The whale

[A Nonny Moose 8,261]

If you read the front page story of the SF Chronicle, you would have read about a female humpback whale who had become entangled in a spider web of crab traps and lines.

She was weighted down by hundreds of pounds of traps that caused her to struggle to stay afloat. She also had hundreds of yards of line rope wrapped around her body, her tail, her torso, a line tugging in her mouth.

A fisherman spotted her just east of the Farralone Islands (outside the Golden Gate) and radioed an environmental group for help.

Within a few hours, the rescue team arrived and determined that she was so bad off, the only way to save her was to dive in and untangle her ..

a very dangerous proposition One slap of the tail could kill a rescuer. They worked for hours with curved knives and eventually freed her.

When she was free, the divers say she swam in what seemed like joyous circles. She then came back to each and every diver, one at a time, and nudged them, pushed gently around --- she thanked them. Some said it was the most incredibly beautiful experience of their lives.

The guy who cut the rope out of her mouth says her eye was following him the whole time, and he will never be the same again.

[Sim1013 1]

Wow! What an awesome story! If I ever got that close to a whale I don't think I'd feel the same way again either. I've heard the impact such experiences can have and would love to be able to witness such a thing for my self.

Also, fishermen need to be more careful with their equipment. This seems to happen all the time to dolphins, whales, and even sharks.

[bbfan02 23]

Nice mailbag story! Wow, isnt that a different article!

-bbfan02-

[gabry85 2]

A very nice story, thank you for sharing!

[belfastuniguy 18]

How wonderful, I adore whales and dolphins, such intelligent animals and such a fantastic experience to see them close, I have a few times when on holiday and at times round the Irish coast, magnificent creatures. Can you imagine what those guys/girls would have felt like after that, amazing.

Makes me sick when people try and defend whaling no excuse or need for it, totally scandalous practice by supposedly ''developed'' nations. But that is a WHOLE different debate.

Great story, thanks for sharing.

[DOXXP29 5]

Excellent story! Thank you for sharing. 

Just another illustration of how we all have to live together on this planet. The whale going back and "thanking" everyone reinforces my long held belief that animals, along with not being "dumb animals" as many people seem to think, also have some kind of inner awareness or spirituality which is demonstrated to me by actions such as this. A couple of times on TV shows (Discovery, Animal Planet, etc) I have seen accounts where this same kind of thing happened by SHARKS! Divers rescued sharks from a deadly predicament and the shark would return to the boat and put on a non-threatening display of gratitude. Makes me wonder if the more intelligent animals actually have some degree of realization that what originally imperiled them was caused by man and that another man came to their rescue and undid the actions that caused them to become trapped. Sadly, it also seems that the only real problems that the more intelligent animals have are those caused by man.

[A Nonny Moose 8,261]

Well, is it no a fact that no one has ever been able to measure the intelligence of whales?  For all we know, one day they will leave with the message "Goodbye, and thanks for all the plankton".

[IDS2 3,344]

Hooray! That's good news!

[Godzillaman 21]

Originally posted by: N_O_Body Well, is it no a fact that no one has ever been able to measure the intelligence of whales?  For all we know, one day they will leave with the message "Goodbye, and thanks for all the plankton".quote>

You got that from hitchhikers guide to the galaxy right?

[ShortStraw 1]

I've long felt that whales (and dolphins) were more intelligent than humans.  Now if only they  had opposable thumbs...

(Great story by the way.  Wish I could have been there to see it)

[Smarty218 2]

Cool. I like dolphins. And yes I truely believe they are smarter. Whales are good too.

[Easy Bakes 253]

Nice Story, Wonder if thiers any film of this.

Edit:

I followed one of the links on that story to find this interesting Tidbit

http://video.nationalgeographic.com/video/player/animals/invertebrates-animals/octopus-and-squid/octopus_giant_kills_shark.html?source=G2101

Dang Why can i not make the link name things work??

[toxicpiano 125]

YAY NICE NEWS!!!

[saltandsauce 0]

YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY some good news

it bring tears to my eyes that something good has been recorded

[A Nonny Moose 8,261]

Originally posted by: Easy Bakes Nice Story, Wonder if thiers any film of this.

Edit:

I followed one of the links on that story to find this interesting Tidbit

Linky

Dang Why can i not make the link name things work??

quote>

I don't know why it doesn't work for you.  Do you highlight your link word before you call the tool?

[Godzillaman 21]

Originally posted by: Easy Bakes Nice Story, Wonder if thiers any film of this.

Edit:

I followed one of the links on that story to find this interesting Tidbit

http://video.nationalgeographic.com/video/player/animals/invertebrates-animals/octopus-and-squid/octopus_giant_kills_shark.html?source=G2101

Dang Why can i not make the link name things work??

quote>

Been on Youtube for a while.

What do you mean why can't you make it work?

[Easy Bakes 253]

Originally posted by: Godzillaman

Originally posted by: Easy Bakes Nice Story, Wonder if thiers any film of this.

Edit:

I followed one of the links on that story to find this interesting Tidbit

http://video.nationalgeographic.com/video/player/animals/invertebrates-animals/octopus-and-squid/octopus_giant_kills_shark.html?source=G2101

Dang Why can i not make the link name things work??

quote>

Been on Youtube for a while.

What do you mean why can't you make it work?quote>

 

Iv never figured out how to get it to do what its supposed to.

Mabey theres a tutoral someplace?