedom' in Spanish
16. Madiba - is the honorary traditional title bestowed upon Nelson Mandela
17. Malaya - means 'free' in Filipino
18. Manami - means 'love of the sea' in Japanese
19. Mira - is the brightest star in whale constellation
20. Mister Splashy Pants - is just too funny to leave out
21. Moya - means 'spirit of the wind' in Shanghan (a language in Mozambique)
22. Nurani - means 'conscience in Bahasa Indonesia
23. Paikea - is 'humpback whale' in Maori (NZ)
24. Paz - means 'peace' in Portuguese
25. Sedna - is the name of the Innuit goddess of the oceans
26. Shanti - means 'peace' in Hindi
27. Suzuki - named for David Suzuki, environmental activist and educator
28. Talei - means 'special, rare or extremely valuable' in Fijian
29. Veikko - means 'brother or a good friend' in Finnish
30. Yarrindi - means 'song' in the Wagiman Aboriginal language of Australia