Standing Barefoot on Dead Whales

Earlier I talked a little bit about the change in people's attitude toward whales in the last century.  I wanted to share a few images of how people used to react to stranded whales, as opposed to their reactions today.  In the following three photographs, you'll see people climbing over dead/dying whales and dolphins almost as if they are playground equipment.  The first time I saw these photos, I was shocked.  Now I see them as an illustration of just how much our attitude toward whales and dolphins has changed in a short period of time.  It also gives me some hope that we can change the way we treat other species - like tuna.

I don't have dates for all of these photos, but I am guessing from the clothes that they are from the 1940s-1960s.  It wasn't that long ago that a little girl and her mom could climb barefoot on a stranded whale while Pop and Bobby looked on.

Girls playing on a Brydes whale, Panacea, Fl (Date unknown, but before 1980.
 Courtesy of M.B. Bank, World Wide Media. Scanned from Leatherwood et al)

Sei Whale in Rio Gallegos, Argentina, 1940 (Courtesy of J.G. Mead,
U.S. National Museum,  Scanned from Leatherwood et al).

Little boy standing on stranded melon-headed whales (Photos courtesy of
US National Museum. Scanned from Leatherwood et al).

Will we look back someday at this photo of tuna in the Tokyo fish market, and wonder what the hell were we thinking?

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