https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/killer-whales-work-with-humans
"When a familiar siren blares through the small town of Eden on the coast of
New South Wales, Australia, people start to gather. It’s not a warning of a
tsunami or other disaster, but for a far more pleasant occurrence: a whale
sighting.
Occasionally, a baleen whale, such as a humpback, strays from the migratory
superhighway off the coast and into Twofold Bay in Eden. The alarm atop the
tiny town’s killer whale museum is sounded to notify the town’s 3,000 or so
residents and any tourists to this scenic stretch of coastline. Over 150 years
ago, the town hosted a different marine show. Orcas, or killer whales, the
largest of the dolphin family, used to visit this bay every winter, and were
vital to a unique way of life in Eden. Humans didn’t just watch the orcas, but
rather worked side by side with them to take down some of the ocean’s largest
creatures.
“It’s just part of our fabric,” says historian Jenny Drenkhahn, who grew up in
the town and has worked at the Eden Killer Whale Museum for over 40 years. “But
most people are just in awe of the true story of how they cooperated and how
they had this relationship with people, whether they be Indigenous or Europeans
later on.”
In the 1860s, killer whales struck a kind of deal with European whalers in
Eden, one that the Aboriginal Yuin Nation had laid the groundwork for for
thousands of years. With the guidance of Yuin crew members, the whalers
established what came to be known as the “Law of the Tongue,” in which orcas
would help the whalers find and catch larger baleen whales, in exchange for
their favorite parts: the lips and tongue. The deal went swimmingly, it seems,
until, it is said, white whalers ruined it."
Via Whuffo and Susan ****
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
