GRIEF

....we all carry it differently....

up until last week four whales

had been washed ashore in Pacifica...

dead.....

Sperm whale ...two weeks in decomposing state...

Curious Pacifica folks as well as those from neighboring

 communities checked out the whales....

the humpback whale was 4 days dead when 

i came to shoot the photos. 

It is interesting to note that in not

so far distance off the shore,

in the shallow waters....

3 or 4 whales can be seen

swimming around grieving....

they just couldn't leave the vicinity....

it's a very close parallelism to humans...

very touching ....one can feel

the wrenching pain.... 

two of these whales were hit by passing 

ships....

marine biologists still could not make a determination

on the cause of death of the other 2 whales...

they cut up parts of the whales for necropsy...

first time i've seen intestines diameter

big enough to fit

Jonah inside....

the skin is about 2.5 inches in thickness

supported by a layer of thick and heavy fat

approximately 9" inches....

gummy like but tough...

the fishy smell of the decomposing 

whales pervaded

a large perimeter

and the ocean wind was 

blowing it to the adjacent neighborhood

including part of the back nine 

of Sharp Golf course.

what stuck to my memory are the

whales that swam around to

perhaps mourn their

dead....

A rare sad story of other mammals

to be witnessed by  

humans who came for

curiosity and perhaps

also to mourn.

if one had to play music for the

tragedy, I think I'd

pick Sam Barbers'

"Adagio for Strings".

What is yours?

that's all folks!

jt