Guest Blooger: Nora Lewis Allen
Recently on May 28th, Christopher Clark the Cornell Lab of Ornithology's Bioacoustics Research Program, heard the sounds of a blue whale only 70 miles off the coast of Long Island.
He was astounded, and so was I. The blue whale, the largest animal to exist in the history of the world, is rarely spotted off the coast of the eastern United States and rarely even heard this close to land.
I was particularly excited about this discovery. While at Cornell, I had the opportunity to tour the Bioacoustics Research Program and see what an amazing facility they had set up to monitor the migration of blue whales on the east coast. Also, as a fan of large aquatic life, I have admired the blue whale since I was young and saw a life-size version hanging in the Museum of Natural History in New York City. To this day it is still one of my favorite places in the museum—yes I still go to, and love, the Museum of Natural History. Sadly, the only further exposure I have had to the blue whale has been from Planet Earth. When I heard that a blue whale had been spotted off Long Island I was ecstatic. I was no longer a film degree, job at BBC and boat ride away from one of the most magnificent animals of all time, but a mere two hour drive.
I am not the only person to have loved whales. Captain Ahab chased Moby Dick across 500 pages of 19th century literature and the curator at the Museum of Natural History decided it would be beneficial to hang a life-sized version of a blue whale in the museum—all one-hundred feet of it. But the older you get the easier it is to forget that there is an infinite world beyond your own personal agenda. Each ocean, lake, pond and puddle is teeming with life—a complete ecosystem full of the largest beings on Earth to the smallest microbes.
It is a fact that if humanity were to suddenly become extinct, nature would eventually reclaim the entire world in a surprisingly short time. It is essential that we recognize that the world contains a force that lives beyond ourselves and our agendas. I’m not saying that we should all stop our lives and chase blue whales, but like Born to Explore teaches us, there is an entire world of adventure in our backyards, and for certain whale lovers, right off the coast. The next time you have a chance stop and look into a pond or at a tree and just admire—admire the beauty of a life form that has existed for thousands and thousands of years before our time, and will to continue to exist long after we are gone.
I was particularly excited about this discovery. While at Cornell, I had the opportunity to tour the Bioacoustics Research Program and see what an amazing facility they had set up to monitor the migration of blue whales on the east coast. Also, as a fan of large aquatic life, I have admired the blue whale since I was young and saw a life-size version hanging in the Museum of Natural History in New York City. To this day it is still one of my favorite places in the museum—yes I still go to, and love, the Museum of Natural History. Sadly, the only further exposure I have had to the blue whale has been from Planet Earth. When I heard that a blue whale had been spotted off Long Island I was ecstatic. I was no longer a film degree, job at BBC and boat ride away from one of the most magnificent animals of all time, but a mere two hour drive.
I am not the only person to have loved whales. Captain Ahab chased Moby Dick across 500 pages of 19th century literature and the curator at the Museum of Natural History decided it would be beneficial to hang a life-sized version of a blue whale in the museum—all one-hundred feet of it. But the older you get the easier it is to forget that there is an infinite world beyond your own personal agenda. Each ocean, lake, pond and puddle is teeming with life—a complete ecosystem full of the largest beings on Earth to the smallest microbes.
It is a fact that if humanity were to suddenly become extinct, nature would eventually reclaim the entire world in a surprisingly short time. It is essential that we recognize that the world contains a force that lives beyond ourselves and our agendas. I’m not saying that we should all stop our lives and chase blue whales, but like Born to Explore teaches us, there is an entire world of adventure in our backyards, and for certain whale lovers, right off the coast. The next time you have a chance stop and look into a pond or at a tree and just admire—admire the beauty of a life form that has existed for thousands and thousands of years before our time, and will to continue to exist long after we are gone.
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