I began watching the documentary Ocean Souls, which was created to raise awareness of cetaceans (whales, dolphins and porpoises), how they live, their lineage of familial bonds (akin to how wild elephants live together in herds), how they mate, raise their young, communicate with each other, search for food and play.
Ocean Souls took me into the depths of the ocean to see how very similar their lives, familial and social structures and cultures are similar to our lives above water. These are highly intelligent and sentient creatures who can express emotions and form deep bonds with each other.
Their main form of communication is through sound via whistles, clicks, songs, and calls. Their sense of hearing, which is needed for communication, is highly imperative to how they find food, to mate, and raise their offspring is being greatly challenged by human intrusion into their habitats. With 50,000 vessels traversing the ocean, the noise produced from these vessels is throwing off their way of living and communicating. It is akin to us navigating life being blind.
We share a common ancestor with whales. And cetaceans evolved long before humans began navigating the earth. Therefore, they had developed their highly evolved intricate social structure and culture before us. The wisdom in how they live together is something we can learn from. In this light, we can’t think in terms of just saving our own species but thriving with all species and learning from their ancient wisdom.
To learn more about the film, click here. You can watch the documentary on Vimeo, AppleTV, Amazon.
