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Orca that carried dead calf for weeks appears to be in mourning again

nytimes.com

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Re: Orca that carried dead calf for weeks appears to be in mourning again

#101

Post by bmitc »

cloverich wrote: post #68
bobxmax wrote: post #3

> Tahlequah is using much of her energy to cling to the dead calf, which weighs about 300 pounds, and she is unable to forage for food, scientists said during a news briefing on Thursday. They said that her closely knit pod was supporting her. Other female orcas, especially her sister, have been observed to be consistently at her side. Utterly tragic. It's also singularly evil the devastation humans have brought to s…

I always have mixed feelings about this. It's sad. But how is her pod supporting her exactly? Are they bringing her food? If so is that food the dead offspring of other animals? I feel these kinds of stories often have a kind of selective empathy for the focused animal. Ultimately nature is extraordinarily cruel absent humans; imo humans are the only hope for something better, if such a thing even makes sense.

> imo humans are the only hope for something better, if such a thing even makes sense.

Humans are the number one cause of environmental destruction and animal and plant suffering on Earth that is completely out of whack with what it takes for humans to live. All of the "hope for something better" you refer to are for humans to solve less than 1% that we have ourselves caused in the first place.

Re: Orca that carried dead calf for weeks appears to be in mourning again

#102

Post by simgt »

xp84 wrote: post #20
hombre_fatal wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

[flagged]

[flagged]

As others have said, there is no such thing as going against evolution. Unless you want to put paracetamol, central heating, microwaves ovens, sneakers and smartphones in that bucket too. Or even all of our modern food, given that the crops have been selected by our civilisation for centuries.

Usually the same ones who argue that we're separate from nature when it's about building motorways and single family homes to park two SUVs, are also the ones explaining that we should be more like lions in a savannah. Seems inconsistent, at best.

Re: Orca that carried dead calf for weeks appears to be in mourning again

#103

Post by bmitc »

stickfigure wrote: post #83
foota wrote: post #73

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm not a vegetarian etc., but you could argue that humans are both the only hope for something different, but also the only species capable of a particular sort of cruelty that comes from the society we live in for animals and other people. That is, animals may kill to eat, but humans slaughter animals to get tastier/more convenient/etc., food.

Not so fast: https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/why-do-killer-wha...

The shark is often killed already prior to the liver being eaten. If it isn't, then it would certainly die very soon after. The shark liver is one of the most calorie dense things in the animal kingdom and accounts for a quarter of the shark's weight. Orcas eat it because it's fairly easy for them to kill sharks and the calorie intake. Orcas are much bigger, faster, stronger, and smarter than sharks. They do it for survival.

Not to mention that the rest of the shark is perfectly recycled by the ecosystem.

Re: Orca that carried dead calf for weeks appears to be in mourning again

#104

Post by aziaziazi »

csomar wrote: post #42
cowfriend wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Almost this. The better answer is because we want to get ALL the milk. So instead of letting the mother cow nurse her calf for the first few months and then start taking her milk for our use, the more "modern" practice is to separate the calf immediately. Which means if you are drinking milk, you are drinking it from seriously depressed cows. I wonder how this contributes to our culture's growing mood of depression?…

The real crime is that alternatives are expensive due to how our new economy is structured. I personally prefer oatmilk (oatside) to dairy milk. However, it’s too damn expensive that I find myself only drinking it from time to time. Now how is a vegetarian milk more expensive than a full cycle of cow milk (cows are too burdening to maintain) you might ask?!? My guess is that we are seeing something along the lines of…

Do It Yourself! You can beat milk price:

You already got the oat. Got a blender? Grind those little flakes with water and a spoon of your favorite oil. Et voilà !

Pro tips:

- filter for extra smoothness but no need if you intent to mix with whole oat flakes

- 1h in the fridge and mix again for double extra smoothness

- pinch of salt or cinnamon or cacao… yummi

- bored of oat? Check your supermarket shelf for other ideas. (Soy need to be cooked then blend then filter).

Re: Orca that carried dead calf for weeks appears to be in mourning again

#105

Post by vixen99 »

xp84 wrote: post #20
hombre_fatal wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

[flagged]

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Guilt-tripping? We've got reasoning abilities and in the main can act on our decisions. Nobody guilt-trips any sentient being since they can't be guilty if under duress. If after all this we still do whatever it is we do that we conclude is reprehensible, we should not blame someone else for reminding us of the logic we ignored.

Re: Orca that carried dead calf for weeks appears to be in mourning again

#106

Post by Daub »

halestock wrote: post #55
lotsofpulp wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

[flagged]

I’m gonna guess it was somewhat tongue in cheek.

Yes it was partly toung in cheek. These were good people who acted on principle.

However... I was young and it took me too long to see the hypocrisy of their thinking. They would happily feed the chickens but I would be the person who killed them... their angel of death. I wasn't even properly shown how to kill a chicken.

One day I was present when a pig was slaughtered a process which was overseen by a vet. That animal certainly knew it was going to die and did not like the idea. I was only 19, and was somewhat badly affected by the experience. For a while I even became a vegetarian but developed health issues as a result.

In the long run what I took from the idea was that meat has a cost. Life is not sacred but it is certainly precious. For that knowing it was worth it.

Re: Orca that carried dead calf for weeks appears to be in mourning again

#107

Post by moi2388 »

kacesensitive wrote: post #87
mulmen wrote: post #74

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Orcas are considered to be very intelligent but they hunt and kill for sport.

The intelligence gap between lion and orca is much slimmer than orca and human.

Have you met the average person? I would highly contest this claim.

Let an average person alone in nature and they’ll starve within a month

Re: Orca that carried dead calf for weeks appears to be in mourning again

#109

Post by globular-toast »

xp84 wrote: post #20
hombre_fatal wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

[flagged]

[flagged]

Ah, so you want to be a lion? But I bet you don't want to be treated like an animal. So which is it? Are you an animal or are you human?

Re: Orca that carried dead calf for weeks appears to be in mourning again

#110

Post by mulmen »

moi2388 wrote: post #107
kacesensitive wrote: post #87

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The intelligence gap between lion and orca is much slimmer than orca and human.

Have you met the average person? I would highly contest this claim. Let an average person alone in nature and they’ll starve within a month

That's longer than an Orca will live in a Wal Mart.
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