By: Dr. G.R.Vijayakumar
While some cultures venerate whales as sacred animals, there are others who hunt the peaceful creatures down for sport and meat. Tourists ride motorboats to observe these marine mammals at close quarters, clicking photographs and getting entertained. But whale watching has been found to severely impair the whales’ ability to communicate, due to the noise of the boat engine. Due to acoustic pollution, whales struggle to find mates and connect with family and friends. Their bonding routine goes for a toss since they rely so much on their fine hearing. This is in addition to having to routinely battle oil spills and plastic jetsam that pollute their home. Whales never eat alone. They share food as Sai Baba used to share his food with dogs, pigs, sparrows.
Large aquatic animals such as whales, dolphins and porpoises are called cetaceans. Experts say that cetaceans are conscious breathers. That is, they choose when and how to breathe; taking deep, “life-giving” breaths. Cetaceans are also known to be very intelligent, and communicate effectively with one another even over long distances. On many occasions, say divers and swimmers, cetaceans are known to have extended themselves to rescue humans in distress. They are compassionate and a close follow up indicates this nature. It looks as though Sai Baba wants us to follow their compassionate nature. I was reminded of Bayja Ma’s concern of searching a hungry Sai Baba in the forest and feeding him.
Most indigenous cultures on the Pacific coast and 
islands regard the whale as a perfect being, compassionate and with knowledge of birth and death. The whale exhaling through its blowhole symbolizes the freeing up of creative energies. Whales are also symbols of solitude, leadership, and strength. When an indigenous hunter had to hunt a whale for inevitable reasons, he was put through an elaborate initiation ceremony and sensitized to every part of the whale’s body and he asks for forgiveness before embarking on the hunt.
As a totem, the whale is believed to enable you to listen to your inner voice, understand your emotions, and follow your truth. The whale is said to help you get in touch with your Self, and indicate what you can do to alleviate problems and find peace.
My first close encounter with whales was when on a private trip to the Antarctic region in the year 2015, sailing on a ship that was compliant with environmental regulations, I had a memorable stopover at the Falkland Islands.
Walking around, I stopped before the “southernmost Anglican cathedral in the world” – the Christ Church Cathedral, consecrated on February 21, 1892, on Ross Road, Stanley. It was renovated one hundred years later, in 1992. This church functions under the jurisdiction of the Archbishop of Canterbury, United Kingdom.
A striking feature is the two massive whalebones placed vertical, right in front of the cathedral, like an arch, almost as tall as the church. It is called The Whalebone Arch, made from the jawbones of two blue whales, erected in 1933 to commemorate one hundred years of British rule in the Falkland Islands. The blue whale is the largest living animal on earth.
Now, why would a mammal that is the symbol of pacifism, knowledge, strength, peace, and equanimity lend its bones to a monument that celebrates the victory of a colonizer? It is very likely that those who used the whalebones to erect such a monument that also serves as a skeletal gateway to God’s abode were ignorant of its sensitive, politically incorrect, implications.
So, if not for this rare visit to a quaint place close to the South Pole, I might never have come to know of the whale as a potential spiritual inspiration.
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