I’m critter savvy and usually I can figure out why a critter does something, but sometimes I just don’t quite get it. That was the case with the grey whale that beached itself not once, but twice recently.
The first time was in Ventura County and people came to the rescue because we all love whales. The big critter was towed off the beach before the grounding became helpless.
That whale was not just towed off the beach, I heard from Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary staff that it was towed to a point south of Santa Cruz Island (that would be on the other side of the island from us mainlanders).
Happy ending of the story? Nope. Just a week or so later, the same whale stranded again at Carpinteria, as I heard it.
Now that means it swam around the island, across the Santa Barbara Channel and stranded itself again. At this point, the animal’s wishes needed to be accepted. It passed away where it had beached.
Here is a case where I can accept the decision of the critter, but I don’t understand why the decision was made. It remains a mystery to me.
We had another whale incident, which wasn’t a mystery but required some hero work. A humpback whale got its tail wrapped in anchored rope. It could reach the surface to breathe but is was stuck.
Government teams and resources wanted to but were unable to respond because they felt that working together in the period of the COVID-19 shutdown could put team members at risk. These folks usually do an awesome job, and I’m sure they wished they could have responded to this crisis because it is such meaningful and gratifying work.
One of our local saltwater heroes, Capt. Paul Amaral of Vessel Assist got involved, made some calls and put together a team of volunteers. After buddy-boating out to the scene, people made friends with the stressed-out whale to calm it down. They were able to cut it free and watched it swim off to feed and heal up.
As a coastal community, we care about the critters of the sea, and we are proud of our people who help distressed critters. Many of us have played a part in rescuing or helping critters in one way or another, like Paul and his team did, and all such acts are a source of pride and empowerment for us. We can be proud.
— Capt. David Bacon operates WaveWalker Charters and is president of SOFTIN Inc., a nonprofit organization providing seafaring opportunities for those in need. Visit softininc.blogspot.com to learn more about the organization and how you can help. Click here to read previous columns. The opinions expressed are his own.
