Every year, the Humpback Whales come to Hawai’i in the winter to mate and give birth. People in the islands love them. They are the state animal of Hawai’i.
In the late 1990s, the United States Navy came to Hawai’i to test their Low Frequency Active Sonar on the Humpback Whales during their breeding and birthing season in the waters off our Island of Hawai’i.
The island erupted in protest that included boats putting people into the water around the Navy broadcasting vessel. That Human presence prevented broadcasting because the sonar was so powerful it might seriously injure or kill the people close to the broadcast.
When the testing did commence away from the protesters, I began receiving numerous reports from whale watch boat captains and shore observers that the Whales were fleeing from the test area.
The permit for the testing issued by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) required suspension of the broadcasts, if there was an abnormal absence of Whales from the test area. Based on the reports I had received, I sent a letter to NOAA calling for suspension.
When NOAA failed to act, I filed suit against the testing as a violation of the permit and various federal statutes. Before there could be a ruling on the injunction I sought, the Navy announced the testing was complete and convinced the court to conclude that the case was moot. That suit would end up being one of five I filed on behalf of the Whales.
My favorite suit was the one I filed with only “The Cetacean Community” (Whales, Dolphins, and Porpoises) as the plaintiffs and President George W. Bush as the defendant.
While the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals denied standing to the Whales, they did rule that nothing in Article III of the United States Constitution prohibits Congress from granting standing to animals.
Cetacean Community v. Bush, 386 F.3d 1169 (9th Cir. 2004).
During this litigation, I joined a group of friends on an outing from Hilo. Our boat was about three miles off the coast when a pod of spotted Dolphins appeared swimming towards us.
We donned our snorkel gear and jumped in the water to meet them.
When they arrived, they formed a circle and all began pointing their heads in the same direction.
As we looked where they were indicating, three Humpback Whales appeared. There were two adults and a young one.
My first experience was watching the young one about thirty feet below me do a complete 360 degree barrel roll. I ended up laughing so hard I had to take my snorkel out.
I returned to the boat for a break. When I reentered the water, the energy changed. Intense waves slapped me away from the boat into the open ocean. I was Whale calling through my snorkel mouthpiece.
An adult surfaced about fifteen feet beneath me and swam at my speed. The Whale then moved out in front of me, turned around, and swam straight towards me. As the Whale reached me, the Whale turned, looked me in the eye, and passed its fluke over my head.
I was left hanging in the water, astonished. I remember noticing that the water around me had not been disturbed by the passage of the fluke.
There is something about looking into the eye of a Whale that triggers a deep transformation. In reflecting on the experience, I understood that the encounter had a number of meanings.
The Whale showed me the totally mastery of environment that these remarkable beings possess. The Ocean is their world and they are masters of that world.
The passage of the fluke over my head was a spiritual blessing and an expression of thanks for the work I was doing in the courtroom.
The direct encounter also laid the energetic foundation for the spiritual messages and lessons that would later flow into my life.
While I was unable to stop the Navy from attacking the Whales, our activism and litigation did help to bring the Natural Resources Defense Council into the fray. They have continued to challenge such destructive Navy programs since that time.
I pray that the Whales will survive the Sixth Great Extinction now underway. I am grateful for the joy they bring to everyone who encounters them.