[Opinion] Whales and Humans

It is an old human custom to wish others` happiness for a new year. We say wish you `good health,` `longevity` or `fortune,` which sound somewhat conventional but still carries warm feelings. It would be just great if this society becomes what we all wish - a happy place to live in. Indeed, this time of a year is the best season for everyone when good intentions abound.

▷It might be because all those well wishes are lingering inside me. I still have this image of whales on a New Zealand beach I saw on a newspaper two days ago. The huge sea creatures are opening their mouths to breath and people are busy covering them with blankets and carrying seawater in buckets. The image was so touching that I just couldn`t ignore the whales as a bunch of stupid animals committing yet another collective suicide. I wonder if the helpless animals were saved eventually, that the effort by good-hearted people was paid back.

▷The whales in the picture were pilot whales that reach about 5m and weigh 3 tons when they grow up. There were all told 159 pilot whales on Stewart Beach in New Zealand on that day. And the scene was worth global media attention. Whales, which came to the shore at full tide, were discovered by people 18 hours later. About 80 people from animal rights groups and local residents rushed to the beach to send them back to the sea at high tide, but only 39 whales were saved. The rest 120 all died. Five year ago, the number was 360. It seems that pilot whales consider Stewart Island their graveyard.

▷The cause for their suicidal behavior is unknown. Some say they choose to come ashore after chased by stronger ones such as killer whales. Others say it is because they lose a sense of direction. There is a hypothesis that their suicidal behavior has something to do with the balance in species. People have yet to find an answer, but they just can`t let them die, though. When it becomes impossible to send them back to the sea, they choose to shot them to save them from the pain. If whales are intelligent enough to commit suicide for some reason, those that survived must appreciate the kind people who do the best they can to push them back to water.

Bang Hyung-nam, Editorial Writer, hnbhang@donga.com