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Would you like to be a whale?


A female humpback whale raises her fin out of the water
I was out whale watching at the weekend. It was a beautifully calm day with glassy water on the South Shore and I went out, with 30 or so others, on a tour boat. Usually it takes about an hour or so to spot whales here however, within about 20 minutes we saw some big splashes and as we got closer we realised it was a mother humpback and calf breaching together. They did this in complete synchronicity as if the smaller whale was a miniature reflection of the larger one. I could hardly believe my eyes. It was a display of sheer brilliance and it baffled me how something so huge can rise up out of the water like that. The whales came really close to the boat, making all kinds of bizarre noises as they sprayed water and air out of their spouts. At one point it was almost as if they were trying to play their spouts like a musical instrument. It reminded me of the music lessons I suffered as a child when I repeatedly tried to to blow through the reed of an oboe to no avail. The vibrations passed through my body leaving a tingling sensation. Being up close with such an amazing animal is the best natural high for me. I have seen many whales since my first whale watching trip in 1999 but every one leaves me with the same feeling. I am in love with the whales and sometimes I even wish I was one... gliding gracefully through the ocean for miles upon miles. What an easy life these guys appear to have. When it gets too cold for them and they go to tropical waters, have babies, sing while hanging upside down and shag (although nobody has ever seen humpbacks shagging - did you know that?)! When it gets too hot and they feel hungry, they go to cool waters and eat. They appear to travel with ease and without having to pay for their holidays. They don't need to learn any new languages where they go because all their friends come with them! They get to hang out with dolphins and they eat lots of sashimi! It's a great life right?

On second thoughts maybe it's not all that sweet. Eating might be a real challenge now that global warming has reduced the amount of food available. Then there's the floating trash and fishing nets that choke or entangle whales. There's also pollution in the fish they eat and less fish because humans have caught too much. There's lobster pot lines to get wrapped around and boats to get hit by. There's sonar in the ocean from submarines and seismic testing that probably injures or kills whales. Worst of all there are guns at the ready to slice some of them open with exploding harpoons. Being a whale has got to be pretty difficult and it's only since humans got here that survival became such a challenge for them.

So there we all were, happily snapping our cameras in their direction and squealing with delight at their tails going up or a fin rising up out of the water and then slapping down onto the surface. I'm sure everyone went home that day completely thrilled and full of enthusiasm but I wonder how many people actually consider just how lucky we are to still have these creatures around and how many of these folks worry about how much longer they will continue to exist? Did any of them wonder just how many whales die each year from human impacts? Will anyone on that boat make any sort of effort to do anything to help whales or will they simply show friends their photographs and leave it at that? I'd like to believe that at least one or two got off the boat that day and deliberately sought out information on whales and how to help them but sadly I have serious doubts about that. Sometimes it seems that most people only care about their pictures rather than the things that they are taking pictures of.

I'm not sure what the solution is to this but if you do care, and you are looking for ways to help check out the whales campaigns for the following:
Greenpeace
Sea Shepherd
The Ocean Alliance
The Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society
The International Fund for Animals Welfare
The Ocean Conservancy
The New York Whale and Dolphin Action League

More information
Pressure is on to lift whaling ban
Norway slams whaling critics, says stocks robust

Posted by wavemaker on April 24, 2006 11:37 PM |

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