The Non-Ordinary – Part II: Connecting With Animals – Whales

Humpback's Pectoral Fin

The bones inside the pectoral fin of the humpback whale have the same structure as the human hand. I heard an interspecies handshake story while I was in Hawaii on a research trip. Whalers Village Museum in Lahaina, on the island of Maui has a detailed photographic history of whaling in the islands that I felt I had to see.

There was a lecturer there the day I visited. She was from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, full of facts and figures but the thing that has stuck with me was her anecdotal story of a diver friend of hers. While on a photograph dive he had an unexpected visit from a humpback whale.

The whale, arriving eye first as if sizing him up, passed him by. As he did so, the diver sensed an eerie sweeping sensation. He realized he had been “scooped up” by the pectoral fin and given a ride.

A short time after that incident, the diver was again in these same waters and thought, OK, Let’s see what happens now. It wasn’t long before a humpback (Could it be the same one?) came up and gave him a quick light tap in his shoulder with his pectoral fin. Though the diver considered the “handshake” an honor, his shoulder and arm were badly bruised for quite some time. Even underwater a fifteen-ton handshake can be a bit much.

That story was especially odd in the context of that museum. The photos on display had contained graphic stories, depictions of the slaughter of whales, the decks awash with blood and mangled body parts being discarded as refuse. These stories side by side; thoughtless, unabated slaughter and a budding interspecies friendship underlined some things for me.

We tend to think friend or foe, or at least friend as opposed to an object which we may use at will.

Dualistic thinking and binary choice is the main, and at times seemingly the only structure we’ve been given to work with in the West. Yet it’s important to recognized that when we are forced to think either/or, we become limited, locked in and our perspective immediately narrows. Sadly, our brain is just not hardwired to think both/and. It’s like we’ve been backed into a corner, especially in our relationship with the earth and it’s inhabitants. We often feel like we have to choose between “progress” and preserving the sanctity of other living beings.

Many indigenous peoples have shown us how to interact with the natural world in a way that is honoring, has a built-in respect and even has a basis for relationship. Having the ability to gratefully receive resources from the earth and its inhabitants and at the same time honor and respect the sanctity of life, that is something we need to learn more about.

The lesson has to do with humility. We know little about what it means to be sentient. We know little about what different species may be trying to communicate to us and what contribution they are making to our lives.

Years ago we knew very little about the ecosystem, how one creature can change everything. Now we know. Years ago we didn’t know it wasn’t right to destroy every whale in the deep ocean. As much as Herman Melville, author of Moby Dick and one time whaler, loved the whale and had a deep respect for its majesty, he didn’t understand that it was wrong to kill wantonly. Now we know.

How might we grow in our respect for the sanctity of life?

Writing Prompt for the Week: Beyond Either/Or