We have a new community member.
She has 16 children, 19 grandchildren and 4 great grandchildren and
she had her latest baby in 2022, Miso.
By Nancy S. Mahoney, SHC Novice
Our newest member is a long distance swimmer taking a 1,600 mile journey every year or so. She is about 56 feet long and weighs about 45 tons and eats schools of fish and plankton at a ton a day during the feeding season. Oh, and did I mention? Her babies are born at 1 ton each.
Who is she? Salt, a humpback whale. Her unique tail markings give her her name. She’s been followed by a paparazzi of scientists since 1975.
We adopted Salt in a symbolic act of solidarity with this GRAND grandmother, an integral part of the health of the ocean and its capacity to sequester carbon. Whales not only feed on plankton but feed plankton with the fertilizer of their nutrient rich poop. These small creatures take in CO2 and produce oxygen, providing half the oxygen we breathe. They are like the Amazon Forest of the ocean.
The impetus to adopt a whale came from our Earth Circle and was approved by St Hildegard’s Council. We also sent a contribution to Nan Hauser, a researcher on Cook Island who is 70 and still researching and loving whales. You can see videos of her work at whaleresearch.org. This is a scientist who exudes excitement, connection, and compassion for the whales. Check her out and consider your own donation if you are able.
Earth Circle meets once a month on the third Tuesday of the month at 7:30 pm Central via Zoom. If you’d like to join us, please email us at sthildecommaustin@gmail.com to get the link. We’d love to have you join us as we lament the loss we feel as Earth is ravaged, and as we find joy in connections between humans and the natural world. When we gather, we recognize our interdependence with all life and the efforts of many to work in harmony with our great Mother Earth, for we are the Earth.
Another way to get involved is to download the app on your phone: ClimateActionNow.org which gives an easy way for you to take actions to work in harmony with Earth. We use it and it keeps us aware, awake, and engaged.
I hope to see you at Earth Circle on the third Tuesday evening of the month!
Nancy
Adopt your own whale! See whales.org
