If you read the front page story of the SF Chronicle, you would have read about a female humpback whale who had become entangled in a spider web of crab traps and lines. She was weighted down by hundreds of pounds of traps that caused her to struggle to stay afloat. She also had hundreds of yards of line rope wrapped around her body, her tail, her torso, a line tugging in her mouth. A fisherman spotted her just east of the Farralone Islands (outside the Golden Gate ) and radioed an environmental group for help. Within a few hours, the rescue team arrived and determined that she was so bad off, the only way to save her was to dive in and untangle her.
A very dangerous proposition. One slap of the tail could kill a rescuer.
They worked for hours with curved knives and eventually freed her. When she was free, the divers say she swam in what seemed like joyous circles. She then came back to each and every diver, one at a time, and nudged them, pushed gently around-she thanked them. Some said it was the most incredibly beautiful experience of their lives.
The man who cut the rope out of her mouth says her eye was following him the whole time, and he will never be the same. May you, and all those you love, be so blessed and fortunate to be surrounded by people who will swim with you in the deep waters that may engulf you, and who will help you become untangled from the things that bind you. And, may you always know the joy of giving and receiving gratitude.
thanks to Rick I and Craig Neal for passing this to me.
Rodney
Those who need to read and absorb this news story, sadly, never seem to…they flap their jaws about crazy tree-hugging activists, wasted taxpayer dollars/energy, blahblahblah.
Thanks for sharing this…I happened upon it when, like so many others, I visited your blog.
I wish you well with Broadway. And the naps.
Bosco Pereira
Dear Jane,
Beautiful, touching piece. As humans, we can sometimes forget that God’s other creatures are no less than us. I look forward fo following your site. As someone who lives minutes from Sundance, in Utah, I am surrounded by immense natural beauty and by the creatures that were long on this Blue Planet before man. Thank you for the story.
Twitter @pr_bosco
agnes landau
thank you for sharing this wonderful and moving story with us!
Rita Erlenbach
This story brought tears to my eyes. How wonderful that they were able to save her and just imagine what it must have been like for her to come to each and thank them. Thank you for sharing this.
TrishBrenchley
This story moved me too. Thanks for that.
Looking forward to reading your Blog about your
Broadway public preview.
judye
This was amazing – so touching it goes beyond words.
Thank you for sharing this.
jacqueline breard
As a scuba-diving human being I could never thank you enough for sharing this story with us. Is there anyway to get more information about it and about the rescue team?
Merci beaucoup
Jacqueline
Catherine
Dear Ms. Fonda, I spent 10 days last summer studying minke whales in the St. Lawrence River estuary with Dr. Ursula Tscherter of the ORES Institute. Everthing you have written here is so absolutely true & the analogy to our lives is as deep calling unto deep. I have emailed this to both friends & family and will share it at an OCFS facility I am working with on Staten Island. We mentor young at-risk female youth & are in the midst of planning the very first outdoor education program with the girls this spring. Many blessing, Catherine.
mommyknows
This was very touching. Whales are incredible. I can’t believe they are still hunted.
Did you hear about the dolphins trapped in the ice in Newfoundland this week?
Libby B
Dear Jane
What a wonderful story to share and such a touching sentiment. I long for a world with more compassion, a world that is joyful and celebratory about these life changing moments.
Thank you…
Libby
Shirley
Moved to tears. It just shows she has the power of reasoning, (like humans) she knew not to hurt them, instead showed kindness in return. I lived right where those dolphins were trapped in Newfoundland; the community did everything in their power to free them.
Keep well,
Shirley
Stu Schwartz
This was Shirley’s favorite poem.
THE SEA
by Rabbi Allan S. Green
I know that I shall never tire
Of standing by the sea,
And reaching out to comprehend
Her message to me.
Her never ending restless surge,
Her ebb and flow on shore,
Help me to grasp eternity
And sense the “ever more.”
Her waves that dance and leap and flaunt
Their white plumes in the air
Tell me that unseen rhythms beat,
And life is everywhere.
Her rolling, mounting, roaring seas,
Swept onward by the storm,
Bespeak the power infinite
By which the world was born.
They’re “living waters” the scriptures say,
And science attests it too,
That life began with the scan
Of these teeming depths of blue.
When I return to the domain
To plunge into the foam,
To taste the salt and meet the spray
I know that I’ve come home.
I float upon her bosom soft,
Cradled and rocked and turned,
I’m healed with a “oneness” with the world
For which my soul has yearned.
(I recall one scuba diving trip to San Carlos when there was a terrific storm at sea. The harbor where the boat was docked was one continuous foaming blanket, “a rolling, mounting, roaring sea” “ Bespeak the power infinite” I clearly recall Shirley’s face as she delighted in the poetic sight, a once in a lifetime experience and she commented on how beautiful it was.)
Stu Schwartz
Monica Flint
I too rejoice in the courage and humanity of the peopel who saved the whale, and in her (the whale’s) courage, grace under pressure, intelligence, and wonderful gratitude. When will we human beings come to our senses, stop poisoning & polluting the environment…and stop underestimating our brothers and sisters, the animals and birds.
Jane, thank you so very much for sharing this beautiful story. ‘Break a leg’ on Broadway.
Joy
What a beautiful story. I was also moved to tears. Thank you for sharing.
I am glad you are writing this blog and very happy I found it.
Maureen
Thank you for sharing this wonderful story! I read it with tears in my eyes and then I read it out loud to my husband and cried while reading it. There is so much violence and sadness in the world so to read about a lovely event like this gives one hope to still be optimistic about humanity. Thank you.
Michael Joseph Pieper
Jane, I don’t know if when you wrote this that it came out sounding like an Irish Blessing.
“May you, and all those you love, be so blessed and fortunate to be surrounded by people who will swim with you in the deep waters that may engulf you, and who will help you become untangled from the things that bind you. And, may you always know the joy of giving and receiving gratitude.”
But this so touched me, I think I will have it made into a Plaque to hang to hang in my living room.
Thank You, for the Blessing.
Sheila Sheppard
Dear Jane,
Thank you so much for sharing this incredible story! I’ve forwarded it to all in my address book. Just found your blog and am amazed that you’re able to share so much of yourself with others even though your life is busy and full. I’ll be popping in to enjoy your adventures vicariously. Wishing you all the best from South Georgia,
Sheila Sheppard
Susie
I enjoyed reading this so much! It moved me deeply. It shows how animals have some of the same feelings as we have….joy…fear….depression! That whale sensed that they were not there to do harm! I wish there were more stories of this nature in our newspapers! I’ve heard about these horror stories about animals caught in these fishing or crab nets and lines! It seems like they could be made in such a way that they would be more environmentally friendly! Thank you, Michael, for the Irish Blessing! It was lovely!
Suzanne
dear Jane
thank you so much for this..
on a boat watching whales i was honored to have
a whale come to the side i was on(everyone was on the other side!) in Mass. Bay in 1997–and this being of great light and love looked me in the eye with her or his
eye!…It was beyond words….the Divine peeking out at me in this sea being..
love and peace
Suzanne
Barbara
Whales how I love you. Ancient earthkeepers
And all my Dolphin brothers and sisters too.
May we always love and protect you.
Eden Grace
What a marvelous & profoundly touching story. Thank you so much for sharing it! ‘May you (also), and all those you love, be blessed and surrounded by people who will swim with you in the deep waters and who will help you become untangled from the things that bind you.’ May we all ‘know the joy of giving and receiving gratitude.’ How beautifully expressed! I have a none profit of sending loving kindness around the world. May I use that beautiful wish in one of the cards we sent out? (See http://www.SendOutCards.com/Eden)
Mary June Opper
Hi Jane.
re the whale story…I cried. : )
I don’t care if it is true or not.
I loved it and I am going to believe it
really was like the divers said.
That’s their story and I’m sticking to it!!!!!
june