1 minute read
THE WHALE IS GOOD
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Just visiting. Four months a year, countless humpback whales cavort in the waters off the island nation of Tonga. Today they are welcome visitors, but that wasn’t always the case.
The Kingdom of Tonga consists of 172 islands that lie only a few centimeters above sea level. It’s a South Pacific paradise with palm trees, white beaches, and deep blue water, but appearances can be deceptive. Beneath its aquatic surface are 36 active undersea volcanoes. The last eruption occurred in January 2022 and was one of the strongest ever measured.
The people of Tonga have learned to live with the forces of nature that surround them, and some extraordinary visitors are also undeterred by the potentially eruptive environment—the humpback whales of the southern hemisphere. Every year, from July through October, up to 2,000 of these ocean giants journey from Antarctica to the Tongan archipelago to mate, give birth, and nurse their offspring. Since the 19th century, Tongans took advantage of this yearly migration through smallscale, traditional whaling. Whaling was banned in Tonga in 1978 due to devastating large-scale commercial whaling from other countries that caused the population to dwindle to just 50. Since then, the whale-watching industry has boomed, and people now come from all over the world to see and swim with the whales.
In the film "George & the Whales," we hear the story of a Tongan whale-watching guide. George used to have more fear than respect for the 30,000-kilogram sea creatures; today, he loves his whales more than anything. What does he want his guests and us viewers to take away? "The whale is good." That's all you need to know. With this mindset, it’s possible to have a peaceful coexistence.
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