Emotions

When mentioning whales, what comes to mind? Big graceful creatures, majestic and peaceful... cute even. That’s what urbanites – in their high rise skyscrapers disconnected from the oceanic world – would think of. If I were to pose the same question to an aboriginal, will I get the same response? The likely answer is no. In a global setting dominated by different cultures and ways of living, emotions and perceptions are shaped by our local (global?) environments and knowledge.

Culture sits in places – different places, different knowledge, emotions, morals and political view.

Cultures are rooted to places and this shapes the emotions individuals have of the environment (Escobar, 2001). Within urban conurbations, “the social construction of and the plurality of knowledge” (Blaikie, 1995: 204) controlled by experts in various industries aim to spread a homogenized civilized view on cetaceans for instance. Through those means, experts are able to “[persuade] others through appeals to reason, science and… coercion” (1995: 204). The interconnectivity of urban worlds brings the average human closer to cetaceans via internet videos and also, appeals by eco-groups like Sea Shepherd and Greenpeace – enabling them to mobilize even bigger “armies” as seen in the clip below.

The strong fetishizing of cetaceans in urban society is a probable explanation for the intense love and emotions among urbanites. The socially constructed “urban” idea of cetaceans in popular media like Bailey the beluga in Finding Dory, International Whale Day, seen below, paints the ideal normative image of how and what cetaceans should be. This concretizes urban notions of cetaceans – creatures that can feel, sing and function just like humans.

Image 1: An article headline from The Independent.

Image 2: Snippets from a blogpost, Wild about Whales, detailing why people love whales.

Image 3: An article on the International Fund for Animal Welfare page detailing International Whale Day.

Image 4: Bailey the Beluga, a smiling whale designed to appeal to people from all ages.

Ergo, we project images of ourselves onto cetaceans, accepting them for their cultural and social behaviours. Thus, our desire to protect whales globally stem from our belief that we are doing our part for the global environment and assisting in the conservation of whales. I feel that cetaceans serve as tools that urbanites use to feel better about ourselves.

Valuing cetaceans – to whom are they more meaningful to? Us or them?

Conversely, for those who rely on whales for survival, cetaceans carry a different utilitarian and intrinsic value. For the Inuit, cetaceans and other wildlife are respected and viewed as essential to their material and spiritual livelihoods, treating them as equals. This nullify the human-nature divide. Materially, whales provide food and construction materials while spiritually, it represents their fulfilment to Sedna in the cycles of life[1] (Harrop, 2011).

Following globalization, emotionally-charged urbanites occasionally clash with the Inuit world. Their calls for modern living fails to recognize the deep cultural, and partially ecological, values in Inuit traditional ways.

Greenpeace, at the forefront of Arctic ecological defence, have taken varying stances towards Aboriginal (Inuit) subsistence hunting. Concerning whales, they (together with the global public) have gone from condemning the Inuit back in the 70s – resulting in severe consequences on the Inuit – to congratulating them on a successful hunt in 2014. Such contradicting acts as an eco-group puts their value of cetaceans in question. 

By commoditising cetaceans and trading back Inuit “hunting rights” in return for partnership against Arctic oil drilling, this highlights the insignificant value cetaceans carry. Rather, Greenpeace capitalises on the emotions of the masses and utilises cetaceans to further their political and environmental aims (as seen in the earlier video).

Conclusion

In sum, cetaceans are prized resources among different cultures with diverse values and meanings attached to them. Largely, emotions shaped by our individual environments and constructed knowledges dictate our actions and reactions to cetaceans, causing clashes in the name of ecology. Despite having the best interest at heart, measures taken by global masses to protect the cetaceans have unintended social ramifications to indigenous parties.

[550 words]

References

Blaikie, P. (1995) “Changing Environments or Changing Views? A Political Ecology for Developing Countries”, Geography, 80(3): 203-214.

Escobar, A. (2001). Culture sits in places: reflections on globalism and subaltern strategies of localization. Political Geography, 20(2), pp.139-174.

Harrop, S. (2011). Impressions: Whales and Human Relationships in Myth, Tradition and Law. In: P. Brakes and M. Simmonds, ed., Whales and Dolphins: Cognition, Culture, Conservation and Human Perceptions, 1st ed. London: Earthscan, pp.9-22.

IFAW - International Fund for Animal Welfare. (2002). On National Whale Day, why do you love whales?. [online] Available at: http://www.ifaw.org/australia/news/national-whale-day-why-do-you-love-whales [Accessed 28 Aug. 2016].

The Independent. (2006). Whales in love: Like humans, their brains are wired for romance. [online] Available at: http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/nature/whales-in-love-like-humans-their-brains-are-wired-for-romance-427863.html [Accessed 28 Aug. 2016].

Wildaboutwhales.com.au. (2013). Wild About Whales | Why People Love Whales | Wild About Whales | NSW National Parks. [online] Available at: http://www.wildaboutwhales.com.au/blog/why-people-love-whales [Accessed 28 Aug. 2016].

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[1] The tale of Sedna, the Inuit Goddess of the sea and marine mammals portrays how Sedna’s father sacrificed his daughter in an attempt to appease the spirits. The tale describes the hardship and sacrifices required to survive in a harsh polar landscape. Hence, by hunting whales, the Inuit are consuming the spirit of Sedna which then permeates their souls. In return, their eventual deaths resemble their sacrifice to the world, just like the cetaceans they hunt.