9th JUNE 2008

On this day in 2008, over one hundred whales were stranded off the north coast of Madagascar in the Baie de Loza.

The first of the melon-headed whales became stranded at the end of May after swimming through a narrow entrance into a bay, quickly becoming trapped.

On this day, despite the best efforts of locals and experts from around the world, close to thirty whales had already died.

At approximately the same time, the Exxon Mobil oil company were carrying out seismic surveying in a nearby area. Although they deny having an influence in the stranding of the whales, the Exxon company halted the program whilst the whales remained stranded.

Past incidences have indicated that echo-sounding equipment does have an influence on how whales communicate, such that the seismic surveying may have had some impact, however unintentional. The Exxon company further argued that they had used echo equipment before with no impact and that their echo-equipment could not have had any effect given that the surveying was being conducted more than 50 kilometres (or 31 miles) away.

And yet, scientists and researchers have conducted extensive experimentation and research into the distance to which a whale or dolphin can hear, conclusive of a hearing distance somewhere between 50 miles and indeed 1000 miles for various species of whale.

So while Exxon Mobil may not have intended to do any damage, the repercussions may still have been catastrophic in any instance.

Just because we are the dominant animal on this planet does not give us the right to abuse that power. Isn't that what animal rights activist have been saying for years?

I am not an extreme animal activist. I do believe that in some instances, not all animals should be respected in the way that animal activists are proposing. Snakes for example. I dislike snakes a lot. They are unpredictable and have you noticed that most snake cartoons are evil? There is a reason behind that. It's because they are evil.

But I respect that what animal activists are saying in the humane treatment of other animals. Treat others how you wanted to be treated, right?

So I think that the whale stranding case is a great example of the power and strength of humanity to be evil and dispassionate towards animals, and the things that can happen because we just don't think.

Thinking is important.

Yeah.

If you want to understand the seriousness of the impact of humanity on whales, the WWF and Save The Whales websites can give you that information and I thoroughly suggest a read.




Image available: http://explow.com/Melon-headed_whale