Summary: A mother Gray Whale, known for her affection toward human visitors, is found with a 125 year old harpoon in her back.
Why It's a Mind Blow: Humans usually assume that we are the most intelligent species on planet Earth and yes, we do have the highest capacity for cognitive reasoning. But dictionary.com defines intelligence more broadly, as the "capacity for learning, reasoning, understanding, and similar forms of mental activity; aptitude in grasping truths, relationships, facts, meanings, etc."
Why It's a Mind Blow: Humans usually assume that we are the most intelligent species on planet Earth and yes, we do have the highest capacity for cognitive reasoning. But dictionary.com defines intelligence more broadly, as the "capacity for learning, reasoning, understanding, and similar forms of mental activity; aptitude in grasping truths, relationships, facts, meanings, etc."
"Aptitude for grasping truths"; this phrase resonates with me. For what deeper truth has history taught us than the necessity of forgiveness as a cornerstone of progress and ultimately, survival.
And yet, even as we may realize this intellectually, our track record as a species seems to suggest that we lack the deeper intelligence necessary to put that knowledge into practice. Humans hold grudges. As societies, we go to war on the basis of millenia old transgressions and, as individuals, we often go to our graves with bitterness in our hearts.
So we have a lot to learn from Gray Whales. Before the end of commercial whaling in North America, these gentle giants were actually known as "devil fish". They were easy targets in the shallow waters off the coast of Mexico, and in order to protect their newborn calves, mother Grays would often ram whaling boats head on.
Now under protection, these birthing grounds are visited by thousands of "eco-tourists" every year. The whales, young and old, often swim right up to small craft and allow people to pet them.
One such mother Gray, famous for her generous and playful interactions with human visitors, recently passed away. In her back, scientists discovered a 125 year old harpoon head. This creature, once labeled a devil fish for her defensive attacks against human aggressors, was now one of our most trusting friends.
"Aptitude for grasping truths; capacity for understanding." I'll let you decide where intelligence truly lies in our world.
Sources:
http://janegoodallhopeforanimals.com/exclusive-content/saved-in-the-eleventh-hour/thane%E2%80%99s-field-notes/pacific-gray-whale-eschrichtius-robustus/http://video.pbs.org/video/2203913542
www.brandoncole.com
Everything you wrote was good and appropriate, however, I find myself thinking about the number of years that have passed since this whale had the incident with the whaling ship. If the harpoon is 125 years old, we can't tell how long, exactly it has been in her back, but we can assume it was fired and hit her fairly early after it was created. How long was it in her? 100 years? 120 years? It is amazing to think about the events this creature lived through. That harpoon has been in its back since the Reconstruction Era in the United States. Spanish American War. World War I. Great Depression. World War II. Korea. Atom and Hydrogen Bombs. Vietnam. All of the events connected to the present. Remarkable.
ReplyDeleteI know what you mean, Jay. One of the interesting things about this story is that we were never really sure how long these whales lived. Obviously, quite a while! In fact, it was recently discovered that Northern Minke Whales may live as long as 200 years, and a clam was found and dated at 400 years old, the oldest known living animal. Imagine, that clam was born right around the time Samuel Champlain was exploring Vermont, (an probably around the time the Barney clan first settled here :)
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