Years
defined as a few centuries marked the relatively short time that whalers
killed Sperm Whales, also called “Catchalots” (A
Basque word for “Tooth”, considered a more respectful
name for this species.);
highly intelligent mammals that have inhabited the oceans for millions
of years, to their present status as an Endangered Species. Hunted
till they were considered no longer commercially viable, the long
term affects of whaling on this and other large whales is yet undetermined.
Highly complex social structures, the passing of knowledge between
generations, and population dynamics are among factors considered
by scientists, to which the recovery of Catchalots from the impacts
of whaling remains uncertain.
Catchalots are the largest of toothed whales, possessing the largest
brain on Earth. “The culture ...may be sophisticated compared
with that of most other animals,...” Whalers have exploited
the social nature of Sperm Whales, by harpooning calves, not to kill,
so that they could easily “pick off” pod members as they
“stood by” in defense of the wounded calves. “Other
members of the group would remain beside a wounded female and then
be killed themselves.”+
What do Sperm whales think and feel? Considering their level of intelligence,
I wonder what the lives of Catchalots are like, what their interactions
with each other and other species are like, and how they perceive
the environments that they encounter as they roam the vast and deep
oceans of the world. How, if they so chose to, would they express
to us their perceptions and knowledge of a world that we humans know
so little of?
Photographs of flukes are a valuable tool to whale researchers to
identify individual Catchalots. "The marks and scars used to
identify each individual are probably incurred during interactions
between the whale and its environment, including, in the case of toothmarks,
potential predators” and “animals like pilot whales ‘playing
with’ sperm whales, parasites, collision with different things,
and maybe each other.”. “Thus the distribution of marks
on an individual's flukes says something about its experiences."+
Through a series of ten flukes as portraits, I hope that viewers will
recognize whales as individual sentient beings. This series of paintings
presents ten Catchalots, from actual photographs provided by whale
researchers and the Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society (WDCS.org),
to which I wish to express my gratitude.
Ten is a significant number in this series, as it represents the self-made
quota for ten “Sperm Whales” (Catchalots) that Japan’s
whalers will claim to kill each year. When considering the number
of whales that die annually as a result of whaling, it is important
to point out that there are numbers of whales that are "struck
and lost", not “landed” or counted as “takes”,
which suffer and die later. Whales that are "struck and lost",
may live on after their injuries. But, as a result of infection, restricted
mobility, shattered joints or damaged central nervous system, they
may suffer an inability to feed, socialize or reproduce. The high
proportion of struck, but lost, animals in some hunts is a serious
welfare as well as conservation issue. Between Japan, Norway, and
Iceland, whaling quotas of five different species, over 2,800 whales
will be killed this year.
Respect for Life, concern for animal welfare, and the possibility
of species extinction are valid reasons to bring a complete halt to
the disgrace of killing whales. It is time to make a strong appeal
to the governing bodies of the world and the International Whaling
Commission (IWC) to halt this cruel and unnecessary slaughter.
+
Quotes
are from “Sperm Whales: Social Evolution in the Ocean”,
by +Dr. Hal Whitehead, a world-reknowned researcher of Sperm Whales.
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