Why Whale Wars is the Most Important Reality TV Show Running
I’ve been blessed with a very rich and interesting family history. At a young age, my maternal grandmother would share incredible stories about her findings while tracking down and assembling our family tree. It’s a shame that she passed away a few short years before access to historical information was a mouse click away. This is a woman who hustled her way up and down New England, through libraries and municipal buildings, to find the next puzzle piece. I always admired that determination, because she was doing it not only for herself, but for her grandchildren, who eventually would be passed the torch.
At a young age I had an above average fascination with whales and marine sciences in general. In fact I always thought I was going to be the next Jacques Cousteau, but then I joined Junior Achievement and set my sights on becoming a capitalist pig instead. There is still hope for me.
Knowing this, my grandmother would take me on trips to the New Bedford Whaling museum, which if you haven’t been, is a little light on the science and heavy on the history. She would tell me stories of how I’m a direct descendent of two of New Bedford’s and America’s most prominent whaling families, the Howland’s and the Russell’s, which is also noted in Eric Jay Dolan’s fascinating book “Leviathan: The History of Whaling in America”. It’s an amazing study of America itself and adds a lot to your Revolutionary, War of 1812 and Civil War studies.
To top it all off I have a harpoon prominently displayed in my home. It’s not that I celebrate it as an instrument of death, but to me it serves as a reminder of our past, my past, and how we almost wiped many species of animals off the face of the planet. Animals that if eliminated could potentially throw our entire ecosystem into a tailspin. Their purpose combined with intelligence and grace, whales are the most amazing creatures roaming the oceans and deserve our respect as Earth’s keepers.
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