ryan harvey's flickr photostream (creative commons)

Growing up just outside of Boston gave me the incredible opportunity to go whale-watching on school field trips, and while the closest I ever got to the majestic creatures was seeing their flukes, it was enough to instill in me a tremendous awe and respect for these beautiful and intelligent creatures.  For anyone with a similar admiration and curiosity about whales, I highly recommend reading Charles Siebert’s recent article in the New York Times, which provides an amazing glimpse at humans’ complex relationship with whales (gray whales in particular) and highlights the ongoing threat of naval sonar use and other industrial ocean noise, which not only damages whales’ sensitive hearing, but may also be pushing some to commit suicide.

As Siebert points out, the U.S. Supreme Courts ruling in favor of the United States Navy, allowing them to continue using the sonar, may be an environmental set-back, but the fact that the whales’ well-being is being considered on a national (and international) level is an encouraging sign.  I think things might change for the better if someone took Chief Justice John Roberts, who sided with the Navy, on a whale-watching trip.  I imagine he would probably reconsider the importance of protecting these monumental creatures once they started swimming alongside his boat.

While humans have long been enthralled by these massive marine mammals, we haven’t always treated them with due respect.  Great efforts have been made to protect many whale species from near-extinction, but some countries, including Japan and Norway, have chosen to continue to hunt in spite of the International Whaling Commisions moratorium (a ban, which TP blogger Travis recently pointed out, may oddly be lifted).  A similar battle has been waged to protect dolphins, as documented by the upcoming film The Cove.  Hopefully a better agreement can be reached to protect whales and dolphins from sonar, as well as illegal and excessive hunting practices, before we lose precious opportunities to learn from these amazing marine animals.