Deep Dive
What was the unique event happening at St. John the Divine cathedral in Manhattan?
The cathedral hosted the St. Francis Day of the Animals, an annual event where people brought their animals—dogs, birds, hamsters, tortoises, and more—to be blessed. The event was filled with a diverse range of creatures, including a bull and a falcon.
Why did Mick Menago and his team venture out to sea in December?
Mick Menago and his team went out to sea after receiving a call about a humpback whale entangled in crab traps and ropes. They aimed to rescue the whale, which was struggling to breathe and move due to the heavy weight of the traps tied to its tail.
What was the condition of the humpback whale when the divers found it?
The humpback whale was in a C-shape, with its head at the surface and its tail pointing downward, weighed down by approximately 20 crab traps and 2,000 pounds of rope. The whale was laboring to breathe and had ropes wrapped around its mouth, head, eye, back, pectoral fins, and tail.
How did the divers free the humpback whale?
The divers used dive knives to cut through the ropes entangled around the whale. They worked for hours, carefully cutting the ropes near the whale's eye and tail. At one point, James Moskito had to stab the whale's tail to free the rope, which eventually released the traps and allowed the whale to swim free.
What unusual behavior did the whale exhibit after being freed?
After being freed, the whale approached each diver individually, gently pushing them with its head and making eye contact. It spent about 30 seconds staring at each diver before moving on to the next, creating a profound and emotional moment for the rescuers.
What did the divers interpret the whale's behavior to mean?
The divers believed the whale was expressing gratitude. They felt the whale's intentional eye contact and gentle interactions were a way of saying thank you for freeing it from the ropes and traps.
What did behavioral scientist Clive Wynne think about the whale's behavior?
Clive Wynne acknowledged the emotional impact of the moment but cautioned against interpreting the whale's behavior as gratitude. He emphasized that humans cannot definitively understand whale communication and suggested the whale might have been disoriented or simply curious.
What did Alexandra Horowitz's experiment reveal about dogs and guilt?
Alexandra Horowitz's experiment showed that dogs display a 'guilty look' not because they feel guilt, but in response to their owner's scolding. Even dogs that had done nothing wrong exhibited the same submissive behavior when chastised, indicating the look is tied to the owner's reaction, not the dog's actions.
What broader question does the story of the rescued whale raise?
The story raises questions about the emotional and cognitive capacities of animals, particularly whether they experience emotions like gratitude, guilt, or grace, and how much humans and animals share in terms of emotionality.
- Animals are brought to a cathedral for a blessing.
- The episode questions whether animals experience human-like emotions.
- The possibility of measuring animal emotions is raised.
Shownotes Transcript