God. Whales. HATE THEM. Hate them. I’ve gotten better over the past few years. Sort of. But they are so large and ungainly and clearly out for human blood.
When I was in high school I was an open ocean outrigger canoe paddler and one time my mom was all, “ooohhh sweetie as you were racing into the sunset we could all see a pod of humpbacks breaching majestically behind you it was so wonderful” and I almost soiled myself. To be that close to whales and survive?! I’m lucky to be typing this right now.
You know what is nice? Decomposing whales. First, the whale’s dead. Second, the whale carcass (still terrifying, frankly) is being eaten away by smaller, less offensive creatures.
Here’s a great video Avi sent me a few months ago of a real whale carcass over the course of about a year.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H3ykOKzSsTw
Even less scary- and aesthetic and lovely and made by two women- is this video Whale Fall (after life of a whale). Decomposition whale puppets- can my heart stand this? I know not.
WordPress is being a useless slut about me embedding this video, so click on the screen grab to be taken to watch it. It’s worth it, promise.
Whale puppet credit Oliver Franklin Anderson.