JeepMike
11-17-2008, 11:19 PM
Hey guys,
Just wondering what your thoughts were on the assembly of people that show up and attempt to "save" beached whales? Have you ever thought about this; waded through the romantic, fluffy bunny side of it and thought about just what the hell it is these people are doing? It's a noggin scratcher for me.
I understand why scientist rush down to a beached whale as this presents a wonderful opportunity for research. But for the "whale teams" of people that drop every thing they are doing in their hometowns 500 miles away, haul ass to splash buckets of water on a beached whale, try to push it back in the water, and then stare condescendingly to anyone who dares just walk/drive by; what the hell are they doing? It's like they think they are the freakin "A Team" or something. Just this summer a baby sperm whale beached himself in Avon, and I went to check things out.
Well the "whale team" had assembled and had "taken over" the area. There was some guy that seemed to be in charge of this whole ordeal barking orders like they were about to launch a rocket into space. I began asking questions and a few of them had comments such as "Well are you going to just talk, or help", and "sorry, (panting for breath), can't talk now", or a "if your not helping go away".
Last time I checked it wasn't my responsibility to keep a whale from swimming his a$$ on the beach, it was HIS!! When someone with credentials from ECU finally showed up he told me that the overwhelming majority of these are whales that beach themselves are dying or very sick and will die soon.
Well the "A Team" did get him back in the water and cheered with delight but then freaked out again when the whale made an abrupt U turn before the 2nd bar and beach himself again!!! Then it was panic, and some of them even cried when it died and someone showed up to cut the body up and bury it.
I would certainly help any critter I could if it was in apparent unnatural distress, so I don't want to come across as a heartless fella.
What the hell is going on here? Yes, if 1,000 whales showed up on a beach one day in distress that would be sad, but I can't see why people would be so bent out of shape over one whale doing something perfectly natural.
These people remind me alot of the storm chasers out west, most of them are morons that just want a glimpse of the wild side and do so in the name of weather spotting, making the pros look bad.
Sorry for the rant, but thats what the lounge is for right?
Just wondering what your thoughts were on the assembly of people that show up and attempt to "save" beached whales? Have you ever thought about this; waded through the romantic, fluffy bunny side of it and thought about just what the hell it is these people are doing? It's a noggin scratcher for me.
I understand why scientist rush down to a beached whale as this presents a wonderful opportunity for research. But for the "whale teams" of people that drop every thing they are doing in their hometowns 500 miles away, haul ass to splash buckets of water on a beached whale, try to push it back in the water, and then stare condescendingly to anyone who dares just walk/drive by; what the hell are they doing? It's like they think they are the freakin "A Team" or something. Just this summer a baby sperm whale beached himself in Avon, and I went to check things out.
Well the "whale team" had assembled and had "taken over" the area. There was some guy that seemed to be in charge of this whole ordeal barking orders like they were about to launch a rocket into space. I began asking questions and a few of them had comments such as "Well are you going to just talk, or help", and "sorry, (panting for breath), can't talk now", or a "if your not helping go away".
Last time I checked it wasn't my responsibility to keep a whale from swimming his a$$ on the beach, it was HIS!! When someone with credentials from ECU finally showed up he told me that the overwhelming majority of these are whales that beach themselves are dying or very sick and will die soon.
Well the "A Team" did get him back in the water and cheered with delight but then freaked out again when the whale made an abrupt U turn before the 2nd bar and beach himself again!!! Then it was panic, and some of them even cried when it died and someone showed up to cut the body up and bury it.
I would certainly help any critter I could if it was in apparent unnatural distress, so I don't want to come across as a heartless fella.
What the hell is going on here? Yes, if 1,000 whales showed up on a beach one day in distress that would be sad, but I can't see why people would be so bent out of shape over one whale doing something perfectly natural.
These people remind me alot of the storm chasers out west, most of them are morons that just want a glimpse of the wild side and do so in the name of weather spotting, making the pros look bad.
Sorry for the rant, but thats what the lounge is for right?