Video of the southern resident ceremony on Oct. 4, 2005
See the full description of this event and participate in associated dialogue
at the Orcasphere
Blog. This movie (served via youtube.com)
is nearly 6 minutes long. It is also available in streaming .mp4 format (15Mb).
Note that there are about 8 seconds of silent blackness at the beginning of the
movie. Calm down, get your headphones on, and be patient! A very unusual
simultaneous call by many individuals can be heard during the last minute of
the recording.
Video credits go to Beam Reach students Brett Becker and Courtney Kneipp.
Still photo credits go to the Washington State Department of Ecology and Iris
Hesse of the Center for Whale Research.
"Whales have become a popular symbol of the catastrophic effect human activities are having on global diversity. If we can destroy such remarkable marine mammals-beasts that do not compete with us for living space who are not threats to us in any way, then nothing is safe from our destructive impulse. That we have such a symbol, and that it has the power to change our hearts and compel us to do better, should encourage us to hope that we can undo some of the damage of the past. Once whales have enthralled a person's imagination, the effect is long-lasting." -- Frank Stewart in his book "The Presence of Whales"
