A bottlenose dolphin, with an S-shaped spinal deformity, is seen here rubbing against a sperm whale. Photograph courtesy Alexander Wilson and Aquatic Mammals

Recently an article written by Linda Poon, of the National Geographic news, covered what has been a rare interspecies event between a deformed bottle-nosed dolphin and sperm whales off the coast of the Azores.

Reading through the article, it was interesting the theories, ideas and thoughts expressed by biologists and behavioral “greats” about whales. I say this because there was too much significance placed into the idea that interspecies events such as these are rare in a marine setting, that there was more emphasis on “why” rather than noting the event and recognizing that cetaceans are social, caring and self-aware.

Mind you, none of these “specialists” have the ability to communicate directly with these creatures, yet they have lots of opinions about it! In a completely different area yet similar, as an artist, I have experienced business executives working with me on a creative project. They may know nothing about art, but they certainly have many opinions about it! Read the rest of this entry »

Although a great family movie, the Big Miracle misses the big picture.

Although for some it is very old news, I saw the film “Big Miracle”, based on a true life story about three endangered Pacific Grey Whales trapped in Alaska and the rescue efforts to save them. The unfortunate thing is that the real message was watered down and overlooked!

As is usual with scriptwriters, the story was “much to do with Hollywood” and altered from the real story. The movie, although moving and portraying the mindsets of the people and cultures affected by the “whales plight”, did touch but touch upon the realities of current Inupiat life and the lust for power by oil barons.

The only ones not really represented or understood were the ones the story was really all about – whales! Read the rest of this entry »

A Whale of a Time?

I don’t usually post other people’s blogs, but if you are living in the L.A. area, take a ride to the Santa Monica pier and join in the festivities:

On February 18th and 19th our aquarium under the Santa Monica Pier will be hosting “A Whale of a Weekend,” celebrating the annual gray whale migration along our coast. Read the rest of this entry »

Some times I amazed at the press and their PR antics.

You see this all too often. Sensationalism done for notoriety's sake.

Earlier this week, a YouTube video caught the eyes of people all over the internet world. The video captured two things if you look closely: the creation of a ‘bubble net’ used by Humpback whales to corral fish they are about to eat, and then the actual surfacing, or breaching, of Humpback whales between two kayakers and a woman on a paddle board.

It was a rare shot and actually a good one. But then the Press loves controversy:

“Woman Almost Swallowed by Whale!”

Well, sort of. Nearly doesn’t really say that she was swallowed. But anyone reading the headline bites the proverbial lie and goes to the site where such an untruth has been dealt. Read the rest of this entry »

Recently there was an article stating that whales might be using celestial mechanics on their yearly migratory routes.

The article noted that after an eight-year study, the migratory patterns varied by less than 5 degrees!

Previously it had been thought that whales followed geo-magnetic patterns or sun tracking mechanisms. However in turbulent waters neither method actually works.

The question begins to rise – just how smart are whales?

We already know that whales now do have names for each other. We also know that the females experience menopause just as humans do. And then there are varying social hierarchies with the pods of whales. Additionally whales have been videoed training their young to hold their breath under water, as that is not a natural-born trait and must be learned.

Read the rest of this entry »

There are fewer than 130 Western Gray whales in existence

Just this past week, Russian officials have argued for sustainable fishing of whitefish. In one sense that is a big move. But not a big move for whales.

But oil is another thing. As long as countries are now being forced into discovering their own resources for their own energy crisis, I believe such arguments will fall on deaf ears. That does not make it right, especially when recent studies now show food chains being turned upside down with whales being killed. There is now a direct correlation of krill populations and fish populations linked to living whales.

But when you have a country forced into the energy game by world banks and nations at war those environmental concerns go out the door, when honestly, those concerns should be first. Whales fall somewhere dead last.

Where are the minds that can create alternative fuel resources? We have been lead to believe whales are nothing but fish or food, when scientists are now discovering whales have their own language and social orders. They even use quantum physics in their songs. And where non-threatened actually interact with man in quite profound ways. So if we have been lied to at that level, why are we all so quick to jump on the energy band wagon, tearing up our natural resources?

It boils down to the fact that those in charge of the acceptable energy methods “have the gold” and they won’t wean us off of oil until they have “had their fill” of all men’s pockets.

And it is not just the oil companies. Notice how you suddenly get more fuel efficient cars – and yet suddenly oil prices escalate?

Well, there is no such thing as a reality TV show (it’s all scripted), so why should it be any different on the outside?

Think about it.

A Gray Whale Juvenile looking out from the water at the boat

As a few of you may have already read about my trip, I have been promising (and been asked) for more pictures and more video.

So here is my first “crack” at a video (call it more a teaser trailer) of an overview of my trip:

The Whales of Baja from Jon Soeder on Vimeo.

To reiterate, in was an incredibly profound adventure and specifically for two reasons.

The first is that the whales came to us in the boat. We had no food, nothing of value that they wanted. But they still came and gently played beneath our boat and throughout the short visit, lift their huge head to look at us and to be touched by a human hand. That is profound in itself, simply because I don’t know where on earth a 40 ton mammal will do that!

I don’t believe any mammal except man that comes close. I don’t even think man does that with other races, much less his own. These mammoth beings could turn the boat over and wreak havoc on the participants. Instead, they lounge and play about the boat. They are gentle and peaceful. And for those skeptics, well, you will have to see for yourselves. Eight people on a boat witnessed this.

And that is not all.

The females with their calves (children) brought them (2 months old – 3 tons) to the boat. In two separate instances and on two separate days, with two different females, the females PUSHED their babies to our boats. They each lifted their children up to the surface! You could look through the clear water and watch this phenomena.

Suddenly you had a “baby” looking at you. And it was looking at YOU! The instinct was to reach out and touch it. And the baby allowed you, responding to your touch by letting you continue to touch it!

There are those of you who call these creatures wild animals. Well, I have to tell you, you are quite mistaken. We treat them as caged animals in Seaworld. BTW, Seaworld has nothing on this – wild whales that let you come up and touch them!

But these whales are free.

A friend of mine asked my why would a whale do this. Well I will tell you what I know.

Gray Whales know that man is now responsible for their ultimate survival.

And so the logical solution is to demonstrate their peacefulness to us – that they wish us no harm. And so they even bring their children to us to touch and possibly bond. And maybe, just maybe, some men and women will take that idea back and help give them a chance at life and living free.

I would love to call myself a romanticist. That would be easy and it would be the end of my story and my experience. Probably some of my readers (more astute and learned) will scoff at my statements. But when a whale comes to you, looks at YOU, and lets you touch it, for me there is no other explanation.

We owe whales a chance at being free, just like we are free. We need to cease the harvesting and hunting of whales.

What do Gray Whales, Japanese & US PR, and killer whales have in common?

Before I answer that question, let’s look at a bit of background “current events”.

Recently the California Gray Whale Coalition put together and extensive report /petition (with the aid of the Mexican government) of documented evidence that the number of Gray Whale calves have been downtrending for at least the past ten years.

What does that  mean?

Well, for one, it means that the Gray Whale population is actually decreasing in size.

The truth is, of the populations studied throughout the world, the only Gray Whale population promoted by the US and Japan as healthy and thriving is the Pacific Gray Whale.

First of all, actual “counts” are speculations at best. It is like looking into a large crowd and then writing that over ten thousand people attended, when in fact it was actually half that number. What the Mexican government and scientists have discovered is that the whales are far thinner and have less calves. And this is documented by several independent creditable sources.

Second of all, Sea Shepherd is actually creating an impact on Japan’s illegal whaling in Antarctica.

And I say illegal, because even Japan’s newspaper columnists state the fact that whales are killed through a loophole for research, while the meat is sold on the open Japanese market. In recent weeks it was exposed by Wikileaks that Japan was telling the U.S. that the Sea Shepherd was actually interfering with their whaling in the Southern Seas.  Japan’s hunt for whales may be curtailed in the next years because of the tremendous ship, manpower and fuel costs which are not turning a profit.

So where would Japan go for more whales? For one, Iceland. But also the Pacific Ocean.

US PR has stated that Gray Whales are on the rise in the Pacific and took them off the Endangered Species list. The above petition was submitted to the US Marine Services and it was denied, even though independent resources advised the USMR to consider the claims as real! Is there a connection? What do you think?

Then it comes to Killer Whales. As if Gray Whales do not have enough problems staying healthy (krill counts are way down throughout the world) their calves are sought after by Killer Whales. This is a natural thing. However it means that Gray Whales have no respite from man or another species.

Add to the fact several other points. One is that Gray Whales used to exist in the millions and now in about 20 thousand (I suspect the actual reporting counts).  Another point is that Killer Whales are not hunted by any country, and so it’s population is actually on a dramatic increase. So more calves are eaten. And with less of a whale population, the species dwindles toward extinction.

Third point. I mentioned earlier that scientists around the world have discovered huge decreases in krill.

That is due to man’s overfishing and of a lesser known fact: whale feces.

You see, when then whales were a larger population (millions), their feces fed plankton, which in turn fed small crustaceans including krill.

Less whales, less plankton, less krill. And you thought you had to be a rocket scientist to figure that out.

Go to the head of the class.

Finally, Japan has expressed an interest in hunting the Pacific Gray Whales, as they are a “sustainable species”.

Well, if you have read my earlier blogs, I believe the Japanese are tremendous “wordmeisters”. They use words that appear correct, but their actual definition use is different. In this case I believe it refers to how much whale meat they can keep reasonably full in their refrigerators. The word “sustainable” actually has nothing to do with a species surviving. It is the same with “research”. In this case research might mean “to find out how much whale meat we can get into our food lockers before the world gets wise to us.” That definition works for me. How about you?

In the not to distant future we will see the Gray Whale population (for that matter all whales) with less than 1,000 throughout the world, our seas barren of fish, recognize that they have been in jeopardy by governments who turn a blind eye for diplomatic or financial favors.

And at that time, as with the lion, the rhino and the panda, the meat, skin, horns and teeth will be more valuable to people than the live creature. Poachers will kill the remaining creatures. It is happening today.

And our children will only see them in videos and hear their songs from a digital recording.

There are letters being generated at this moment to send to the President of the United States to save whales.

There was some uneventful discussion to open the minds of Japanese Whaling fisherman in Taiji. Both won’t do the job. And I don’t think confrontations blockades will either.

Why?

“The pen is mightier than the sword!”

Although the phrase is taken from a play in 1839 called Richelieu by Lytton, it is quite true.

If we are to beat the Japanese on their own terms as well as Denmark, good blogsites and websites need to be created in their language and then heavily optimized which enlighten people about whales. You see, if we talk to them in our language, English, we really don’t have their attention. Additionally, the internet is an open communication line. It really can’t be blocked, or, at least not yet. Read the rest of this entry »

I know that there are some people that do care.

In a recent article from Vancouver, Canada:

Small baby gray whale looking out of the water to see who is looking at it.

“Yesterday evening, while sun set over English Bay, a few hundred people were treated to a whale show. A gray whale has been in English Bay for the past few days and widely reported in the news. But what a few people got to see last night was a close encounter. The whale has been seen regularly between Kits Beach and Siwash Rock in Stanley Park.

Gray whales have distinctive markings on their backs that whale biologists have photographed for years and assembled into catalogues. With these catalogues, individuals can be identified and their locations mapped. Over time, a pattern emerges of where individual whales reside. Gray whales are showing up regularly in the inner waters of the south coast and they are starting to use new areas such as Vancouver Harbour. By getting the photographs, we might learn whether the same individuals return to the same beaches. These animals could be the vanguard of a recovery of the species to waters of the south coast. Read the rest of this entry »