Monday, August 29, 2016

8-29-16 They Are More Than Just A Bunch of Whales in the Water

Monday, August 29th
...I have been land based whale watching for over a month now.  I need to be where I am when the whales are on the west side...for what matters to me is what is going on with them and this gives the opportunity to see that...though a glimpse, it can be full of information and realizations...
...what they are doing...why might they be doing what they are...who's with who...and lots and lots of other things...
...over these past several weeks I have had the opportunity to talk to an amazing amount of people about who these whales are and that they are much more than 'just a bunch of whales in the water'...
...there isn't a story or an ah-ha moment with every encounter, but there are pieces of a story or moments in time...
...some make you laugh, others touch your heart, and others just cause you to pause, wonder, smile, or just flat irritated with what you see...
...in all of that the most important thing is that these whales have salmon to eat and it's been a miserably tough year for them so far...

...today they were coming back in...word was that it might be everyone...don't know the actual end result to that...most if not all of the L pod whales and most of them stayed down island at the end of the day...Nugget L-55 and her family went north with J Pod and K Pod whales...




...that's the Elwha Valley in the distance...the close piece of land is Discovery Island...on the other side of Discovery Island is the Strait of Juan de Fuca...and on the other side of that strait is the Olympic Peninsula of Washington...that is the place were the greatest dam removal in the history of the United States took place a few years ago...
...and now after over 100 years of a dam the wild Chinook salmon are spawning up the river once again.. because the dam was removed!

...if you haven't seen the movie Return of the River you might want to watch it...it gives hope to restoration of the earth - that is when people will come together to reach the best decision for those who have no voice - the salmon, the orcas, and all the other species that have been negatively impacted by man.

...and what man seems to forget is that ultimately it negatively impacts humans...but humans seem to forget about that until it is either too late or almost too late.



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