Orphaned Orca Luna killed by Tug/lots of issues here

[beskeptical]

For those of you not familiar with this story, Luna was a killer whale juvenile that was orphaned in Puget Sound a few years back. He was separated from his pod at the same time. He was found because he sought out small boats for companions. Ohh, this is so sad. :cry: People petted him and he rubbed up against the boats all too often. A campaign was mounted to get people to stop encouraging him but lots of people still could not resist.

Here's an editorial (http://www.canada.com/topics/news/national/story.html?id=ac4448e0-d53c-49ae-a4d1-6a6926d7343b) about misguided human contact with wild animals.

Later a group raised some money to try to re-unite him with his pod, but being the stupid humans we are,That effort was scrapped when a local group of Native Americans lured Luna away from the net pen intended to snare him. The Mowachaht/Muchalaht First Nation believed the orca embodied the spirit of their dead chief, Ambrose Maquinna, and did not want him forcibly removed.Unbelievable stupidity and selfishness even if they did believe Luna was the reincarnation of their chief. :evil: The whale obviously was very lonely.

So now, to no surprise, Killer whale Luna apparently killed by tugboat propeller (http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2002858136_luna11m.html) Lonely and apparently seeking contact, the whale had damaged and disabled several boats over the years. Lately, he had been gathering scars from increasingly frequent close calls with propellers, but apparently he had no serious injuries.No serious injuries until now that is. What a sad story. :cry:

[The Supreme Canuck]

At the risk of sounding crass, Luna was just a whale.

Things like this (http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20060308/afghan_template_060310/20060310?hub=CTVNewsAt11) and this (http://thechronicleherald.ca/Canada/489217.html) seem a little more important to me.

[beskeptical]

At the risk of sounding crass, Luna was just a whale.

Things like this (http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20060308/afghan_template_060310/20060310?hub=CTVNewsAt11) and this (http://thechronicleherald.ca/Canada/489217.html) seem a little more important to me.You don't have the capacity for concern about multiple things at once?

Actually, you have a point which I myself agree when I see millions raised to save an animal while children die of inexpensive vaccine preventable diseases or dirty water for example. I did say there were multiple issues here.

Poor little lonely baby whales are still tearjerkers.

[The Supreme Canuck]

You don't have the capacity for concern about multiple things at once?

Certainly, but this story has been hyped out of proportion. Anything that has to do with an animal is apparently news. Genocide and starvation apparently are not. I've had enough of that. So, sure, this is sad. But I won't lose sleep over it. There are things much more important to be worried about.

Actually, you have a point which I myself agree when I see millions raised to save an animal while children die of inexpensive vaccine preventable diseases or dirty water for example. I did say there were multiple issues here.

Poor little lonely baby whales are still tearjerkers.

My thoughts exactly.

[Kristophe]

At the risk of sounding crass, all three are simply individuals killed in isolated incidents. Things like medical and environmental reserach are a little more important to me.

[The Supreme Canuck]

At the risk of sounding crass, all three are simply individuals killed in isolated incidents. Things like medical and environmental reserach are a little more important to me.

Sure. I just pulled the first human deaths that I could find off of Google News. This (http://ca.today.reuters.com/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=topNews&storyID=2006-03-10T224757Z_01_L10378228_RTRIDST_0_NEWS-SUDAN-COL.XML&archived=False) is the sort of thing I was going for.

[sarongsong]

The whales aren't exactly doing themselves in as man's inhumanity-to-man proclivities demonstrate.
Another unfortunate encounter, this with humpbacks and hopefully non-fatal:
March 11, 2006
"Federal officials are investigating a collision between a whale, her calf and a whale-watching vessel...in the Hawaiian Islands Humpback Whale National Marine Sanctuary..." Star-Bulletin (http://starbulletin.com/2006/03/11/news/story04.html)

[Krevel]

According to the best info that I could find, the world orca population is about 10,000 to 40,000. Current human population: about 6.5 billion. So, the basic law of supply and demand would indicate that an orca life is much more valuable than a human life.

Ok, a bit of sarcasm there, but the point is that we're awash in human misery and easily inured to it. Personally, I find it encouraging that people are able to care about anything other than themselves.

(Wow. I'm more cynical than usual this morning!)

[Melusine]

I have much to say about this, especially regarding the animism of Native Indians, Polynesians, Hawaiians, et al, and how that affects current issues of fishing. I'm a big Jaques Cousteau fan, and he had some interesting things to say about it, plus there was just something on TV about past shark attacks in Hawaii and the disastrous attempts to solve the problem--in this case, the Hawaiians' reverence to their very important shark god was the right answer, though for the wrong reasons.

Another issue near to my heart, is the manatees in Florida. It was fun sitting in my kayak petting them, but they were drawn to the dock because of stupid people feeding them over the years. They aren't smart animals--they won't forage elsewhere if people do that.

Supreme, I greatly respect your opinion, but as Beskep said, we can care about many things at once. I get a bit ticked off when people say, "We could spend that money on saving children, instead of saving a whale, "Or there are more important things to worry about." To you there are more important things to focus your attention on, but to me I notice all of them--whale, hostage, genocide...they all get equal care and attention in my mind.

I disagree with Beskep about the money issue--that's no different than the SETI or spending-money-on-space-probes-starving-kids issue. There's plenty of money to go around (see my SETI post). In two weeks I will spend just about every hour from Friday to Sunday raising money for vaccines for poor kids. I give my personal money to animals. So be it.

Poor little lonely baby whales are still tearjerkers.
I have to go to the store, can't elaborate, but I'll leave you with my emotional reaction to the baby orca with something I had to write for class in early 3rd grade.


Me The Whale

Hi! I'm a huge whale that lives in the sea. My name is Tilly. I am a very big whale. I'm afraid of people. My mother and father died. I'm very lonely. So I just swim around and catch little fishes. My Aunt Whalea is in another sea and I can't find my way back to her. I see people on their boats too.

Your friend,
Tilly

[Donnie B.]

That's pretty darn touching, Melusine. I know some adults who wish they could write something that powerful.

It reminds me a bit of the book The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time. Have you read it? Well worth checking out.

[beskeptical]

...
I disagree with Beskep about the money issue--that's no different than the SETI or spending-money-on-space-probes-starving-kids issue. There's plenty of money to go around (see my SETI post). .....I don't disagree with this.

When a single sad animal story earns millions in donations or when millions are spent on an 11oz premie (human) or when someone lavishes their dog with luxury, it is a reminder that those human tragedies are out there and forgotten. Sometimes the efforts do get a bit carried away to save an animal and the disproportion in effort for cause becomes more visible.

I felt the loneliness of this young animal. That's what brought the sadness to me about its plight. Then having the equivalent of a religious belief interfere with the science of protecting it or alleviating its distress was particularly troublesome.

The world is full of tragedy. But a child alone is so sad. And these animals, as well as many in the animal kingdom, are family animals. Their loneliness can be as great as any human's.

[The Supreme Canuck]

Supreme, I greatly respect your opinion, but as Beskep said, we can care about many things at once. I get a bit ticked off when people say, "We could spend that money on saving children, instead of saving a whale, "Or there are more important things to worry about." To you there are more important things to focus your attention on, but to me I notice all of them--whale, hostage, genocide...they all get equal care and attention in my mind.

I'm not saying don't care about the whale. I'm saying both that there are bigger issues and that the media rearely reports tham. Big, dumb, cute animals always take centre stage. I also just value a human life more than a whale's.

[Melusine]

That's pretty darn touching, Melusine. I know some adults who wish they could write something that powerful.

It reminds me a bit of the book The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time. Have you read it? Well worth checking out.
Thanks Donnie, I copied it verbatim (thus the short, choppy sentence structure) except that in the paper I spelled "their" as "there." My teacher wrote "Excellent, read to the class." The assignment was to write a short letter pretending we were some animal. Lol.

Yes, I read that book last July when my sister, who now teaches 8th grade, gave it to me. I loved it! It has been discussed here on BAUT with favorable responses. In fact, they've reissued it, as I saw it in hardcover in the bookstore. I have a lot of animal and nature-related escapades and stories from 2 years old on. I identified with loneliness at a very young age, thus my mother found me at 2 1/2 years old sitting in the middle of the road with a rock. She asked me why and I replied, "Because the rock looked lonely." It was unusual for a rock to be in the middle of our very clean streets--it must have been rolled downhill by a kid. I drove my mother nuts, lol.

Other favorite books that identify with loneliness are:

Alice in Wonderland
The Little Prince
The Secret Garden
A Wrinkle in Time


Beskeptical: When a single sad animal story earns millions in donations or when millions are spent on an 11oz premie (human) or when someone lavishes their dog with luxury, it is a reminder that those human tragedies are out there and forgotten. Sometimes the efforts do get a bit carried away to save an animal and the disproportion in effort for cause becomes more visible

Yup, when someone shot a lost Beluga whale in Long Island Sound, a big reward was put out immediately. I suppose it's because these animals aren't able to fix problems like we do, yet at times for all our human advancement, we can be incredibly stupid. The nature of man. I've always had animals, but we never spoiled them. My cats get toys to keep them entertained (since I'm cooping them up on in an apartment), but I was just at the pet store today, and some of the pet-psychobabble books are so silly, and in CA they have those pet gourmet cafes...puh-leaze!

Reminder that human tragedies are forgotten: I recall the tour of the Newport, RI mansions and this little tidbit of poor judgment. New York papers were furious. I just did a random search--my book describes the party in more lavish terms...uniformed servants, three courses, a foot-high mahagony table for the 100 dogs, the dogs had to wear tuxedos and tutus...and this was at the height of The Depression. Yeah, I'd have been thoroughly disgusted, too.

Harry Lehr along with Mrs. Fish (his principal patron) kept the socialites amused. They gave parties and balls, and became well-known for giving parties which were "different." At one party, the guests of honor were dogs. The owners ate at a separate table while the dogs were served a three course doggie dinner. On one memorable occasion, Mrs. Fish and Harry Lehr gave a party in honor of the Prince del Drago. The Prince turned out to be a monkey in full evening dress. The partygoers thought it was all a great joke, but escapades like these got out in the press and regular people (who were trying to weather a depression) were Not Amused.
http://www.likesbooks.com/newport.html


Sorry, I'm chatty today. :lol:

[sarongsong]

...when I see millions raised to save an animal...Poor little lonely baby whales are still tearjerkers.No money spent here...and happy tears, for a change:...the story of a miraculous ocean encounter that happened to her when she was 17...She was swimming her last half-mile back to the pier before heading home for breakfast when she became aware that something was swimming with her. The ocean was charged with energy as if a squall were moving in; thousands of baby anchovy darted through the water like lit sparklers, trying to evade something larger... San Diego Reader (http://www.sdreader.com/published/current/reading.html)