SHARING A PROFOUND MOMENT

We tend to expect touching or profound interactions to occur regularly between humans, though we are often especially touched when it occurs between a baby or small child and an adult. We also know that our interactions with dogs and cats may produce truly heartwarming responses. But with species in the wild, it's both surprising and awe-inspiring. I think it must be because we don't have the opportunity to have inter-species contacts often, especially with animals in the wild.

I was really touched when I read this note passed on by a friend. As I've chosen to write about things that are positive, that show hope and possibility, I decided to share this with readers of this blog. I hope that you are equally touched by the care of the rescuers and the gratitude of the whale.

Sharing a profound moment...

If you had read the front page story of the SF Chronicle on Thursday, Dec
14, 2005, 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 them 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 ever be the same.