JoElephant's guide to our animal kin
Commentary by JoEllen Collins
Anyone who knows me knows I am a sucker for animals and
animal stories. Not only do I weep at old Lassie movies, but tales of
neglected mustangs, Koko the gorilla who speaks to humans through sign
language, lost and found terriers, and monogamous elephants are meant for
me. Some of the children at the school where I work call me JoElephant
(better than being known as the Elephant Lady) because my fondness for
that huge mammal is so evident.
So when 60 Minutes broadcast a segment about a
choir on San Juan Island who performed for the migrating whales cavorting
nearby, my interest was piqued. At first the premise seemed a bit sappy
and thus suited to my sentimental streak where animals are concerned. The
music of the orcas has been documented before; but this experiment posited
the idea that the whales not only could respond to the sounds being sent
out to them but that their own music had some connection with human
sounds. As the segment progressed, and from the show's transcripts, it is
obvious that there is a grain of truth to these concepts.
This attempt to communicate with the largest creatures on
the planet, whales, using a language they understand, was accomplished
through the choir's voices being directed over a special speaker designed
to project sound through the water. Roger Payne, a pioneering expert on
the sounds of whales, was assigned the project of analyzing the results.
He used high-tech machines which recorded sound waves and frequencies,
even those created underwater. The notations resembled EKG graphs.
Payne believes that whales, especially humpbacks, create
what he terms "true art," eliciting emotional responses and
sometimes tears in listeners. Furthermore, he has found that whales
compose and vocalize, creating patterns of sound like the verses of human
beings. "They compose all the time," he said. "They
constantly dicker with their sounds." Humans have "tight"
harmonics, whales "spread-out," as evidenced by comparing the
recorded frequencies of both subjects. He attributes this similarity of
song making between humans and whales to the similarity of vertebrae
brains in both species.
On this concert afternoon the participants hoped the
whales would respond. As the choir did a run-through before the
performance, a group of orcas actually showed up. Later in the day the
equipment tracking the whales confirmed their presence. When the choir
began, the orcas swam into view. They stayed as the concert continued,
coming close to shore and frolicking in the water. The underwater
hydrophone then picked up whale vocalizations. Later computer analysis
showed that the whale voices even joined in with the human ones on several
songs.
While the television footage was selective and the
experiment possibly unscientific, it is an amazing thought that these
water mammals could react as they did. It is true also that Mr. Payne says
he's not sure the evidence is completely in about what seems like an
amazing connection between whales and humans. Nonetheless, he asserts, he
is determined to keep analyzing the music of the whales in his search for
proof. And, anecdotal or not, I find the prospect intriguing. I do believe
there is more knowledge out there than we are yet able to understand.
I have been told about a school of dolphins that
surrounded a boat load of people scattering the ashes of a young man whose
parents honored his love of the ocean. I know of a young man sent to
monitor the number of dolphin kills on an Asian fishing vessel by the
international body that oversees the violation of fishing regulations. He
wrote to his fiancée that the sounds of the dolphins caught in the nets
were like the death throes of human beings. He could not remain aloof.
We might even be more intertwined with the plant kingdom
than we thought. The Dec. 14 issue of the Boise Statesman carried a
report about the discovery of the entire genetic makeup of a common weed,
a breakthrough in medical science. The most striking conclusion from the
study is that researchers found about 100 of the plant's genes that are
closely related to human disease genes involved in deafness, blindness,
and cancer. Thus these plants will be used to investigate gene-based
therapies for these maladies. According to Rod Wing, who is in the process
of sequencing the rice genome at Clemson University, "It provides
further evidence that we (plants and humans) do have a common
origin."
Carl Sagan once said that humans have an "
inclination to see themselves as the center of the universe was directly
linked to the racism, sexism, and ethnocentrism that plague the world.
Each of these is an attempt to make us special without having to do
anything to earn it."
The more we seem to learn about our brother species, the
more there is an increased sense of connection. Call me a tree-hugger or a
stupid lover of animals because they act or look like human beings. I do
believe that we are linked with other living things in ways that we are
only beginning to explore.
I leave further action to vegans, PETA members, and other
activists who believe the connections between human and other species are
extremely close.
So let the whales sing. I'd love to sing back to them and
to the concept that we as humans are not the sole proprietors of being
special.