Ending whale suicide
Only disturbed, cold-hearted viewers will have remained impassive to the hundreds of pilot whales committing mass suicide on the beaches of the ominously-named Farewell Spit. This recent iteration of what has become a depressingly common event along the New Zealand coastline ranks as one of the worst ever. And the most distressing part of it is that the whales’ motivation for mass suicide continues to elude the experts. Theories abound. Anything from: rookie navigational errors by the whales; geomagnetic anomalies interfering with their in-built GPS; sick whales just ‘wanting to end it all’; healthy whales foolishly following a pro-euthanasia whale into shallow water in a show of solidarity; frightened whales seeking refuge on land (really???); seismic activity; vibrations from passing ships causing navigational confusion; low-frequency signals from submarine espionage frying the whales’ brains – and on it goes. And I’ve not even begun to list the conspiracy theories swamping the internet. So while the cetacean specialists, behavioural psychologists and marine scientists grapple with the ‘why’, perhaps we need – at the same time – to work harder on remedial- or counter-measures. Maybe a kind of inflatable lifting ‘blanket’ – slid under a floundering whale and whooshed back to sea. A kind of medevac hovercraft for the mammals? Borrowing an idea from the leader of the free world, should we consider a series of robust nets installed at our most popular whale-suicide beaches. We won’t ask the whales to pay for the nets – they’ve already paid with their blood over the centuries – but they need to be told in no uncertain terms that they’re not welcome ashore. Or what about persuading Japan to modify and re-direct its ‘research’ into eradicating the whales’ enthusiasm for mass suicide? If there was anything uplifting to emerge from the carnage, it was the sight of the volunteers – locals, holiday-makers, tourists – standing waist-deep in the sea with arms linked, forming a human wall.
As history so often demonstrates, a crisis usually brings cohesion.
Happy boating.