Osprey - 10-21-2013 at 04:19 PM
Cheers for Ross
Doctor Ross Bloomberg
It all started with petting the whales, whale “watching”, Save the Whales conservation campaigns. Worldwide commercial whale attractions for tourists
bring in an astounding 3 billion dollars a year. That’s an amazing figure considering they are anything but cute and cuddly like the other billion
dollar animal darlings like the koala and the giant panda.
For people in the western United States of America the ultimate in the whale-tourist thing is a chance to visit the wintering grounds of the gray
whales on the Pacific coast of Baja California, Mexico. One magic February, near the peak of whale activity at San Ignacio Lagoon the Bloomberg family
got the thrill of a lifetime as they passed some action packed hours petting and photographing whales and their young. Both mothers and calves seemed
to enjoy being petted, bumping the small boats, spewing foul-smelling blasts of sea water from their blow holes, drenching the squealing youngsters,
parents and pangeros. The bay was alive with activity; mothers and calves spy hopping, cavorting, rolling – they seemed to hold their giant heads
above the small waves asking for attention.
The kids got lots of shots of Ross in his over-sized orange life jacket straining to lean as far out of the boat as he could to touch and stroke and
pet the beasts. A little care and caution is necessary because some of the whales, both moms and babies, are so completely covered with barnacles, the
wrong move by humans, boat or animal might cut some tender palm or finger as the barnacles are rough and ragged little parasitic sea creatures.
While the cameras were clicking away, a baby whale was playing up to the doctor. As he reached out to touch the gentle creature he noticed that two or
three barnacles, at the edge of a large patch on the upper jaw had been somehow partially dislodged – without a second thought the doctor pulled those
barnacles he could reach off the skin and discarded them into the sea. The calf submerged but came right back up – he pulled off two more and after a
small disagreement between the doc and the boat guide Ross repeated the process. Then the baby would not leave his position, continued to present his
head to the man in the bow of the small white boat – the pangero had to carefully start the motor and back away from those animals to find another mom
or calf in another part of the lagoon.
Ross’s eight year old daughter said “Dad, I think he liked that. He liked you taking off those ugly barnacles. Maybe they itch, they look like that
would itch.”
Ross just smiled broadly at Wendy but didn’t comment. He had gone on the Internet before the trip and learned a lot about Grey Whales. He learned that
the two most visible parasites on them are the whale louse and barnacles. The consensus on the whale sites was that they don’t really bother or harm
the whale hosts. Later that evening at the motel back in San Ignacio the doctor turned out the light, laid his head on the pillow and recalled what he
had learned from the Internet and what cursory information he remembered about Cetaceans. He remembered the many accounts of whales rubbing against
the sand or small gravel in the shallows – it has long been a subject of conjecture that they were trying to rub off, remove the barnacles because the
whale lice, sometimes up to 100,000 of them on one whale, congregate in and around body cavities and would defy the rubbing maneuver.
It makes perfect sense that one or more barnacles, when naturally attached to the skin might cause itching; as the whale grows, the skin expands and
the barnacles by their attachment devise would be a resistance the whale would feel as an irritating itching sensation. Could we be wrong about the
barnacles, that they cause no harm or discomfort to the host?
That was the beginning. The doctor found the time, made the time to contact aquariums and marine mammal specialists all over the globe asking if any
studies had been done to try to better recognize or measure whether the removal of barnacles on captive whales or free whales under study did in fact
improve the health of or the general disposition of the animals. Like millions of us who are awed by the spectacle of reef “fish cleaning stations” in
the Great Barrier Reef and other important coral communities around the tropics, Ross was acutely aware of the biological necessities of parasite
removal in the world of reef denizens. Perhaps marine mammals, whales could benefit from parasite removal-control with the help of man.
Maybe we could mimic the wrasse and blennies who set up shop on the reef’s edge to wait for dogfish, grouper, snapper, jacks and others to stop, open
their mouths and gills, wait patiently while the gleaners pick and clean, rid them of tiny irritants they themselves can not reach or scratch or rub
off. Ross had a vision -- he could see in his mind what now exists all along whale migration routes – dozens of special ships and platforms, manned by
trained professionals who, with specialized suction devices, remove barnacles and other skin parasites from the migrating whales.
It is not a thankless job for those who man the platforms, don the special wetsuits, handle the specialized vacuum hoses. They know the whales which
leave their stations unburdened and unmolested by the barnacles, will, for at least a short while enjoy the uplifting comfort of clean, healthy skin –
they can envision them swimming faster, with greater ease, less drag and now singing songs not of complaint but of joy.
Now, in every ocean in the world, whale watchers often see those clean, sleek, happy beauties of the deep as they spy hop or breach – slick black skin
gleaming in the sun and they know the animals have not been long away from the special stations.
I say “Hats off to Doctor Ross Bloomberg, First Dermatologist to The Whales.”
elgatoloco - 10-21-2013 at 05:01 PM
shari - 10-21-2013 at 05:22 PM
many whales gently scrape their heads on the bottom of the panga to dislodge barnacles like this guy....she wasnt really interested in being touched
but she rubbed on the boat for a long time.
What's NEEDED ...................
MrBillM - 10-21-2013 at 07:37 PM
Obviously, is a Non-Toxic Whale Anti-Fouling Paint which specially-trained Divers could apply.
Perhaps in a variety of colors to liven up the close-encounters.
AND, assuming a practical application process could be developed, contrasting colors could be used to apply "Naming" Rights.
"Oh, Look, there's a Prudential Financial Group Gray Whale".
It COULD work.
fishbuck - 10-21-2013 at 07:41 PM
Whales is ugly!
BajaRat - 10-21-2013 at 08:00 PM
Senor Osprey, What if they're there for a reason, like a tool that works in an irritating symbiotic relationship, maybe to help stir up the sea floor
or provide a weapon to use against pesky problematic opportunists...........
I like your story a lot better though, thanks 
