Names
and Images
Recently an Alaskan
naturalist told me that there is a move afoot to
officially rename Killer Whales to Orca Whales. The purpose is to soften
the image of these sea mammals to further blunt any talk of "managing"
them
as their numbers soar in the North Pacific and their increased depredations
deplete sea otters, seals, and other whales. Like wolves,
"biologists"
assure us that Killer Whales "do not deplete other species" and that
"there
is no verified report of an attack on a human".
When I lived on
aggressive and dangerous sea mammals. They often came straight at a small
boat when there was blood in the water. On numerous occasions as I walked
remote beaches, seals and sea otters would suddenly come up on the beach and
on offshore rocks as the telltale sound (like .22's fired in a dry canyon)
of a pod of Killer Whales surfacing as they sped along parallel to the beach
looking for food.
For years I wondered about the submissive Shamus and Namus in the tanks at
those seaworld theatres, asking myself how they could even be related to
those bold and contentious Killer Whales I knew in the
research has shown there to be two (tribes?, populations?, groups?) kinds of
Killer Whales. Those in
exclusively fish eaters and they behave accordingly. Those in the North
Pacific and
otters, and other whales particularly the young). Needless to say, killer
whales from the
including boy and girl "trainers" that love animals. As to the
"no verified
instance of an attack on a human", two Aleuts told me that they were raised
to always avoid any circumstance where a killer whale might attack because
there is a long tradition about the danger from Killer Whales to lone men in
small boats or on the ice edge or even on the edge of a rock near deep
water. I never asked if they or their forefathers ever bothered to
"verify"
the instances or names of those so lost.
So who could recommend culling or controlling or killing an Orca? We have
all seen the shows and we all rooted for the Orca released in
would believe that an Orca would depress seal, sea otter, and those precious
whale populations? Who would ever say that there are "too many"
Orcas?
Think of the positive results here: sea otters and seals are determined to
be disappearing because of global warming, whale populations remain low
because of nets and ships and fishermen and "disturbance". Think
of the
grants and research and government employees "needed" to determine the
causes and then to draft and enforce the new Marine "Sanctuaries" and
fishery closures found to be "necessary" to save the imperiled
species.
Think of the Federal politicians who will be able to "introduce" and
"support" the new legislation. Sounds like the proverbial
win-win to me.
One other wildlife name change comes to mind from those days and nights in
the
name of the Old-squaw duck to the Long-tailed duck. Now the Old-squaw duck
is a compact and fast flying duck that nests on the tundra across
America
rafts. They are great divers and have been known to dive to great depths.
Their scientific name "Clangula hyemalis" means "noisy winter
duck".
Where I lived in the
Old-squaws wintered right outside my window in the shade of a large volcano.
Take it from me; they never stop jabbering day or night, 24/7. I always
thought that "Old-squaw" was a great name that showed an
all-too-recently-rare sense of humor on the part of "biologists".
Those
birds were named after the stereotype of groups of old ladies everywhere in
the world through the epochs and it never failed to bring a smile to folks
when I explained the name to them. So today we see these things through
racial and sexual lenses and therefore there is no room for humor or
originality. Any objection to someone else's enjoyment be it a name or
hunting or horse slaughter or fur or pet or meat diet or whatever is simply
grounds for making others conform to "other" agendas. Soon we
are all doing
this (eliminating freedoms and uniqueness) to each other every bit as badly
as kings and aristocrats of old. Whether it is simply the richness of our
language or the use of language to mask reality we are all at risk in many
ways.
Like the fellow that hugged and squeezed every deadly critter in the world
and then died from a stingray wound we are at risk when we fail to recognize
reality. How many viewers took deadly risks because of what they saw on
TV,
like the unverified shark attacks or Killer Whale attacks on humans, we will
never know. Animal rights propaganda and TV shows on Killer Whales will
only further destroy reality when the name becomes a generic name (Orca)
like "Longtailed duck". The results are "research" and
"information" based
on imagery just like the societal reaction to deadly predators that harm
people and deplete other plants and animals we need and use is becoming
little more than imaginary wishful thinking.
Jim Beers
-
- This article and other recent articles by Jim Beers can be found at
http://jimbeers.blogster.com (Jim Beers Common Sense)
- Jim Beers is available for consulting or to speak. Contact:
jimbeers7@verizon.net