A Whale For The Saving

A Brief Comment from Doug Draper

I’ve often railed against the damage and death we humans have wrought on other creatures on this planet. And yet it is important to remember there are also demonstrations of warmth and caring out there.

This desperate whale, stuck on the shoals of B.C., is back with her pod thanks to some human friends

One of them played out late this July, 2015 on the shores of British Columbia when a young female orca (known more unfortunately in human parlance as a “killer whale”) was discovered trapped on rocky shoals at low tide.

A wonderful marine researcher named Hermann Meuter and others cuddled, whispered to and soaked this whale with water until, many hours later, the tide came back out and she was able to rejoin a pod (‘pod’ means extended language in whale language) waiting for her off-shore.

“I think she knew that we were all there to help her,” siad Meuter in an interview with CBC. “We all cared about this whale and we were all very lucky to give that whale another chance.”

Yes, another chance at life with her pod in the open ocean where she belongs.

I think we should also know that if one of a couple of major marine zoos on this continent could get their hands on her. She would have been airlifted to a cement bathtub for the rest of her life, and to hell with her pod.

This is one of those great stories about human contact with other living beings on this earth that we ought to be proud of. And it is one more reason not to pay a ticket to walk through the gates of a marine circus park that degrades the lives and intelligence of these wonderful creatures.

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