One evening almost sixty years ago, a Tufts University researcher named Roger Payne was working in his lab when he heard a radio report about a whale that had washed up on a beach nearby. Although it was a cold, wet March night, he decided to drive to the shore. When he arrived, he discovered that the animal had been mutilated. Two passersby had carved their initials in its flanks. Someone had hacked off its flukes, and another person, or perhaps the same one, had stuck a cigar butt in its blowhole. Payne stood in the rain for a long time, gazing at the corpse. He had been studying moths; now he decided to switch his attention to cetaceans.
Aside from the dead one, Payne had never actually seen a whale, nor did he know where whales could be observed. At the suggestion of an acquaintance, he made his way to Bermuda. There he met an engineer who had worked for the United States Navy, monitoring Soviet submarines via microphones installed off the coast. While listening […]
so Cool Roger Payne was my biology professor at Tufts back in 1967 – I know this story- thanks
So true, about human perception being just “one of millions”, in addition to intercultural differences in perception. If we became more humble and were able to see ourselves as one component of the environment, we would open the door to the way animals enhance our world, enrich our experience here, on Earth. This dominionistic attitude toward nature is probably to blame for the species’ extinction. Such a shame to see species, like whales disappear. They are not a threat to humans, it’s the opposite…
What a fascinating article! At first, tears stung my eyes to read about the whale carcass, and more so the lowest form and consciousness of our human species. Animals and insects are so willing to communicate, if we just open our minds – and hearts. Bees will step onto a paper towel for a ride out of the house. Crows and Wrens will “laugh” at you, as you try to play copy this whistle with them. Highly intuitive Hummingbirds and Finches show gratitude when you agree to be a provider – and anger when you forget.
A covey of Dove will caravan behind you a few miles as you drive away from your home if you’ll notice.
We somehow know what our Dogs and Cats are saying to us easily, yet deep inside, I think we are just beginning to realize what the largest sentinels of Earths ocean, are trying to say to us.
I used to have three Starling birds living in my home, each in their own cages. They had flown down my chimney and out through the opening over the water heater which gave them just enough room to get through. The first on we called “Peanut” because he liked to eat peanut butter. The second one we called Chestnut, and the third we called Walnut. We got along fine with them and they loved us just as my dear wife Barbara and I loved them. It was the start of winter and the weather was cold and we figured they just wanted to find a home where it was warmer, and we shared our home with them, giving them various types of food, Some of the food they liked {like peanut butter} and some they did not like. So, we gave them what they liked. We had a bond with them and communicated with them without words. We just had a sort of mental telepathy sort of way to communicate. We had them for quite a few years, until their short lifespans were over, one by one.
P.S.: I also wanted to relay an experience that happened back in 1995 when my neighbor gave me a big fish tank with a large Piranha fish inside it. He actually gave it to us a couple of years earlier and we fed him small Goldfish for food. He died in 1995 and the two little Goldfish were fed Goldfish food and I cleaned their tank and filters regularly and they grew and grew until now they are still alive and are almost as big as that large Piranha was when the Piranha passed away. The Goldfish are now my only family members living with me and I still love them after 27 years. I have no idea how old they get, but I will keep taking care of them and hope they are still alive when I die. In my will (I am 75 years old now) and I have set aside a provision that the Goldfish be taken care of properly. I have no idea how long their typical lifespan is, but it is obviously very long as long as they are taken care of properly.