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 »

Around the world, I am sure the whale community is aware that they now have friends in Switzerland!

In an amazing and yet sane move by the Swiss government, officials have now banned the keeping of Dolphins in zoo aquariums in Switzerland.

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 »

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 »

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.

In a recent blog of mine, I alerted you all to a recent change of possible events with a Humpback Whale being spotted in Madasgascar.

One of my readers asked, “is this dangerous?”

Interesting point. It is of no danger to the whale, in one sense. But my experience with some scientists and researchers is that they are very “set” in how they view things. When an unusual event occurs they immediately hypothesize, opinionate, etc., as to what could possibly be “wrong” with a whale being spotted in Madagascar.

Scientists, researchers and man know what is wrong with whales and dolphins. They have been monitoring whale migrations for years. They also have been tracking the numbers of whales each year and know that the whale population is decreasing, due to man. That is the danger. That is why all whales are endangered. Read the rest of this entry »

I just found a site which listens and records whale songs going on at this very minute! And you can listen to them right now, too!

The cool thing is that you can listen to whales right from your computer desktop, thanks to a new website.

The LIDO (Listening to the Deep Ocean Environment) site offers a live feed to 10 hydrophones sprinkled around European waters, and one in Canada. Several more are scheduled to come soon in Canada and in Asia.

The network’s primary aim is to record and archive long-term subsea noise so that researchers can study the effects of human activity on whales and dolphins. Read the rest of this entry »

Today I ran across a wonderful BBC video clip which actually is a simply wonderful little story in itself:

“World free-diving champion Tanya Streeter spends two weeks diving with humpback whales in the Turks and Caicos Islands as they migrate southward. In this short animal video, she examines the tail flutes that are as destinctive as a human finger print and takes a closer look at the amazing methods a mother humpback whale uses to teach her young calf how to breathe underwater. Brilliant footage from BBC sea life show ‘Diving with Whales’.”

I would like to correct it though.

Read the rest of this entry »

Most creatures are hunted for their food value to our own survival.

Yet researchers, more and more, realize that whales are social animals. Whales have a social structure, they care for their young and train them in many ways similar to our own. Whales also communicate and are able to traverse long distances without losing their way.

One could say salmon do this as well. But salmon are not mammals, nor do they exhibit any of the above. The only other animals that exhibit this are dolphins, and they are hunted too!

At some point in time, scientifically, man will have the breakthrough of learning and understanding the whale song and dolphin language. We know it exists and it is documented. I have had the gift of hearing them. Why? I don’t know, but I do hear them.

What do we do when we actually can communicate with them?

Read the rest of this entry »

It’s one thing for me to blog about my personal stories about interspecies communication such as whale communication and dolphin communication.

Or whales talking.

It’s another to hear it from a completely different part of the world.

Recently in New Zealand, rescuers were attempting to save a whale and it’s calf from being stranded on the shoreline, but without success.

As it turns out the whales were sending out distress signals, which was picked up by a nearby dolphin. The dolphin came quite close to the rescuers and the whales and was able to calm the two whales down.

The dolphin had to recognize that the two whales were endangered. Why? Well, once the whales calmed down, the dolphin then guided the whales out of the small lagoon to safety and freedom.

You can see it here on: Read the rest of this entry »