There had to be a way for humans to coexist with the right whales.
October 26, 2014 2:47 PM   Subscribe

Chasing Bayla
Biologist Michael Moore had waited all day — really, all his life — for the whale to surface, the suffering giant he thought he could save, that science had to save. It had come down to this.
posted by andoatnp (7 comments total) 15 users marked this as a favorite
 
Unbearable. We have so badly lost our way as a species.
posted by DarlingBri at 3:10 PM on October 26, 2014 [5 favorites]


Haunting and yet just a bit hopeful--the care, compassion science and work put forth leaves an element of hope. Thanks for a moving read
posted by rmhsinc at 3:56 PM on October 26, 2014 [1 favorite]


Michael Moore is doing his best to be a good steward. For that, he has my unyielding respect.

I often worry about how we, as humans, treat the natural world around all that which we have wrought. I see how we treat each other. I see that we merely make platitudes towards sustainability and conservation... all the while the wealth of such bounty is further concentrated into the hands of those who continue to wield power... leaving our collective hands tied. All of our achievements built upon extraction and exploitation...

It is in those times that I have come to know... that we never lost our way.

This is the only way that we choose to know.

I have seen whales off the coast of Jacksonville and Saint Augustine... I have seen dolphins playing in rolling surf... I have stared at the endless expanse of stars from the sands of the Guana Tolomato Matanzas National Estuarine Reserve... as the beacon from the south swept across the sky.

I want to save all of this splendor and beauty. I want these gentle giants of the oceans to thrive, to live, and to play... long after our kind is a distant fading memory.

I fear that we will take so much beauty away from here in our long slog to slaughter ourselves.
posted by PROD_TPSL at 5:56 PM on October 26, 2014 [6 favorites]


Moving article, thank you. Interesting timing, I just signed up on Friday to be notified (via email) of potential right whale sightings along East Coast.
posted by foxhat10 at 6:20 PM on October 26, 2014 [1 favorite]


Thank you for sharing this. Inspiring stuff I can use everyday.
posted by Mike Mongo at 8:04 PM on October 26, 2014


Tragic.

Recently I sat for an hour up on the cliffs of Point Dume in California watching a whale and her calf cavort in the sea below ... off in the distance a group of paddle surfers anxious to see the whales from an even closer vantage point paddled furiously our way, the whales moved on as they approached, the magic hour ended. However amazing it was, it was also another small reminder that the planet is ready for a break a from us.
posted by specialk420 at 8:44 PM on October 26, 2014 [1 favorite]


specialk420: "the whales moved on as they approached"

Damn! I was SO hoping for a story about a furious smackdown from mama whale.
posted by InsertNiftyNameHere at 8:58 PM on October 26, 2014 [2 favorites]


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