Almost two weeks ago, a sperm whale was found stranded on the beach in Knokke-Heist, a small town along the Belgian coastline. It goes without saying that it was obviously found: sperm whales don't really qualify as excellent creatures to play hide and seek with. Especially not when compared with the reigning world champion, a dwarf chameleon living in Madagascar. It's only fair to add that this tiny creature (growing at a maximal length of 30 millimeters, from snout to tail) must have had access to a decent manual on basic hide and seek strategies (damp rain forests are somewhat better than stretches of beach, when plotted on a degree-of-shelter scale), but still: unlike the sperm whale, it took scientists up to a few days ago to discover this peculiar reptile...
As always the stranding of a sperm whale, the biggest mammal known to men - unless there is a creature playing hide and seek to perfection, lead to a bunch of newspaper articles and buses of disaster tourists, staring at zealous biologists cutting the carcass into pieces for further investigation. That, and energy production: the creature will be recycled, in the sense that its body fat will be converted into renewable energy. As a matter of fact, 12 and a half tonnes (roughly half of its total weight) of biomass can produce the equivalent of what 14 families consume in the span of a whole year!
By far the most heart-warming piece of documentation, was an interview with the family of Theofiel De Groote, after whom the sperm whale was named. This man had a name that rung like a bell, even before the unfortunate creature beached itself. Unless you weren't part of the fishermen community in Knokke-Heist, that is, as he was a famous shipowner often setting sail to Iceland. Theofiel passed away in 2010, leaving behind his wife Simonne who declared to be proud that the whale was named after her late husband. I found that rather sweet, especially because it had a rather unconditional air to it. I mean, for all we know this mammal could have been the dork amongst the sperm whales. It's not that I want to ruin the party, but Theofiel De Groote may have been bullied around at Whale School, because he was too fat (don't worry Theofiel, your additional biomass will serve a great purpose) or because he had a strangely shaped head (don't worry Theofiel, your cranium may serve as the topic of a rather mystifying PhD-thesis). As a matter of fact, Theofiel's stranding along the Belgian coastline may have been a final attempt to finally find peace and quiet. In which case his solution, beaching itself in Belgium, can hardly be called a bright solution - can it?
If I ever happen to reincarnate as a bullied sperm whale with a disfigured head and a rather strong inclination towards suicide, I would at least find myself a nice stretch of beach in the Caribbean Islands; being mourned over by a bunch of half-naked locals - trying everything they can to keep me alive, splashing coloured cocktails and lukewarm ocean water over my body, feeding me shrimps from the BBQ, playing chilled reggae tunes to relax me - doesn't seem that bad to me. So yes, I thought the interview with Simonne was heart-warming: after all, who knows how the underwater world thought about what will forever live on as a whale in our minds...
By far the most heart-warming piece of documentation, was an interview with the family of Theofiel De Groote, after whom the sperm whale was named. This man had a name that rung like a bell, even before the unfortunate creature beached itself. Unless you weren't part of the fishermen community in Knokke-Heist, that is, as he was a famous shipowner often setting sail to Iceland. Theofiel passed away in 2010, leaving behind his wife Simonne who declared to be proud that the whale was named after her late husband. I found that rather sweet, especially because it had a rather unconditional air to it. I mean, for all we know this mammal could have been the dork amongst the sperm whales. It's not that I want to ruin the party, but Theofiel De Groote may have been bullied around at Whale School, because he was too fat (don't worry Theofiel, your additional biomass will serve a great purpose) or because he had a strangely shaped head (don't worry Theofiel, your cranium may serve as the topic of a rather mystifying PhD-thesis). As a matter of fact, Theofiel's stranding along the Belgian coastline may have been a final attempt to finally find peace and quiet. In which case his solution, beaching itself in Belgium, can hardly be called a bright solution - can it?
If I ever happen to reincarnate as a bullied sperm whale with a disfigured head and a rather strong inclination towards suicide, I would at least find myself a nice stretch of beach in the Caribbean Islands; being mourned over by a bunch of half-naked locals - trying everything they can to keep me alive, splashing coloured cocktails and lukewarm ocean water over my body, feeding me shrimps from the BBQ, playing chilled reggae tunes to relax me - doesn't seem that bad to me. So yes, I thought the interview with Simonne was heart-warming: after all, who knows how the underwater world thought about what will forever live on as a whale in our minds...
http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/nature/whales-and-dolphins-are-so-intelligent-they-deserve-same-rights-as-humans-say-experts-7237448.html
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