Saturday, May 5, 2018

Visions of the Humpback Whale / Against All Odds / Survival Prayer


(Delay at beginning, starts at 0:05)















About 30 miles north of Bellingham in the Salish Sea.

Photo from Peace Arch News.

It was in 1970 that I was first made aware of the plight of the Humpback Whale through Judy Collins' version of "Farewell to Tarwathie":


This songis by George Scroggie who lived in Aberdeenshire in the middle of the 19th century. At that time men would sign on to the whaling ships to earn money when times were hard on the land.




2 comments:

Elizabeth said...

I love them so much. I did just read an article about their "comeback" that was quite heartening. Every time I've seen one -- any kind of whale, really -- my heart just leaps. Back before I had ever seen one, when I used to live in NYC with my baby Sophie, I'd get away from it all and sit under the giant replica of a blue whale that hung from the ceiling of the Museum of Natural History. Sophie was soothed by it back then, too.

Anonymous said...

It's been a very long time since I listened to that song. Such a sound, beautiful poetics of such a heartbreaking time. I so love the Humpbacks.