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Douglas Adams reference (though I don't see the Bowl of Petunias...) : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MsK6aRuSBIc

Not sure, they don't seem to be falling. I thought they might be a reference to the Star Trek "whale probe" from The Voyage Home [1] but they're too small for that. Maybe just some random fun like the flying or underground jellyfish.

[1] http://en.memory-alpha.org/wiki/Star_Trek_IV:_The_Voyage_Hom...

Those aren't underground jellyfish, they are underwater. That part of the word (west of center, where the ships are) is ocean. But yeah, it's confusing at first.

HHGTTG was my first thought, too. But there are two whales (and no petunias).

Did anyone else see the raptor in the grass?

The answer is 42. [1]

http://m.imdb.com/title/tt0371724/quotes?qt=qt0351054

Look like humpback whales. Unlikely to be a reference, but it did remind me of the whale sequence from the second Fantasia movie: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LGZeT07rqlU

There's a great animated short from the 1980s called SKY WHALES. Check it out if you can find it.

I assumed this was the reference...