chi.mer.i.cal | 1. created by or as if by a wildly fanciful imagination; highly improbable
2. given to unrealistic fantasies; fanciful
cog.i.ta.tions |
1. thoughtful considerations; meditations
2. serious thoughts, carefully considered reflections
another hilarious (to me, at least) story from the bbc.
it goes like this. an orca decides to leave his family of fellow orcas and take residence in a harbour on the pacific coast of canada. said orca is christened 'luna', by whoseever job it is to name random stray killer whales.
luna (a male, incidentally - who would have thought it that difficult to master gender-appropriate nomenclature) begins to feel lonely. since his family has since moved 300km further down the coast, giving up on their ungrateful kin, luna decides that the closest substitute to a fellow whale would be a boat. or a plane. unable to make up his mind, luna proceeds to play with both boats and float planes that visit him in his harbour. having himself, in general, a whale of a time.
being the nerds that they are, scientists conclude that play is no good and hazardous to safety. they opine to anyone that will listen (for e.g., the bbc) that playing with a 1.8 tonne killer whale could prove fatal to whale and human alike. demonstrating that they really should get out of their labs more often and into the real world. killer whales, dangerous? haven't they watched free willy? they then go on to further assert that luna is not really dangerous, just very lonely.
having fulfilled their occupational mandate by hopelessly confusing the rest of rational society, they decide to capture luna and forcibly reunite him with his pod in the name of humanity. this will, apparently, be less dangerous an endeavour than leaving luna alone to frolic in his harbour.
enter the aboriginal indians. luna, they argue, is not really an orca. luna is their chief. three years ago, while on his deathbed, their chief had promised to return as a whale. three days after his death, luna had appeared in the harbour and has not left since. moreover, their chief, while still alive, had an inexplicable fascination for both maritime and aviation transport... (not true, this last sentence. or at least undocumented by bbc correspondents.)
in order to protect their esteemed leader, these indians take to the harbour in their traditional canoes, and manage to lure luna more than 20km away from the trap set by the scientists. white men all, these scientists presumably are, and eager to perpetuate the pattern of racism set by their forefathers by enslaving and transporting a native canadian indian (whale). the very definition of second generation discrimination.
having foiled their dastardly plans, the native indians are able to bargain from a position of strength. they successfully negotiate for an allowance to spend a weekend praying with the whale, before the scientists try their luck again.
unimpressed by these prayers, luna seeks solace in a passing tug boat. unfortunately, he underestimates the strength of its propeller, and is sucked into it, expiring instantly and turning into whale mince.
end of story.
when you see this as a major motion picture, remember, you heard it here first. full articles in the comments section.
it goes like this. an orca decides to leave his family of fellow orcas and take residence in a harbour on the pacific coast of canada. said orca is christened 'luna', by whoseever job it is to name random stray killer whales.
luna (a male, incidentally - who would have thought it that difficult to master gender-appropriate nomenclature) begins to feel lonely. since his family has since moved 300km further down the coast, giving up on their ungrateful kin, luna decides that the closest substitute to a fellow whale would be a boat. or a plane. unable to make up his mind, luna proceeds to play with both boats and float planes that visit him in his harbour. having himself, in general, a whale of a time.
being the nerds that they are, scientists conclude that play is no good and hazardous to safety. they opine to anyone that will listen (for e.g., the bbc) that playing with a 1.8 tonne killer whale could prove fatal to whale and human alike. demonstrating that they really should get out of their labs more often and into the real world. killer whales, dangerous? haven't they watched free willy? they then go on to further assert that luna is not really dangerous, just very lonely.
having fulfilled their occupational mandate by hopelessly confusing the rest of rational society, they decide to capture luna and forcibly reunite him with his pod in the name of humanity. this will, apparently, be less dangerous an endeavour than leaving luna alone to frolic in his harbour.
enter the aboriginal indians. luna, they argue, is not really an orca. luna is their chief. three years ago, while on his deathbed, their chief had promised to return as a whale. three days after his death, luna had appeared in the harbour and has not left since. moreover, their chief, while still alive, had an inexplicable fascination for both maritime and aviation transport... (not true, this last sentence. or at least undocumented by bbc correspondents.)
in order to protect their esteemed leader, these indians take to the harbour in their traditional canoes, and manage to lure luna more than 20km away from the trap set by the scientists. white men all, these scientists presumably are, and eager to perpetuate the pattern of racism set by their forefathers by enslaving and transporting a native canadian indian (whale). the very definition of second generation discrimination.
having foiled their dastardly plans, the native indians are able to bargain from a position of strength. they successfully negotiate for an allowance to spend a weekend praying with the whale, before the scientists try their luck again.
unimpressed by these prayers, luna seeks solace in a passing tug boat. unfortunately, he underestimates the strength of its propeller, and is sucked into it, expiring instantly and turning into whale mince.
end of story.
when you see this as a major motion picture, remember, you heard it here first. full articles in the comments section.
Attempts to rescue a lost whale in Canada are causing conflict between biologists and a small Indian tribe.
The killer whale has been living by itself in the harbour of the small town of Gold River on the Pacific coast.
Officials say the whale, nicknamed Luna, is a safety hazard and believe it should be returned to its family.
But their efforts have been thwarted by members of a local aboriginal group who say the whale is the returned spirit of a former chief.
The whale rubs up against both boats and the float planes that land in the harbour.
Officials say that could easily prove fatal for both the whale and passengers.
Spiritual link
Scientists say Luna is probably just very lonely.
They want to capture him, load him onto a large truck and drive him more than 300 km down the coast to where his family is currently swimming.
That move was supposed to be under way now.
But a local Indian tribe has so far stopped the effort. They tell the story of their chief who on his deathbed three years ago promised to return as a whale.
Three days after he died Luna first appeared in their harbour and has not left.
Citing that spiritual link the tribe has strongly opposed the move this week and has taken to the water in traditional canoes.
They have managed to lure the whale more than 20 km from the pen in which scientists hope to catch him.
Officials now say they will try to move Luna next week.
Until then they have agreed to let the tribe spend a weekend praying with the whale.
A lonely killer whale that captured the hearts of many Canadians is believed to have died after being hit by a tugboat propeller, officials have said.
The orca, nicknamed Luna, became separated from his family off Vancouver Island in British Columbia in 2001, and soon started playing with boats.
It later sparked a fierce row between scientists and aboriginal Indians.
The Indians thwarted efforts to reunite Luna with his pod, believing he was the reincarnation of a dead chief.
The seven-year-old male mammal appeared to have been sucked into a propeller after miscalculating its power, John For from Canada's department of oceans and fisheries said.
"Luna has been fixated on boats for a number of years now," Mr Ford told Vancouver's Global television, adding that it was "a tragic accident".
Luna is believed to have died instantly. The remains still need to be formally identified by experts.
'Re-incarnated chief'
The 1.8-tonne creature proved an instant hit with tourists, and his exploits soon gained attention in the world media.
Despite this, scientists - who had seen him as a safety hazard - wanted to return Luna to its family, some 300km down the coast.
Aboriginal Indians, however, managed to derail the effort.
They had told the story of their chief who on his deathbed in 2001 promised to return as a whale.
Three days after the chief died, Luna first appeared in their harbour.
The Indians used their traditional canoes to lure Luna away from the scientists' pen.
The orca (Orcinus orca), although termed a whale, is actually the largest member of the oceanic dolphin family.