Fujisawas Sake said:
On a sad note, I assisted in the autopsy of a dead baby whale two days ago. Yeah, yeah, I know that biologists refer to a post-mortem of anything non-human as a "necropsy", but I don't care. It was a stillborn Eschrictius (Gray Whale) calf... It was interesting, gave my wife some mammalogy class credit, and was worth the drive to the south jetty. But I was saddened... Its just a hell of a way to die after such a long pregnancy and such. Well, no squid here, but does anyone besides me ever get kinda choked up about these things? I'd make a terrible researcher... I get attached.
*sigh* Well, keep posting! And the Croc Hunter rules! I would give my left hectocotyl to a Dasyurid for a mammalogical tour of New Zealand and Australia! Oh, and if anyone sees a Thylacine, catch one for me, okay?
Sushi, Sake, and Donburi
John
Konichiwa John,
The rest of the community will probably pillory me for this, but yes, I love cetaceans too. In the books I recently read by Eugene Linden (one of which I will soon be reviewing for TONMO), there is a moving account of a mated pair of captive orcas, who were profoundly attached to each other. Eventually the female became pregnant and they both appeared to be very happy (as were the zookeepers). In the manner of many cetaceans, the male would routinely "sonograph" his mate's belly with his natural sonar to determine the condition of the fetus. (There is anecdotal evidence that dolphins and orcas often "sonograph" pregnant female trainers in the water too, showing intense interest in them, occasionally before the women are aware of their own pregnancies!)
One day, after the male orca performed his regular sonar check of his mate, he became severely agitated and started banging his head against the side of the tank, in a display that could only be interpreted as frustration and despair. Shortly thereafter, the female orca gave birth to a stillborn calf. There is no question in my mind that the male orca knew that his mate was carrying a baby, knew that the baby was his, and knew that it was no longer alive. I would challenge anyone in the scientific field to disprove that these beautiful mammals are just as capable of grieving as ourselves.
On a happier note: Steve Irwin is a major cutie -- in fact, I am just a tad bit jealous of Terri!
His combination of archetypal Aussie charm, maniacal devotion to his career, and contagious enthusiasm about
everything, makes his show a definite "upper". And you get the feeling that he's equally enthusiastic about the people in his life -- though it was a little disconcerting when he was showing off his newborn daughter Bindi to the zoo staff and said, "Isn't she a little beauty?" and you realize he's used the exact same phrase to describe snakes, scorpions, crocodiles, and goannas....!
In a similar manner, you can see that S.I. is genuinely upset when he sees wildlife injured by human destruction of the environment -- as when he was almost reduced to tears by the sight of burned and dying small animals due to a deliberately-set bush fire. His compassion extends to humans too -- on his expedition to a war-torn Indonesian island, he presented a local priest with a substantial donation from Australia Zoo, to aid the families displaced by the destruction of their homes and crops.
So yeah, I am definitely a Croc Hunter fan too! (BTW, what as Dasyurids and Thylacines?)
Plum wine, shrimp tempura, and green tea ice cream,
Tani-san