Once-violent whales now friendly (or, yeah sure non-human species are dumb--riiiiiighhhhht)

[MorningGlow]

The whales once dubbed the 'devil fish' that now want tourists to tickle their tongues

They were once referred to as 'devil fish' for the way they attacked whalers, but these enormous grey whales are now dubbed 'the friendliest in the world' as they rest their heads on boats and demand to be tickled.

These pictures show the 45-feet-long adult whales happily allowing their backs and tongues to be scratched.

The whales also encourage their young calves to approach boats, and if their bid to be touched goes unnoticed they swim along to more tourists in the hope of getting attention.

<snip>

'Seventy years ago these whales were being viciously hunted and they fought back aggressively,' Mr Carwardine said. 'They would smash boats with their tails and leap on them, so they became known locally as devil fish.'

Since the late 1930s the species has been protected and numbers have gone from just 100 - placing them at risk of extinction - to 26,000.

'They know the local fishermen are no longer a threat and have become the friendliest whales in the world,' he said.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1299548/Whales-dubbed-devil-fish-appear-personality-change-play-tourists.html#ixzz0vTq69HdS

[Kookaburra]

1. Did you ever read that book Fluke by Chrisopher Moore?

It's fiction, of course, and incredibly fun to read, but it has as its subject whales, whale habitats, whale encounters, etc. (Plus it has one of the funniest characters I've encountered in a while: Kona.)

[MorningGlow]

5. No, I haven't

It sounds good, though. I'll have to put it on my list. Thanks! :hi:

[BanzaiBonnie]

2. Yeah, the whalers would capture their babies

and the moms would attack ferociously. As any mother would!

[I Have A Dream]

3. I absolutely love this!

My heart weeps for what we have done to these amazing creatures. We are so blessed to have them still with us given how they were hunted down in the past. We need to do everything that we can to continue to protect them and not allow international laws in reference to whaling to become lax.

Thank you for posting this, MG. :D

[MorningGlow]

6. It's an honor that they have forgiven us

If it had been humans on the receiving end of such violence, we never would be able to forgive.

Now...WHEN are we gong to treat other living creatures with respect? The misinterpretation of the bible line about "man having dominion over all the animals" (generations have convinced themselves that it meant we could use other life forms any way we wanted, instead of the true meaning, which is humans have been tasked to TAKE CARE of all other life forms) has done irreparable damage over the millennia. :(

[I Have A Dream]

7. Oh, MG, I absolutely agree!

Humanity was given stewardship of the Earth and her creatures. We were entrusted with this amazingly important work. The whole "dominion over" thing is a self-serving lie. If we could get past this, I think that many problems that humanity has would be healed very quickly.

...and yes, humanity would never forgive such a thing. We have been given a great gift when we were given these creatures to incarnate alongside.

[OneGrassRoot]

8. When I initially saw your post....

I had one of my quasi-audible encounters and heard:

"Forgive them, for they know not what they do."

I am NOT a bible person. :rofl:

But it felt that these wonderful souls feel that toward us: Forgive them, for they know not what to do.

I can't say that I can forgive cruelty, however; they are much more evolved souls than I am, than most humans, IMHO.

[OneGrassRoot]

4. Bless them all....bless the Animal Kingdom...

the Plant Kingdom, Mineral Kingdom...all the creations on Mother Earth.

They are so very, very precious...and have SO much to teach us.

Thanks for the post, MG. :hi:

:grouphug:

[findrskeep]

9. Thank you for posting this MG....

I've forwarded it to many friends. Why can't humans get their act together?? This is amazing, I loved reading it. Thank you again.

[WhiteTara]

10. I want to go there!

I would love to tickle a whale!