#feministfriday episode 502 | Whale of a time
Good afternoon everyone,
I am going to see a play version of Moby Dick with sea shanties tonight, and I'm so stoked, here's a Fem Fri that is about whales and sea shanties.
Firstly, here's an absolutely amazing story of whale/human interaction by whale scientist Nan Hauser:
My scientist brain was in overdrive as I tried to work out what he was doing. I felt a rush of adrenaline mixed with fear and apprehension. Then the whale swam underneath me and lifted me out of the water on his flipper. I signalled to the boat, then – swoosh – I was pushed back under.After seven and a half minutes of being pushed around by the humpback, I saw what I thought was a second, smaller whale. But then I noticed the tail – whales move theirs up and down, and this one was moving side to side. I realised with horror that it belonged to a huge, 18ft tiger shark.
Experience: a whale saved me from a shark attack | Life and style | The Guardian
He swam underneath me and lifted me out of the water on his flipper
Asha de Vos discovered a new type of whale, the Omura’s whale, and here she tells the story of how she did that. This article and pullquote also talks about one of my favourite things - how little we know and how much there is in the world for us to discover and love:
This sighting is significant because it is the first time we have documented Omura’s whales within Sri Lankan waters. Not only does that add another whale species to our already pretty diverse list, but it also shows us that our oceans are teeming with life, and we know next to nothing about them. I saw this whale just 7 kilometers offshore — an area populated by fishermen and the whale watching industry. So if we can overlook a species that is so big and obvious and moving close to humans, imagine what else we might be missing out on?
New whale species discovered in Sri Lankan waters | by Karen Frances Eng | TED Fellows
Marine biologist Asha de Vos bumps into a new and rare species of whale in her home country.
I promised you sea shanties and you better believe I'm going to deliver for you 💗 Here's Tim Hart and Maddy Prior singing “Fiddler's Green”:
Love,
Alex.