Thursday, May 17, 2007

Whales In Sacramento Redux

It's deja-vu all over again! Twenty-two years ago, a wayward whale nicknamed Humphrey the Humpback wandered into the Sacramento River. He eventually made his way out and an affectionate legend was born. This week, however, the legend is reborn in the form of a mother and calf that have made it all the way up to West Sacramento. They haven't been given names yet, but here they are a long way from home.

People tend to romanticize this situation and think that it's pretty neat to have these whales swimming around. But let's look at the circumstances logically instead. These are two whales a long way from where they should be. It appears that someone got too close to them while they were in the river and both are now injured. (People can be really stupid sometimes in their pursuit of selfish pleasures, can't they?) If these whales don't turn around soon, chances are that they will die. -- Hey folks! Isn't it cute? Two dead whales in the Sacramento River! Awwwwww, how adorable! -- That isn't going to be as much fun, is it? Instead of turning it into a sightseeing tour, people need to get away from the levies (which are having enough trouble) and get away from the whales (who are confused, hurt, and not doing well), and let the specialists try to lure them out. Whales are beautiful in their own way, but not when they are in this much trouble.

Still, I can't help thinking that some private filmmaker is going to be writing a story called "Star Trek 10 - The Voyage to the Delta (Quadrant)" with the tagline, "There be whales here!"

3 comments:

Asia said...

Wow, this is going to really ruin the Humphrey story if those whales die. I remember liking that story, but being unable to believe how quickly people were to say something needed to be done, but how slowly they were to actually do any thing. Anyway, I happen to really love whales, and I would hate to see the actions of some foolish people cut their already dwindling numbers.

P.S. Yay, deja vu! (But isn't saying "deja vu all over again" a bit redundant?) :o)

Adam said...

If they die, then two really stupid whales are out of the natural cycle, I guess.

As for the "deja vu all over again", you aren't old enough to remember Casey Stengel, who used to butcher expressions. That's one of his.

Asia said...

Alright, I can forgive the redundancy as long as it's an allusion. As long as some literary term is in play. I took my AP Lit test, and now I have no literary outlet.