I will never forget the first time I saw a whale in the wild.
I was nine, exploring the quiet beaches near my Grandmother’s house on Vancouver Island. My five-year-old sister, my Nana, and two dogs, rummaging for shells and listening to the waves crash and the trees sigh. True beauty, there, but we were in complete and stunned disbelief when we heard the blast of a whale clearing his blowhole and looked up to watch a pod of Orcas pass us by. I still remember the spine-tingling, heart-lurching feeling that crept up from my toes as we watched them make their way past.
My whole body shivered in the presence of such wild beauty. Amazement, even from the dogs, gasps and exchanged glances of awe between the three of us on the beach that day.
I will never forget the majestic brilliance of witnessing those gorgeous Orcas, gloriously free.
They were, in a word, magic.
Today I read the tragic news that in the past century alone humanity has killed almost three million whales. Whaling started centuries ago, and was traditionally performed for meat, oil and blubber. The unbelievable multitude of whale deaths in the last century has been credited to larger, faster ships and exploding harpoons.
Whales are not a sustainable industry!
Humpback and blue whales remain close to extinction. Contemporary whaling is a subject of intense, worldwide debate.
Check out this infographic on whale death in this century alone:
Here’s where you can learn more about how you can help to save our oceans:
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