1 Humpbacks in the News and in the ears

HUMPBACK whales have a type of brain cell seen only in humans, the great apes, and other cetaceans such as dolphins, US researchers report. Patrick Hof and Estel Van der Gucht, of the Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York, studied the brains of this endangered cetacean species, and discovered a "spindle neuron" in the cortex, in areas comparable to where they are seen in humans and great apes.

Although the function of spindle neurons is not well understood, they may be involved in cognition — learning, remembering and recognition. Spindle cells may be affected by Alzheimer's disease and other debilitating brain disorders such as autism.This might mean such whales are more intelligent than they have been given credit for, and suggests the basis for complex brains either evolved more than once, or has gone unused by most species.

The finding may help explain some of the behaviour seen in whales, such as intricate communication skills, the formation of alliances, co-operation, cultural transmission and tool usage, the researchers reported in The Anatomical Record. Humpback whales are best known, of course, for their evocative courtship songs, so often heard in winter, in the waters off hawaii, northeastern Australia, The Dominican Republic, and Mexico. A song may be several hours in duration. Songs display aspects of rhyming, with a content that provides information about the singer's vigor, as well as his lineage. You can listen to these songs, and watch a film of courting humpbacks at the excellent site of The Oceania Project.

Interspecies.com researched humpbacks in 1994 in Southeast Alaska, to document one of the most communal alliances in all of nature. These whales do not travel in structured pods like dolphins. But when a whale discovers a school of food fish, it vocalizes a unique hunting call which sounds much more strident and edgy in tone than courting calls. This call attracts any other hungry whale in the vicinity, even if there has been no previous contact between the individuals. The spontaneous group displays an amazing sense of innate synchrony as they dive beneath the school, then start circling together, emitting enormous bubbles that virtually entrap the fish. The whales then rise directly into the school with their mouths wide open. The sight of several 40 to 60 foot whales breaking the surface, displaying the hot pink folds of their throats, rising ten or more feet out of the water with their mouths wide open, spraying silvery fish bodies high into the air, is one of the most dramatic sights in all of the animal kingdom. The orchestrated eruption of whales and fish, also attracts Steller sea lions, which grow to 4000 pounds, as well as Pacific white-sided dolphins.

What you are listening to, is music composed by Jim Nollman that showcases these seldom-heard humpback hunting calls. Following the format of a classical Indian raga, the solo instrument is created from audio samples recorded in Alaska's Frederick Sound. Both the drone and the choir are created entirely from humpback courting calls. The drum is looped from samples of echolocation vocalized by Pacific white-sided dolphins, actually recorded as they accompanied feeding humpbacks near Port Hardy off Vancouver Island. The swishing sound is water current recorded during the same Port Hardy sessions. Entitled Humpy's Raga, this song is one selection from a CD of Interspecies music, which will be released in 2007 by Important Records. Enjoy.

2 Our Other Destruction

Everyone's attention is being blasted daily by horrific images out of Iraq attended by upbeat statements by Bush that sound scripted by Mad Magazine. Meanwhile, an issue of much greater long term destructive power than iraq, is now being debated politely before the US Supreme Court. Every citizen needs to keep informed of this debate about the US government's obligation to regulate the emissions that cause global warming. The fact that the US Environmental Protection Agency feels it needs not do anything at all, and has been taken to court over it, seems to be one of the great examples of governmental irresponsibility in our lifetime. If you haven't seen Al Gore's excellent film, An Inconvienent Truth, go buy it or rent it, because this is the best starting point to get informed. And then find some local person where you live, and ask him or her to reminisce about the changes in weather. Where I live, near Seattle, November has been the wettest month in recorded history. They say November rainfall was far more devastating in India.

Reading the transcripts of the justices' questions to lawyers who represent 12 states, 50 cities, and many corporations, will leave you shaking your head over just how out of touch some of these justices are. Scalia is the worst of the bunch, asking sarcastic questions that make him sound more like a lobbyist for Exxon, doing his nasty best to suggest that this issue does not merit his lofty attention. If the Supreme Court votes against this case, recognize it as a sure sign that the Bush administration is more willing to protect outdated corporations than our grandchildren's ability to live on this planet. And pray that the new democratic Congress will actually do what it was elected to do, create new incisive laws to ensure cleaner air, so that this issue never gets bandied about again by the right-wing Supreme Court.

3 Skidboot the Master

As a Christmas present to one another, my wife Katy and I found ourselves a cute puppy labradoodle named Emmitt. In the spirit of the season, I must implore you to watch this film documenting the rare gift of an incredible dog, Skidboot and his well-trained human. How do they do that?

4 Links for December

• Today, over 50% of the world's languages are in danger of disappearing. A few of these display a fascinating form: drummed and whistled. Morse code is a drummed language. Frenchman Julien Meyer is an authority on whistled language, and he has just received a Rolex award to compile and preserve known examples of the form, which still exist in Cambodia, Colombia, and the Canary Island of Gomera.
• Do you make an effort to eat organically? if so, be careful of so-called organic salmon. Wild free-swimming salmon, which may eat anything swimming in front of them, are no longer considered organic, because (get this) their diet can not be controlled by humans. However, it is now possible to pay extra cash to buy certified organic farmed salmon which, unlike the usual farmed salmon, are fed fish pellets that contain no antibiotics or food coloring. Nutritionists still insist that wild salmon is the only game worth your health.
• Every so often, the news carries a story of a captive orca attacking its trainer. Several years ago, in Victoria, an orca drowned a trainer by holding her underwater. the latest incident occurred at San Diego SeaWorld in the middle of a show. The whale grabbed the trainer's foot and dragged him under, not once but twice, although finally letting him go. This event has prompted a lively internet discussion among whale protectors — who would love to close down the oceanaria of the world — trying to intepret precisely what this orca might have been trying to communicate. The most cited analysis concludes that, since the whale had known his trainer for many years, it was probably nothing personal. What probably was personal, was the show itself, which ostensibly had been driving the whale crazy, and finally caused him to crack and put a stop to it. If so, his communcated critique did work, at least for a while, because the whale has been granted a temporary sabbatical. Or, if you prefer to call it a suspension, it calls to mind the suspension of basketball player, Ron Artest, after he punched a fan. While Artest was unhappy to be suspended, the whale is probably left mulling over the limits of his newfound power to clearly speak his mind.
• The metaphor of dolphin-as-mentor continues to manifest in unexpected ways. One company now offers the People, Oceans Dolphins Workshop, (POD) that can happen in your corporate environment over 1, 2 or 3 days.  A variety of skills and techniques for employees are covered - all inspired by or related to dolphins or whales.  These include stress reduction, team-building skills, conflict resolution, enhancing emotional intelligence, and interpersonal skills. The workshop is for groups of 5 to 50 individuals, and utilises a number of different methods designed to be enjoyable, practical, and productive. The site does not state their fee.

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