I was listening to Fresh Air on NPR the other night on my way home from teaching a class. The guests were Toni Frohoff, a behavorial and wildlife biologist, and journalist Charles Siebert.

They were talking about a group of gray whales off the coast of Baja California in Mexico that are actively seeking out human interaction. Their stories were amazing! Mr. Siebert talked about a baby gray whale that popped out of the water an arm’s length from him and stared at him! How amazing that a whale was watching us! Mr. Siebert said that this experience of being watched by a whale changed him.

I came home and looked up Charles Siebert’s full article in the New York Times Magazine. (You can read it  here.) I was completely spellbound by the research he reports on and the world of whales. Could a creature so different from us really be so similar to us? It looks like the answer,  and with scientific backup, is yes!

I don’t know why this fills me with such joy, but it does. I don’t know why this fills me with such hope, but it does. 

May all creatures everywhere be happy and free, and may the thoughts and actions of my own life contribute in some way to that happiness and freedom for all.