‘The domestic sea’
The museum says that Maine-based Mr. Becton is inspired by the “history of New England, maritime scenes and contemporary ecological issues. His work, digital montages of coastal scenes and New England views, is printed on aluminum and evokes a surreal, dream-like quality that is simultaneously unsettling and - for those who call New England home - very familiar.’’
Sperm whales learned to avoid human killers through social communication
From Robert Whitcomb’s “Digital Diary,’’ in GoLocal24.com
Scientists have determined that sperm whales (think Moby Dick), under relentless attack by whalers, many from New England, in the 19th Century communicated with each other on ways to escape their killers. Whales are highly intelligent and have very well organized social cultures. We humans too often forget that we’re far from the only intelligent creatures on Earth. Indeed, we’re often not very intelligent at all
Consider this from a Royal Society report:
“Analysis of data from digitized logbooks of American whalers in the North Pacific found that the rate at which whalers succeeded in harpooning (‘striking’) sighted whales fell by about 58% over the first few years of exploitation in a region. … The initial killing of particularly vulnerable individuals would not have produced the observed rapid decline in strike rate. It appears that whales swiftly learned effective defensive behaviour. Sperm whales live in kin-based social units. Our models, show … that learned defensive measures from grouped social units with experience could lead to the documented rapid decline in strike rate. This rapid, large-scale adoption of new behaviour enlarges our concept of the spatio-temporal dynamics of non-human culture.’’
How much have the whales learned from their groups on how to avoid collisions with ships and fishing-line entanglements, or how to find new sources of food as mankind changes the ocean environment
To read more, please hit this link.
'Youth Voices for the Ocean'
Artworks from “Youth Voices for the Ocean,’’ at The New Bedford Whaling Museum, through Aug. 19.
This is the first part of the museum’s new “Inside Out!” outdoor exhibition series, which promotes the works inside the museum, which is now open.
Each exhibition will last two weeks and feature photographs showing a sampling of the museum's collection.
“Youth Voices for the Ocean’’ is a guest exhibit by Bow Seat Ocean Awareness Programs. Its artwork comes from more than 13,000 students across 106 countries participating in Bow Seat's annual Ocean Awareness Contest. The students were asked to show how humans are damaging the oceans, and how we can start to solve the problems we’ve caused.
Tools of a brutal trade
The University of Massachusetts at Dartmouth's gallery at 715 Purchase St., New Bedford, will present "The Harpoon Project and the Legacy of Lewis Temple'' on Jan. 29, at 6-8 p.m.
Mr. Temple was an African-American abolitionist and inventor. He invented the toggle harpoon in 1848 -- another way to torture whales but nice for the industry, which by that point was already in decline.
Panelists include Carl Cruz, of the New Bedford Historical Society, Michael Dyer, of the New Bedford Whaling Museum, Janine da Silva, of the New Bedford Whaling National Historical Park, and Linda Whyte Burrell, an artist. The panel will be moderated by Marc Levitt, of the "Action Speaks'', an NPR radio show based in Providence.