Willy the whale

The movie Free Willy – about an orphan boy and a whale separated from his family – highlights the plight of the endangered marine mammal.  In the Philippines, we have the butanding which visit the country’s shores, particularly in Southern Luzon Region and Central Philippines where there are plenty of plankton, whales’ favorite food.

Willy, of course, is the whale.  He was captured and put in a tank but because he is not a natural entertainer, his "owner" plans to sell him.  When somebody he trusts finally taught him how to "perform", the owner had decided that he is better off dead because of the insurance he will get.

The boy in the movie eventually learned about the evil plan and decided helped save the whale by releasing him back into the ocean, where he belongs.

It is sad to know that many people are oblivious about whales, their eating habit, and importance in maintaining a healthy marine ecosystem.

Like other marine mammals, whales deposit nutrients that make the ocean healthy. 

Floating dung left behind by whales are important fertilizers which help algae grow.  Algae produce are feeds to small fishes and other marine life.   Small fishes are prey to bigger fishes and the bigger fishes are what we, humans, catch to put food on the table.

One mayor, Nelson Garcia of Dumanjugin Cebu province, is actually advocating the slaughter of whales and dolphins, because he considers them as “pests” that eat fish and compete with small fishermen whose daily fish catch have dwindled over the past decades.

The mayor said “whale sharks and dolphins are pests, eating two tons of fish a day.”

Garcia even want commercial fishers to catch fish at the Tanon Strait, a protected seascape between the islands of Cebu and Negros called Tanon Strait Protected Seascape (TSPS).  The TSPS is under siege and various stakeholders, government, private sector, and communities are linking arms to ensure that stronger protection measure will be put in place. 

The TSPS is known as home to amazingcreatures of the sea and various stakeholders are closing ranks to protect it against illegal and destructive fishing activities.

Netizens, however, know better.  One FB user condemned the mayor’s statement and called on netizens to condemn Garcia’s pronouncement. 

Watching movies, like Free Willy, help promote better appreciation of whales who are victimized by greedy businessmen, who either catch them to be slaughtered for food, medicine or to catch them live only to put them in giant tanks and showcased as tourism attraction - for the profit.

But we need a better understanding about the importance of biodiversity which should be taught in schools to inculcate into our young children’s minds the importance of maintaining a healthy ecology.

After all, humans are on top of the food chain and with those below of the food chain vanishing because of biodiversity loss, we are surely doomed.