National Geographic Special; The Great Whales

<v Television Host>This National Geographic Society special is made possible by a grant <v Television Host>from Gulf Oil Corporation. <v Alexander Scourby>They are the largest creatures on earth. <v Alexander Scourby>Creatures of mystery. <v Alexander Scourby>Masters of a dark and shadowed world human eyes have seldom seen. <v Alexander Scourby>[music plays] <v Alexander Scourby>1 of the rarest and most awesome experiences in nature is this: <v Alexander Scourby>an [tape cuts out] whale. <v Alexander Scourby>More than 40 million years ago, early ancestors of modern whales adapted <v Alexander Scourby>to the deep. They have flourished here but retain a fateful <v Alexander Scourby>dependence on the sunlit world above. <v Alexander Scourby>Like man, they are mammals, warm-blooded creatures who must <v Alexander Scourby>breathe to live. [music plays]

<v Alexander Scourby>1 thing about whales is not a mystery. <v Alexander Scourby>We know precisely how many of them die. <v Alexander Scourby>As for the rest, we have barely glimpsed this most extravagant and spectacular <v Alexander Scourby>animal of all. [music plays] <v Alexander Scourby>Led by pioneering scientists, man and whale today slowly drawing

<v Alexander Scourby>closer, and in these first tentative contacts, a tantalizing question <v Alexander Scourby>rises: What does a whale do with the largest brain on <v Alexander Scourby>earth? [music plays] <v Alexander Scourby>Encouraged by experience with whales in captivity, the first explorers <v Alexander Scourby>now seek the animals in their own environment. <v Alexander Scourby>Join us now as we enter the domain of giants, the secret <v Alexander Scourby>world of the great whales. [introduction music plays] <v Television Host>Your host for the National Geographic Society specials, E.G.

<v Television Host>Marshall. <v E.G. Marshall>Of all endangered animals today, whales seem to rouse a remarkable <v E.G. Marshall>and deeply felt human sympathy. <v E.G. Marshall>Yet paradoxically, few of us have ever seen a whale and no <v E.G. Marshall>scientist can claim to understand them. <v E.G. Marshall>We know just enough about whales to want to know a great deal more. <v E.G. Marshall>What is the capability of their massive brains? <v E.G. Marshall>What is the meaning of their eery calls and songs? <v E.G. Marshall>How do whales communicate with each other and what might they <v E.G. Marshall>communicate to man, if we could draw near them? <v E.G. Marshall>We invite you now to share the mysteries and seek solutions. <v E.G. Marshall>And we ask you to consider the tragic possibility that we could destroy <v E.G. Marshall>the whale without ever having known him. <v Alexander Scourby>In an age of environmental alarm, the 1970s may well be remembered

<v Alexander Scourby>as the time of the whale. <v Alexander Scourby>Surging interest and concern for whales have created such odd spectacles <v Alexander Scourby>as this: a 50-foot sculpture of a fin whale placed on <v Alexander Scourby>display in a San Francisco park. <v Alexander Scourby>The intent of the artist? To create a sympathetic bond between man <v Alexander Scourby>and whale, for the fate of the world's largest animal lies in human hands <v Alexander Scourby>and to understand that the whale is in peril, one must first appreciate <v Alexander Scourby>that such a colossal and unlikely creature exists at all. <v Alexander Scourby>[background chatter and helicopter flying] <v Alexander Scourby>The whale has always cast an unusual shadow in the human consciousness. <v Alexander Scourby>There is, first of all, sheer amazement that living flesh can assume such <v Alexander Scourby>scale. Often the whale has been seen as an agent of supernatural <v Alexander Scourby>powers, but above all, the whale has evoked man's cunning <v Alexander Scourby>and ferocity. We have pursued the Leviathan relentlessly

<v Alexander Scourby>over hundreds of years. [music plays] <v Alexander Scourby>The scene is centuries-old. A stranded whale, dead or dying, <v Alexander Scourby>and men at work with knives and axes. <v Alexander Scourby>In the earliest accounts and legends, the whale was fear. <v Alexander Scourby>The animal that swallowed Jonah and only released him at God's command. <v Alexander Scourby>At first, man had little power over whales. <v Alexander Scourby>When the carcass drifted ashore, there was feast and celebration, <v Alexander Scourby>but to hunt such a creature in the open sea was all but inconceivable. <v Alexander Scourby>Then a man first took the life of a whale and survived to boast <v Alexander Scourby>it. A new and romantic hero was born: the whaler. <v Alexander Scourby>[music plays] <v Alexander Scourby>First in European and Asian waters, then spreading to the remotest seas, <v Alexander Scourby>the pursuit of whales promised wealth and spawned adventure.

<v Alexander Scourby>By the mid-1800s, Americans of New England dominated whaling. <v Alexander Scourby>Their land was thin and rocky, but the oceans were rich in whale flesh <v Alexander Scourby>and whale oil. [music plays] <v Alexander Scourby>It was a brutal and risky life. <v Alexander Scourby>Often it was difficult to say whether whales or men were in greater danger. <v Alexander Scourby>Small boats were sometimes dragged for miles, an ordeal whalers whimsically <v Alexander Scourby>called a Nantucket sleigh ride. <v Alexander Scourby>[music plays] <v Alexander Scourby>Whaling out of New England and wooden ships continued into the early 1900s, when these

<v Alexander Scourby>films were taken, but by then a new era of whaling had <v Alexander Scourby>drawn time of steam and steel. <v Alexander Scourby>The hand thrown [tape cuts out] had given way to a deadly cannon with an explosive <v Alexander Scourby>warhead. With the range and speed of modern ships, whalers <v Alexander Scourby>could easily penetrate polar seas where great whales mass in large <v Alexander Scourby>numbers. [music plays] <v Alexander Scourby>Whalers learned how to inflate whale carcasses with compressed air to keep them afloat. <v Alexander Scourby>It was a crucial discovery. <v Alexander Scourby>Many whale species that would otherwise sink and be lost when killed now <v Alexander Scourby>were fair gain. <v Alexander Scourby>By dissecting harvested whales, scientists had confirmed the surprising fact. <v Alexander Scourby>The whale's anatomy left no doubt that their prehistoric ancestors were land animals

<v Alexander Scourby>with four legs. Although whales bear a superficial resemblance to fish <v Alexander Scourby>under the skin, they are more closely related to animals like camels, sheep <v Alexander Scourby>or elephants. <v Alexander Scourby>But what was the natural behavior of these monsters? <v Alexander Scourby>1 fearful impression lingered, popularized in the pages of an immortal <v Alexander Scourby>novel, Moby Dick. [movie dialogue starts] <v Ishmael>Can whales do that? <v Captain Ahab>Why, bless me, whales can do anything! <v Captain Ahab>A whale can jump up like an earthquake and come down on ya like <v Captain Ahab>a mountain somehow put to sea. A whale can stave in the ribs of the biggest ships, <v Captain Ahab>swallow whole crews, pick its teeth with yours. <v Captain Ahab>Mine lad, if God ever wanted to be a fish, he'd be a whale. <v Captain Ahab>Believe that, he'd be a whale! [movie plays] <v Alexander Scourby>Herman Melville's whale was an angry white ghost of terror and destruction.

<v Alexander Scourby>This for millions would remain an overwhelming impression. <v Alexander Scourby>Not until recent years has another and more realistic portrait of the whale become <v Alexander Scourby>popular. <v Alexander Scourby>The training and captivity of smaller whales and dolphins has done much to <v Alexander Scourby>temper the frightening legacy of Moby Dick. <v Alexander Scourby>To the delight of millions, these sea mammals have proved to be responsive and <v Alexander Scourby>spectacular entertainment. [music plays] <v Alexander Scourby>Though some players seem familiar in captivity, we have only vague ideas <v Alexander Scourby>of their life in the wild.

<v Alexander Scourby>Killer whales, for instance, are highly social animals, roaming the seas in groups <v Alexander Scourby>called pods. They are predators, hunting fish and sea mammals, <v Alexander Scourby>including other whales. <v Alexander Scourby>On the tail of a larger gray whale, tooth marks probably testify to <v Alexander Scourby>a killer whale attack. <v Alexander Scourby>Like most of the great whales, grays have no teeth. <v Alexander Scourby>Their mouths are lined with baleen, a kind of strainer which traps <v Alexander Scourby>[tape cuts out] sea organisms on which they feed. <v Alexander Scourby>The sperm whale is the only great whale with teeth and it possesses <v Alexander Scourby>the largest brain of any animal. <v Alexander Scourby>Moby Dick was a sperm whale and the species has been widely hunted for <v Alexander Scourby>its huge yield of oil and sperm, a setting a prized ingredient of cosmetics. <v Alexander Scourby>Man is dwarfed even by a small whale like the killer, which may attain 30 <v Alexander Scourby>feet. The smaller great whales like the humpback are commonly

<v Alexander Scourby>45 feet long and weigh more than 35 tons. <v Alexander Scourby>Sperm whales are larger still, growing to 60 feet and more. <v Alexander Scourby>And the blue whale dwarfs all other animals. <v Alexander Scourby>Larger than any of the dinosaurs, it can attain a weight of 196 <v Alexander Scourby>tons. Its massive body may span 100 feet, about <v Alexander Scourby>the size of a jetliner, seating more than 100 passengers. <v Alexander Scourby>In laboratories and oceanarium around the world, experience with captive whales <v Alexander Scourby>may eventually provide some insights into whale behavior in the wild. <v Alexander Scourby>Killer whales at Marineland in California recently attracted worldwide <v Alexander Scourby>attention. The news spread swiftly. <v Alexander Scourby>Corky, a 20-foot female, was giving birth. <v Alexander Scourby>Captured as it happened by amateur cameras, this is the first birth of a live <v Alexander Scourby>killer whale ever photographed. [music plays]

<v Alexander Scourby>Within seconds, the baby must take its first vital breath of air. <v Alexander Scourby>[music plays] <v Speaker>[backround yells of excitement] <v Alexander Scourby>There is jubilation among the Marineland staff. <v Alexander Scourby>The parent whales, Borky and Corky, are longtime residents of the park. <v Alexander Scourby>It's like celebrating the parenthood of close friends. <v Marineland Staff>Here's to the baby! [background chatter] Hey, here's <v Marineland Staff>the next baby. <v Alexander Scourby>The stadium tank is closed to the public so that the new calf will be undisturbed during

<v Alexander Scourby>its first days. [background noises from killer whales] <v Alexander Scourby>The sounds made by the calf and his parents are carefully noted. <v Alexander Scourby>Killer whales use clicking sounds to navigate underwater and their various <v Alexander Scourby>calls may be a sophisticated form of communication. <v Alexander Scourby>Scientists are eager to see how the calf's vocabulary develops. <v Scientist>I think we just got some time, uh more time than the dolphin, <v Scientist>like the feeling that I have- <v Alexander Scourby>But something appears to be wrong. The baby does not nurse immediately. <v Alexander Scourby>No one can say whether this is normal behavior or not. <v Scientist>Because like this morning when I was watching it, it was doing- and when it was in the <v Scientist>middle of the tank I saw it obviously playing with something- you know, discovering its <v Scientist>sonar. It was just moving its head back and forth. <v Scientist>Well it seems to be not too excited or embarrassed. <v Scientist>Yeah. <v Scientist>When it gets hungry, it'll probably start looking. <v Scientist>You see it is such a simple thing, for the baby just to turn around and go to the nipple. <v Scientist>It doesn't.

<v Alexander Scourby>Anxious days pass and the calf still has not fed. <v Alexander Scourby>The mother is watchful and attentive. <v Alexander Scourby>But often the calf seems oblivious of her and the requirements for his survival. <v Alexander Scourby>An around the clock vigil continues as observers seek the causes of his disturbing <v Alexander Scourby>behavior. <v Scientist>Little calf is driving us nuts with its apparent improvements <v Scientist>and then- and then uh, particularly in the mornings, and then <v Scientist>uh resuming back to the stereotypes ?inaudible? <v Scientist>that- that doesn't show any encouragement at all. <v Scientist>It makes uh making a definitive decision as to how to handle the animal <v Scientist>very, very difficult, because, of course, there [tape cuts out] <v Alexander Scourby>Soon after, the decision is taken to intervene and attempt to save the calf. <v Alexander Scourby>As the parent whales are distracted, the calf will be given an injection of an appetite

<v Alexander Scourby>stimulant. It's a tense moment, though. <v Alexander Scourby>Though these killer whales are normally gentle, they could react violently when <v Alexander Scourby>the calf is seized. <v Scientist>Now, keep his head up. Very gently, ease it forward. Ease it forward. Ease it forward. Go forward a little. <v Scientist>Further. Further. <v Scientist>Further. Ready? <v Scientist>Yeah. <v Scientist>I think she's getting mad. <v Scientist>Yeah. <v Scientist>Go ahead. Go ahead. <v Scientist>Let him go. How'd we do? <v Scientist>OK. <v Scientist>We were uh anxious to note the behavior of the calf as it was undergoing restraint <v Scientist>and uh as you saw, there wasn't much of a response.

<v Scientist>And this is, of course, our concern all along with this calf, that it hasn't been a <v Scientist>particularly responsive individual to- to the mother, to external stimuli, <v Scientist>to anything so. Are concerned about that. <v Scientist>[music plays] <v Alexander Scourby>Despite repeated attempts to help, the cost does not nurse <v Alexander Scourby>and steadily loses weight. <v Alexander Scourby>He continues to circle the tank, scraping his head against the concrete wall. <v Scientist>Our night engineer called me and said that the calf wasn't doing well. <v Scientist>I came on in and the calf was up next to the wall. <v Scientist>And I knew it was in trouble. It was difficult to say how much trouble. <v Scientist>So I just- we just stayed with it or I did for a while and then

<v Scientist>the calf slowly sank. <v Scientist>Corky attempted to get it to the surface and uh didn't make <v Scientist>it and the calf didn't show really any response to want to come to the surface and uh and <v Scientist>that was- that was the end. <v Alexander Scourby>The loss of the calf is keenly felt. <v Alexander Scourby>He probably suffered brain damage during labor and may have been doomed from the <v Alexander Scourby>beginning. <v Alexander Scourby>There's hope that Corki will someday bear another calf successfully, <v Alexander Scourby>but now for men and whales at Marineland, there's <v Alexander Scourby>a period of grieving. <v Alexander Scourby>In death, as in life, whales often defy human understanding.

<v Alexander Scourby>Mysterious stranding sometimes result in the death of a hundred whales or more. <v Alexander Scourby>Despite extensive research, we still cannot explain what drives these <v Alexander Scourby>whales to such a sad and apparently pointless end. <v Alexander Scourby>In July of 1976, an especially puzzling stranding was recorded <v Alexander Scourby>on film in Florida. 30 Pseudorca whales came into shallow <v Alexander Scourby>water. They seemed in good ?health?, but would certainly die from overheating by <v Alexander Scourby>the sun if they remained here long. <v Alexander Scourby>Their chorus of strange sounds could be heard up to 50 feet away. <v Alexander Scourby>The whales showed little fear of humans and calmly allowed well-wishers to wet <v Alexander Scourby>their backs and apply lotion to minor sores. <v Alexander Scourby>Most of the time the whales were afloat and perfectly free to save themselves. <v Alexander Scourby>As one observer noted, they seemed placidly bent on self-destruction.

<v Alexander Scourby>[music plays] <v Alexander Scourby>Finally, on the third day, 1 whale died. <v Alexander Scourby>He was a large male and may have been a leader of the pod. <v Alexander Scourby>Soon after, the remaining whales seemed more willing to move and a concerted effort <v Alexander Scourby>was made to drive them out to sea. <v Alexander Scourby>Though at first reluctant, the whales made their way to safety. <v Alexander Scourby>[music plays] <v Alexander Scourby>Did this pod of whales follow their ailing leader ashore and remain <v Alexander Scourby>with him until they knew that he was beyond help? <v Alexander Scourby>Scientists refuse to describe whale behavior in such human terms, but <v Alexander Scourby>many laymen who witnessed such incidents become convinced that whales have emotional <v Alexander Scourby>ties and a social order rivaling our own. <v Alexander Scourby>[music plays] <v Alexander Scourby>At a U.S. naval base in Hawaii, a whale named Morgan has demonstrated <v Alexander Scourby>that trained whales can be far more than acrobats and clowns.

<v Alexander Scourby>Morgan has gone to sea accompanying a Navy vessel, but swimming <v Alexander Scourby>free and on his own. [music plays] <v Alexander Scourby>Morgan is a pilot whale and small by whale standards: 13 feet <v Alexander Scourby>long and 1200 pounds. <v Alexander Scourby>Holding this special device in his mouth, he has been trained to retrieve dummy torpedoes <v Alexander Scourby>from the ocean bottom. <v Alexander Scourby>Morgan can plummet to 1500 feet and more, deeper and much faster <v Alexander Scourby>than any human dives. <v Alexander Scourby>Relying on his biological sonar, he can navigate in total darkness, <v Alexander Scourby>and he also can adjust readily to changes of pressure underwater. <v Alexander Scourby>Unerringly, he hones in on an acoustic signal transmitted from the target. <v Alexander Scourby>[music plays]

<v Alexander Scourby>The possibilities of cooperation between man and whale in the sea are largely <v Alexander Scourby>unexplored and seem full of promise, but fears that military <v Alexander Scourby>research could lead to the use of whales and dolphins on suicide missions in combat <v Alexander Scourby>have obscured the success of experiments like this one. <v Alexander Scourby>And the great whales, whose physical strength could be matched by singular mental <v Alexander Scourby>power, remain far beyond our reach. <v Alexander Scourby>Mysterious denizens of the open sea. <v Alexander Scourby>Here at SeaWorld in San Diego live the only great whale ever to be studied in captivity <v Alexander Scourby>for any length of time. <v Alexander Scourby>Captured as a baby, she was a 2-ton infant gray whale named Gigi. <v Alexander Scourby>She did well in captivity and provided a unique opportunity for intimate and sustained <v Alexander Scourby>?study?. Sue Bailey, once an employee of the park, remembers.

<v Sue Bailey>She was a very gentle animal, for being as large as she was. <v Sue Bailey>She's the only animal I've ever worked with that you could visibly go in in the morning <v Sue Bailey>and see that she had grown bigger. <v Sue Bailey>And towards the end she was gaining about a half an inch in length every day, about <v Sue Bailey>a hundred pounds a day. <v Sue Bailey>And she was noticeably larger every day you worked with her. <v Sue Bailey>Um 1 way that we could see this is that she was growing so fast that she was shedding an <v Sue Bailey>entire layer of skin every day. <v Sue Bailey>And you just scratch your down and her skin, which is peel off and ?sheet?, she <v Sue Bailey>was going so fast. <v Alexander Scourby>Gigi developed strong attachments to some of the people around her. <v Alexander Scourby>Sue was 1 favorite. <v Alexander Scourby>Gigi would make a variety of eery, but apparently happy noises, whenever Sue <v Alexander Scourby>was near. <v Alexander Scourby>Gigi quickly learned to respond to simple signals. <v Alexander Scourby>A series of pats on her colossal back announced meals. <v Alexander Scourby>Due to the flexible baleen lining her mouth, she could be safely hand-fed.

<v Alexander Scourby>[background chatter] <v Alexander Scourby>Gigi grew to 27 feet and 7 tons, outgrowing <v Alexander Scourby>her tank and eating almost a ton of squid a day. <v Alexander Scourby>It was obvious she should now be set free. <v Sue Bailey>The best day I had with her was the day right before I let her go. <v Sue Bailey>I spent about 6 hours in the water with her and she was more affectionate, <v Sue Bailey>really, than she ever had been and was more interested in playing and I thought a <v Sue Bailey>lot about missing her. She became a very large part of my life for that year. <v Sue Bailey>[music plays] <v Alexander Scourby>Early 1 morning in March of 1972, Gigi is returned <v Alexander Scourby>to the ocean wilderness. <v Alexander Scourby>To Sue, Gigi seemed nervous and frightened.

<v Alexander Scourby>Sue and Gigi's other keepers wondered how she would react to finding herself suddenly <v Alexander Scourby>unconfined and on her own. <v Alexander Scourby>A radio transmitter was fitted to ?Gigi's? <v Alexander Scourby>back. For a few weeks after her release, its signals would allow her to be <v Alexander Scourby>followed at sea. [music plays] <v Alexander Scourby>Gigi's year-long captivity said a number of records. <v Alexander Scourby>She is the largest live animal ever transported by man. <v Alexander Scourby>Probably she is the only great whale to fall into human hands and be released <v Alexander Scourby>unharmed. And she is the only great whale too that humans <v Alexander Scourby>have known intimately and come to love. <v Sue Bailey>Well, when we first let her go, they put the stretcher out over the water and lowered it <v Sue Bailey>down. And when she finally swam out of the stretcher, <v Sue Bailey>she found herself being a little lost out there. <v Sue Bailey>[music plays]

<v Sue Bailey>I was pretty shook up and doing a lot of crying that day. <v Sue Bailey>I had been involved with nothing but the gray whale. <v Sue Bailey>And then she was gone and had to take a while to get involved in something else. <v Alexander Scourby>After her release, Gigi lingered a while along the California coast <v Alexander Scourby>and then moved slowly, north. <v Alexander Scourby>Within two months, Gigi had joined other gray whales, making their annual journey <v Alexander Scourby>to Arctic waters, the longest known migration of any mammal. <v Alexander Scourby>Gigi readapted to the wild, but of her ways and wanderings in the open sea, <v Alexander Scourby>we know little. With all the great whales, she is shrouded in mystery. <v Alexander Scourby>We have established that whales inhabit all the great oceans and that some species

<v Alexander Scourby>migrate to polar waters in summertime when the food supply is abundant. <v Alexander Scourby>Oddly, whales of the northern and southern hemispheres rarely, if ever, meet, <v Alexander Scourby>due to the opposite seasons in the north and south, 1 group is always heading for its <v Alexander Scourby>polar feeding grounds, just as the other is arriving in tropical waters <v Alexander Scourby>to breed. And it is mainly in these warm-water breeding grounds <v Alexander Scourby>that scientists have been able to observe natural whale behavior. <v Alexander Scourby>[music plays] <v Alexander Scourby>Waters around the island of Maui in Hawaii are one breeding ground of humpback <v Alexander Scourby>whales. <v Alexander Scourby>The nearby town of Lahaina was once a major port for reprovisioning Yankee whalers <v Alexander Scourby>in the mid-1800s. <v Alexander Scourby>Everywhere in Lahaina, there are reminders of the early whalers and their ?inaudible?. <v Alexander Scourby>[music plays] <v Alexander Scourby>In an age when some whales could face extinction, whaling nostalgia

<v Alexander Scourby>can have ominous overtones. <v Alexander Scourby>A new consciousness is growing: a concern more for the whales' future <v Alexander Scourby>than the whalers' past. [music plays] <v Alexander Scourby>Until recent years, the presence of humpback whales near Maui in wintertime <v Alexander Scourby>was largely ignored by scientists and conservationists. <v Alexander Scourby>A pioneer in local whale research in conservation, Jim Hudnall was among the first <v Alexander Scourby>to become interested in the humpbacks. For the past several winters, he has spent <v Alexander Scourby>long days at sea watching for telltale blows. <v Speaker>[background chatter] <v Alexander Scourby>The sight of whales triggers a well-drilled routine.

<v Alexander Scourby>Hudnall and his assistant check camera and diving gear. <v Alexander Scourby>Before the whales reappear, Hudnall will be in the water with <v Alexander Scourby>them. <v Speaker>[background chatter] <v Alexander Scourby>More [tape cuts out] man, Hudnell has succeeded in getting close to the humpbacks and <v Alexander Scourby>filming what he has seen. <v Alexander Scourby>He prefers to dove alone in search of whales. <v Alexander Scourby>He has found them to be highly aware of the human presence. <v Jim Hudnall>When I go into the water, I try to do it quietly, and then I- I just tried to blend in <v Jim Hudnall>with the sea, become another one of the sea's mammals, and <v Jim Hudnall>I hope then that they will become curious about my presence and come in for a closer <v Jim Hudnall>look. <v Alexander Scourby>Even when the humpbacks cannot be seen, a chorus of their strange songs <v Alexander Scourby>can often be heard underwater with the naked ear. <v Alexander Scourby>It's a haunting experience, which suggests that many sailors' superstitions <v Alexander Scourby>and ghost stories were inspired by whale songs resounding through

<v Alexander Scourby>the hulls of ships. [whale calls] <v Alexander Scourby>Hudnell has never forgotten his first close up encounter. <v Alexander Scourby>Eye to eye with a creature 400 times his size [tape cuts out] <v Alexander Scourby>element and completely in his power. <v Jim Hudnall>All sorts of things go through a person's imagination when you're that close to a whale, <v Jim Hudnall>especially when it's the first time, and I was just very impressed to look in that <v Jim Hudnall>whale's eye. I'll never forget it. [music plays] <v Alexander Scourby>These moments with whales often provoke almost mystical emotions that

<v Alexander Scourby>transcend fear. The sensation is truly overwhelming. <v Alexander Scourby>A humpback looms overhead like a gigantic cloud. <v Alexander Scourby>While the songs well in the deep, like a concerto from some distant alien world. <v Alexander Scourby>[whale calls] <v Jim Hudnall>No fear. I've never felt fear near a whale, and I really can't explain that.

<v Jim Hudnall>They are very big and they do have very powerful flukes. <v Jim Hudnall>But all of my experiences indicated that they're very rational creatures and <v Jim Hudnall>very slow to anger. <v Jim Hudnall>If uh you don't do anything hostile towards the whale, the whale will, <v Jim Hudnall>I think, never do ?anything? Hostile towards the man. <v Jim Hudnall>Yes, in the light of all of the [tape cuts out] we've done on them. <v Jim Hudnall>It's incredible that they should still be open towards us. <v Speaker>[background chatter] <v Alexander Scourby>Film and photographs of these extraordinary underwater encounters have drawn many others <v Alexander Scourby>to the waters near Maui. <v Alexander Scourby>The humpbacks here are uniquely accessible to scientists. <v Alexander Scourby>From research vessels, the whales may often be tracked over periods of many hours. <v Alexander Scourby>Doctors Ed Shallenberger and Roger Payne observe the traveling pod. <v Speaker>Remember, there's five whales there, so got a lot more coming up.

<v Alexander Scourby>It has been estimated that 250 to 500 humpbacks winter in Hawaiian <v Alexander Scourby>waters. They begin to arrive in November and depart in spring. <v Alexander Scourby>No one knows exactly where these whales spend the rest of the year. <v Alexander Scourby>Eventually, identification of individual whales seen here and in northern <v Alexander Scourby>waters may settle this perplexing question. <v Speaker>We're sailing right into the exhaling breath here. <v Speaker>I just got a- a face full of it a minute ago. <v Alexander Scourby>Meager surface observations like this have had to satisfy students of whale behavior for <v Alexander Scourby>years. But a new, keenly exciting era is beginning for <v Alexander Scourby>scientists like Roger Payne. <v Alexander Scourby>They are beginning to enter the world of the whale and appreciate its astonishing <v Alexander Scourby>beauty. <v Roger Payne>So we slipped into the water and swam down and suddenly <v Roger Payne>out of the sort of misty gloom which always surrounds you whenever you're swimming,

<v Roger Payne>appeared the largest thing I'd ever seen. <v Roger Payne>It was like sort of going out in your backyard and finding a dinosaur or something like <v Roger Payne>that. It's just as incredible. <v Roger Payne>Swam past and the first thing I remember thinking, which is a thought that nobody can get <v Roger Payne>away from these animals is their extraordinary grace. <v Roger Payne>It was the most graceful thing I'd ever seen in my life. <v Roger Payne>An animal at least 50 tons moving with a- a lightness of motion and a delicacy which is <v Roger Payne>not achieved by any other thing that I've seen. <v Alexander Scourby>After blowing a humpback dives. <v Alexander Scourby>It may remain below for more than 25 minutes. <v Alexander Scourby>Humpbacks are perhaps the most vocal ways. <v Alexander Scourby>Their songs are very long, up to half an hour. <v Alexander Scourby>All the whales sing the same song each season, repeating it time after <v Alexander Scourby>time. Although the songs appear to be associated with the breeding season, <v Alexander Scourby>we are only beginning to learn how the whales behave while singing and whether

<v Alexander Scourby>one or both sexes sing. <v Alexander Scourby>[humpback singing] This humpback is among the first to be filmed in the act of singing. <v Alexander Scourby>When the whale became aware of the approaching diver, the song abruptly stopped. <v Alexander Scourby>Then the giant swung around to get a close <v Alexander Scourby>up look at Hudnell and his camera. [humpback noises] Turning <v Alexander Scourby>away, the whale revealed the genital slip near his tail, proving <v Alexander Scourby>that this singer at least is a male. <v Alexander Scourby>In time, we may finally piece together enough observations to understand <v Alexander Scourby>why humpbacks sing. <v Alexander Scourby>1 of the most remarkable sounds in nature. <v Alexander Scourby>[music plays] <v Alexander Scourby>Dwarfed by his companion, Jim Hudnall swims with a whale.

<v Alexander Scourby>Gradually he's coming to know individual humpbacks and some of them seem to know him. <v Alexander Scourby>Hudnall has come to regard this whale as a friend and named him ?Notchie?, for <v Alexander Scourby>the deep scar on his back. <v Alexander Scourby>The old wound could be the result of a collision with a ship or a narrow escape <v Alexander Scourby>from whalers. Humpbacks have been totally protected from whaling since 1972, <v Alexander Scourby>but before that, they were slaughtered in huge numbers. <v Alexander Scourby>If, as Hudnell suspects Notchie is old enough to have known whaling, <v Alexander Scourby>his patient and benign disposition seems all the more remarkable and touching. <v Alexander Scourby>[music plays] <v Alexander Scourby>Notchie lazes near the surface for a moment and then moves off <v Alexander Scourby>with a spectacular display of effortless power. <v Alexander Scourby>Late in April Notchie posed for the cameras for the last time in this winter season. <v Alexander Scourby>He then disappeared, probably heading for unknown Arctic feeding grounds,

<v Alexander Scourby>bearing a thousand secrets within. <v Alexander Scourby>A humpback calf lingers near the surface. <v Alexander Scourby>[music plays] Great whales normally bear only 1 calf at a time every 2 or 3 <v Alexander Scourby>years. The survival of great whale species depends not only on the number <v Alexander Scourby>of offspring, but on the intensive care and protection given by the mother. <v Alexander Scourby>[music plays] <v Alexander Scourby>By spring, the young calf must be strong enough for the long swim north. <v Alexander Scourby>It stays close to its mother during these first and most vulnerable months of <v Alexander Scourby>life. [whale call]

<v Alexander Scourby>A mother and calf are frequently escorted by another whale, often swimming below them. <v Alexander Scourby>Investigating a diver, a mother guards her calf by interposing her body. <v Alexander Scourby>Her pectoral fins pass close to diver and camera, but never touch. <v Alexander Scourby>Even in such close quarters, humpbacks show great restraint, as if aware <v Alexander Scourby>that they are in total control of the situation. <v Alexander Scourby>Finally, a thrust of the mother's fluke seems to signal that this encounter <v Alexander Scourby>will now end. <v Alexander Scourby>A release of air in massive quantities from the blowhole and mouth may also <v Alexander Scourby>be a protective response on the part of the escort whale. <v Alexander Scourby>The explosion of bubbles could be intended to frighten or confuse predators. <v Alexander Scourby>Both sharks and killer whales have been known to prey on humpback calves.

<v Alexander Scourby>As observed so far, the behavior of humpbacks is intriguing to those <v Alexander Scourby>who suspect that the animal may be highly intelligent. <v Alexander Scourby>Certainly, they are superbly adapted to their natural environment, but <v Alexander Scourby>there are new dangers in the sea for which the whales may be ill-prepared. <v Alexander Scourby>Maalaea Bay, on the west coast of Maui, is 1 area where humpback mothers <v Alexander Scourby>and calves congregate. A volunteer watch has been mounted on the hill above the bay to <v Alexander Scourby>monitor and chart whale movements. <v Alexander Scourby>It's a labor of love for the young students who run the lonely station. <v Student>OK, reading on, whales at 91 degrees. <v Student>36 minutes. <v Student>3 degrees. <v Student>30- 35 minutes. <v Student>It looks like they're headed towards the other side of the bay.

<v Alexander Scourby>Entering the bay at speeds up to 40 knots, interisland hydrofoils pose <v Alexander Scourby>a serious threat of collision with whales. <v Alexander Scourby>There have already been a number of close calls. <v Alexander Scourby>The hydrofoil is far faster than any boat whales are used to and a special danger <v Alexander Scourby>to calves that tend to linger near the surface. <v Student>This is <v Student>?inaudible? Uh, yeah, ?inaudible? <v Student>There's 2 pods of whales in your path. <v Student>1 bearing 98 degrees, 0 5 minutes range. <v Student>1670 yards. The second group bears 214 degrees, 16 <v Student>minutes ?inaudible? <v Captain>I understand 1 2 0 2000 yards. <v Captain>We are flying. Thank you. <v Student>?inaudible? <v Captain>Hey KD 3 3 9 5. Roger that. <v Captain>Thank you.

<v Captain>And we're maneuvering to avoid. <v Crew>Roger. <v Captain>I want hard left. <v Captain>Luring him by at least 400 yards. <v Student>?inaudible? over. You're definitely past them. Over. <v Captain>Ah, mahalo. <v Student>Okay, thanks a lot big guy. I appreciate it very much. This is ?inaudible? over. Clear and standing by. <v Alexander Scourby>The people of Hawaii are determined to protect their whales, but commercial <v Alexander Scourby>and pleasure craft may crowd the humpbacks' food. <v Alexander Scourby>Eventually, the bay may become part of a proposed U.S. <v Alexander Scourby>whale sanctuary and be subject to strict controls. <v Alexander Scourby>[music plays] <v Alexander Scourby>The young humpback is the hope of a ravaged species. <v Alexander Scourby>More than 100 thousand of his kind once roamed the seas. <v Alexander Scourby>Now there are perhaps 5000. <v Alexander Scourby>The reason for the decline is clear: as some men work to protect whales, <v Alexander Scourby>others continue to kill them.

<v Alexander Scourby>With the momentum of centuries, despite steadily declining whale populations, <v Alexander Scourby>the hunt goes on. [music plays] <v Alexander Scourby>Only 2 nations now continue open ocean whaling on an industrial scale: <v Alexander Scourby>Japan and the Soviet Union. <v Alexander Scourby>5 species of great whales are so depleted they are totally protected by international <v Alexander Scourby>agreement. Quotas and size limits have been imposed, but whalers <v Alexander Scourby>still take females and 50 percent of them carry the essence <v Alexander Scourby>of their species: the unborn calves. <v Alexander Scourby>[music plays] <v Alexander Scourby>With growing awareness of the whale's unique and extraordinary qualities, protest

<v Alexander Scourby>has become highly emotional. <v Alexander Scourby>The destruction of whales for use in animal feed, cosmetics and fertilizer <v Alexander Scourby>provokes widespread anger. <v Alexander Scourby>As one author has remarked with keen irony, nothing is wasted, <v Alexander Scourby>but the whale itself. [boat honking] <v Alexander Scourby>In recent years, a Canadian based conservation group called Greenpeace has taken the <v Alexander Scourby>crusade against whaling to sea. <v Alexander Scourby>The Greenpeace protesters see whaling as a symbol of a wider environmental <v Alexander Scourby>crisis. Their leader, Bob Hunter. <v Bob Hunter>And the thing about the whale, the sense about the whale is it really is the strongest, <v Bob Hunter>most powerful image or- or reality of uh of the whole world. <v Bob Hunter>You get a sense that when you're- you're close to a whale, you're- you're somehow in <v Bob Hunter>touch with the world. And uh and then after you've seen them being uh torn apart <v Bob Hunter>and- and blasted with harpoons and so on and so forth, you have this distinct feeling <v Bob Hunter>that what's happening there is there's man and his technology and they're blasting away <v Bob Hunter>right at the heart of the- the whole life system of the world, and- and this is sort of

<v Bob Hunter>like the biggest crime of the lot. It's simply physically it's the biggest crime. <v Bob Hunter>[background chatter] <v Alexander Scourby>With the location of a Soviet whaling fleet in the Pacific, a unique confrontation <v Alexander Scourby>begins. For the Greenpeace crew, this is the culmination of more than <v Alexander Scourby>a year's fundraising and preparation. <v Bob Hunter>After 2 months at sea, uh you wake up 1 morning and there, on the horizon, <v Bob Hunter> are these harpoon boats and a factory ship, all laid out like a set in a movie and <v Bob Hunter>uh you're so relieved they finally found them. <v Bob Hunter>And the general feeling was as if we were the Indians swarming down over the hills and we <v Bob Hunter>finally had them surrounded. <v Bob Hunter>So there was that kind of high excitement. <v Bob Hunter>And the next thing we knew, we saw one of the whales lying in the water. <v Bob Hunter>And it turned out to be a very small whale. <v Bob Hunter>And then the emotional part started happening. <v Bob Hunter>And at that point, then everybody was so disgusted. <v Bob Hunter>You know, we hadn't prepared ourselves for the fact that the whales would be so small. <v Bob Hunter>I think that's what really amazed us. And it was so clear right off the bat that what <v Bob Hunter>they were doing was taking the equivalent of teenage whales and there were no- no big

<v Bob Hunter>ones left around. [background chatter] <v Alexander Scourby>1975. Greenpeace measures a small sperm whale the Soviets have taken, while <v Alexander Scourby>the catcher boat from the fleet bears down on them. <v Speaker>[background chatter]. <v Alexander Scourby>Threatening the protesters with a fire hose, the whalers reclaim their prize. <v Alexander Scourby>[boat engine] <v Alexander Scourby>Whatever the size of this whale, the average size of whales taken is on the <v Alexander Scourby>decline. Presumably few have escaped whalers to attain great size <v Alexander Scourby>in old age. [music plays] <v Alexander Scourby>The protest begins in earnest. <v Alexander Scourby>Small outboard motorboats race to challenge a 10 ship soviet fleet. <v Alexander Scourby>It's assumed the whalers will hold their fire rather than risk hitting the protesters. <v Alexander Scourby>But to be effective, the boat crews must place themselves directly <v Alexander Scourby>between the looming harpoon guns and the fleeing whale.

<v Alexander Scourby>A Soviet catcher boat is in hot pursuit of sperm whales. <v Alexander Scourby>Bob Hunter and a companion man a motorboat just ahead. <v Alexander Scourby>And the whales surface just ahead of them. <v Alexander Scourby>For a fleeting moment, it seems the protesters succeeded. <v Alexander Scourby>And then a harpoon is fired. <v Alexander Scourby>The harpoon narrowly misses the protesters, strikes a whale, explodes. <v Alexander Scourby>The moment has been fatal for the whale and very nearly for Hunter himself. <v Bob Hunter>There was- there was man and his technology and destruction and greed and everything <v Bob Hunter>summed up in uh such a crystal clear image. <v Bob Hunter>And there was all the uh beauty and wildness and freedom and endurance <v Bob Hunter>of nature summed up in another beautiful image. <v Bob Hunter>And uh while all these beautiful images and hor- horrible images were going on, I- I

<v Bob Hunter>started uh crying. Uh and then the next thing I knew, there was this incredible loud <v Bob Hunter>[claps hands] bang that went off just like a firecracker. <v Bob Hunter>It was over within a second. It was just a puff of smoke and there was a thrashing whale <v Bob Hunter>in the water. And we decided to get out of there fast because we'd been warned that the <v Bob Hunter>bull whale might attack in a situation like that. <v Bob Hunter>And in fact, he did. But he went right past us, looked at us as <v Bob Hunter>he went by and it was clear that he understood that we weren't the enemy. <v Bob Hunter>Went right past us, went up to the front of the harpoon boat [clears throat] and just <v Bob Hunter>came surging out of the water, twice, snapping, trying to get at the man who had the <v Bob Hunter>harpoon. And the man with the harpoon just reloaded, aimed it down, fired it right in his <v Bob Hunter>face. And he went down. And that was the end of it. <v Alexander Scourby>The following year, the protest is renewed. <v Alexander Scourby>In mid-Pacific, Greenpeace locates the same Soviet fleet, dominated by <v Alexander Scourby>the 597 foot factory ship ?inaudible?. <v Alexander Scourby>In 1962, the peak of industrial whaling, more than 2

<v Alexander Scourby>dozen gigantic factory ships like this scoured the ocean. <v Alexander Scourby>Each could dismember and process a large whale within an hour. <v Alexander Scourby>In just 3 years, such methods resulted in the death of more whales <v Alexander Scourby>than in the peak 25 years of Yankee whaling. <v Alexander Scourby>Again, the tactic is to maneuver the small boats between whale and harpoon, <v Alexander Scourby>a nerve-wracking game of bluff and maneuver. <v Alexander Scourby>But after a few skirmishes, the whalers suddenly and surprisingly <v Alexander Scourby>relented. <v Bob Hunter>They were- they were right on top of the pod of whales and closing in on them fast. <v Bob Hunter>And uh when we caught up with them, we got right in front and uh the thing <v Bob Hunter>went on for a little while and they swiveled the cannon around. <v Bob Hunter>And- and then finally uh they just I guess they got an order from somewhere in they uh <v Bob Hunter>stopped, um slammed, click the harpoon up and put the pins <v Bob Hunter>in and shut her down. And uh they've been sitting here ever since.

<v Bob Hunter>They tried to start up again a couple of times. <v Bob Hunter>And then we got back in front of them and they stopped again. <v Bob Hunter>So um they're stopped. <v Bob Hunter>At the moment. See what happens from here. [music plays] <v Alexander Scourby>In a strange interlude, a truce is tacitly observed. <v Alexander Scourby>The hunt stops. Strangers meet in mid-ocean and take photographs. <v Alexander Scourby>Some wave and smile. <v Greanpeace Sailor>Thank you! <v Alexander Scourby>Protest and political pressures against whaling will continue and the <v Alexander Scourby>rust-stained Soviet vessels testify that industrial whaling is becoming uneconomic <v Alexander Scourby>as well as unpopular. <v Alexander Scourby>It is possible that industrial whaling will come to an end within a few years. <v Alexander Scourby>If it is not ended was severely controlled, few scientists could be optimistic <v Alexander Scourby>about the survival of many of the great whales. <v Alexander Scourby>In San Ignacio Lagoon on the west coast of Mexico, one may glimpse the more tranquil

<v Alexander Scourby>future all whales could someday enjoy. <v Alexander Scourby>After being almost wiped out twice before receiving protection from <v Alexander Scourby>whaling, the California gray whale has made a slow but steady comeback. <v Alexander Scourby>Now, scientists like Steve Swartz and Mary Lou Jones pursue the <v Alexander Scourby>grays, counting their replenished numbers and observing their behavior in <v Alexander Scourby>the lagoon. <v Speaker>[background chatter]. <v Alexander Scourby>The Swartz study began routine, a tedious experience familiar <v Alexander Scourby>to everyone who has tried to get close to such inaccessible and elusive animals. <v Alexander Scourby>But then in February 1977, something happened, something <v Alexander Scourby>so remarkable it seemed almost like a dream. <v Alexander Scourby>The tables were [tape cuts out].

<v Alexander Scourby>The whales were investigating the scientists. <v Alexander Scourby>Swartz and his companions felt almost numb with astonishment as the whales grew <v Alexander Scourby>bolder and came close. <v Steve Swartz>It was really all I could do to see enough in a short amount of time that <v Steve Swartz>these first incidents took place. <v Steve Swartz>After spending years of watching whales at a distance and going out of my way to try and <v Steve Swartz>approach them and get close to them and take a picture or just to take a glimpse of what <v Steve Swartz>they were doing, it was a whale coming to me. <v Steve Swartz>So that was exciting. At the same time, it's not that often I'm around such a large <v Steve Swartz>animal, so there was fear. <v Steve Swartz>And here's this immense creature showing some sort of interest in- in the <v Steve Swartz>fact that we were there. <v Mary Lou Jones>The amazing thing about the first touch of the gray whale was <v Mary Lou Jones>the aliveness of the texture of the skin. <v Mary Lou Jones>The whale was, to my estimate, about 35 feet long, and yet the

<v Mary Lou Jones>light touch with my fingertips sent a quiver along its entire length. <v Mary Lou Jones>And I think she was just as surprised as I was at the touch. <v Alexander Scourby>As time passed, the whales take increasing delight in blowing bubbles, bumping <v Alexander Scourby>the boats and drenching the camera lens. <v Alexander Scourby>Soon, human apprehension gave way to a kind of joyous excitement, although the <v Alexander Scourby>whales weighed 25 tons at least and could easily have caused disaster. <v Alexander Scourby>[background chatter] <v Alexander Scourby>It is too soon to know the meaning of this incident and dozens more like it that

<v Alexander Scourby>have been recorded in San Ignacio. <v Alexander Scourby>If our war against whales does come to an end, the future could hold <v Alexander Scourby>fascinating possibilities. <v Alexander Scourby>For in the universal language of behavior, both trust and communication <v Alexander Scourby>often begin with a simple gesture: the touch. <v Alexander Scourby>[music plays] <v Television Host>This National Geographic Society special was made possible by a grant

<v Television Host>from Gulf Oil Corporation. <v Television Host>The Namib Desert in southwestern Africa, where a barren desolation <v Television Host>stretches as far as the eye can see and where ground temperatures can reach <v Television Host>170 degrees Fahrenheit, lives strange creatures that have adapted in <v Television Host>amazing ways to cope with one of this planet's ?most? <v Television Host>hostile environments. <v Television Host>Join us on our next National Geographic special for a journey into a world <v Television Host>of struggle and survival. <v Television Host>The strange and marvelous world of the Namib.