Whale

I heard someone say, ‘don’t have a whale about it’. Then another time I heard, ‘why don’t you have a whale about it’? I’m thinking that in both cases ‘the whale’ is a big drama of some kind. The whale is the biggest marine mammal and as demonstrated here, is associated with ‘big’. Canada .has a postage stamp showing a very big whale and the stamp is also very big. Whale is synonymous with big.

Whales do not eat people. They like krill, small crustaceans that live in huge schools in northern oceans. The blue whale, the biggest, eats four tons of krill per day. The whale takes in a large amount of water containing krill and then pushes the water part out through its baleen strainer leaving the krill to eat. Whales have a mixed reputation. According to Disney they are cuddly yet some are called killer whales.

The stand up whale comedian says, ‘you know some people treat me like I have a hole in my head’. Whales sing. Like our fingerprints are unique, the tail markings on a whale are unique enough to be able to definitely distinguish between them. These massive animals are a part of lore. Jonah was swallowed and carried around until he had a revelation. So too Pinocchio was inside a whale for quite some time.

Whales are models for us. They cohabitate in large families. They don’t kill much, except killer whales go for seals. In spite of their hugeness, they feel friendly and are known to take at least some care not to tip over kayaks and won’t attack a swimmer. They model ‘the big easy’ and are not going to weight watchers anytime soon. They are OK with themselves. Whales can teach us a few things
To had a while of a time is to have had fun, huge fun. I am not aware of any other animal that is referred to in this manner. Whales are kind of reassuring. I feel ‘nice’ about whales. They play and sing, seeming to make the world a better place, somehow. I don’t know exactly how. The world seems to agree that saving the whales from extinction is a good thing. What is your opinion on this?