The Whale

Teach Peace Moment: The Whale

Fair Use Title 17 Section 107 for non-profit educational use.

The San Francisco Chronicle reported a female humpback whale 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, and a line 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...

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 guy who cut the rope out of her mouth says her eye was following him the whole time, and he will never be the same.

We pass this on to you in the same spirit.

To read the San Francisco Chronicle article, click here.

Teach Peace Foundation makes available uplifting real-world stories to inform teach that we should be at peace with our planet. To learn more and join our nonviolent efforts to make our world a better one, call 530-204-7227 or send an e-mail to contact@teachpeace.com.