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Last week, I saw this video that is currently floating around on facebook. It is a video of a scuba diver who, while on a dive, came across a rather gentle, yet aggressive humpback whale. The whale seemed intent on pushing the lady up to the surface and only letting her swim in one direction. Initially, the woman believed the encounter was sure to end badly. However, as they approached the surface, the whale positioned the woman atop its head and raised her above the surface of the water near her boat. Once the woman was out of the water, it became evident that a shark was approaching on the other side of the whale. Ultimately the whale had saved the woman from becoming shark food. Another account I read about the incident mentioned that there was another humpback in the vicinity who was attempting to draw the sharks attention away from the diver at the same time.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2xMLwAP2qyk
Here is an edited version of the video with commentary
In addition to greatly increasing my admiration for humpback whales, the whole video made me feel so incredibly small. I immediately was reminded of times in my life where I have seen spiders stuck in my sink or my bathtub and grabbed a piece of paper and assisted them in their escape. “Wow,” I thought about the whales, “we are just bugs to them and when we are in their house, they can choose to just squish us or they can help us out of the tub.”
A couple of days later, I was coming out of the hardware store after picking up a couple of things for my garden. Once I got in my vehicle, I noticed a small caterpillar creeping along the windshield. It was a pretty tiny little guy and I was worried that it would blow off of my windshield and land in the road where he most certainly would meet his demise.
Image courtesy of pixabay
“Save the caterpillar,” I thought. “Be the whale.” I got back out of the car. I looked intently at the caterpillar. Reaching towards the caterpillar, I ever so gently placed my finger beneath him and began to lift him off of the windshield. Unfortunately, as I lifted him, part of his body stayed clinging to the surface of the glass and he began to twist. I tried to correct my approach, but he was so small and my movements too imprecise. I ended up rolling the free part of him against the glass, simultaneously crushing and tearing part of his body. It appeared he was killed almost instantly.
Thanks for reading everyone. Stay outta trouble. Don't kill anyone. @veckinon