A whale of a journey: On the connectivity between pygmy blue whales in Indonesia, Australia, and beyond
Other Publication ResearchOnline@JCUAbstract
This story explores the blue humanities from the viewpoint of an Indonesian cetologist who has lived in Australia for almost twenty years. The story begins with two pygmy blue whales that the author and her team tagged in Savu Sea, East Nusa Tenggara, Indonesia, in November 2021. The pygmy blue whales were expected to swim along the coasts of Western Australia, possibly to turn eastwards later towards the waters of South Australia. However, to everyone’s surprise, one of the two whales swam straight towards the sub-Antarctic waters, while the other one followed the predicted pattern of cruising the Western Australian water before turning eastwards slightly to South Australia, then took another turn southward towards the waters between the Subtropical Front and the Sub-Antarctic Front, outside Australia’s Economic Exclusive Zone (EEZ). The unexpected migratory routes of these two whales changed the narrative forever. Indonesians can no longer assume that ‘their’ whales only travel between Indonesia and Australia, for their whales also travel to the sub-Antarctic waters. Indonesia’s whales are indeed not just ‘their’ whales. To protect these whales, Australia and Indonesia need to work together and understand that the whales are the property of neither country. This chapter looks at conflicts between humans and animals, particularly whaling, fisheries, tourism, offshore mining, and marine traffic, not just from the Western perspective of a trained cetologist but through the spiritual lens of a Balinese Indonesian who sees humans and animals as part of the same ecosystem.
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Critical Approaches to the Australian Blue Humanities
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ISBN/ISSN
9781003365501
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Pages Count
10
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Routledge
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London, UK
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DOI
10.4324/9781003365501