Sei

Sei (aka The Sei Hey Whale, aka Racer Number 24, aka Speed Demon,  aka The Athlete, aka The Sea Cheetah)

Male / the athlete / 19.5 meters (64 feet or 8.5 Yao Mings) / 31 tons (19.7 Porsche 911s) / Endangered Species

Sei whale species:

The sei whale name is either pronounced like the word "say" or like the word "sigh", but for the purposes of the book, The Pod, I've chosen to pronounce his name as "say".  The sei whale can be found all over the world minus just a few places like the Indian Ocean or the Arctic.  They've been clocked going as fast as 31 miles per hour (50km/h for my friends that prefer kilometers) for short bursts.  That number puts them towards the top of the speed list for whales.  An American naturalist deemed them the cheetah of the sea because they swim extremely fast, but then tire easily.  Sei whales are baleen whales so they filter feed the same way a blue or humpback whale would.  They have somewhat deep voices, but when whalers would hit them with their harpoons they would cry out with a much higher pitch.  From a side view, these animals have very thick caudal peduncles (area between the dorsal fin and the tail) but from above they look thin and sleek.  They have a pointed head that looks to me like it was designed to cut through the water like a speed boat.  They're slick looking creatures, yet enormous.

Sei the character:

The name of the sei whale in 'The Pod' is Sei, the common name of his species.  He's the fastest whale in the ocean and he's been undefeated for many years.  He trains every day in order to maintain his racing abilities and to race like a true champion.  Competition racing is his whole focus, but a lot of his character comes from great baseball legends like Jackie Robinson who broke the color barrier with incredible poise, like Willie "The Say Hey Kid" Mays and how slick he was on and off the field, and Lou Gehrig who had to stop playing the game he loved at an early age.  Baseball is a great sport, but when you add the history of the game to an already great game, it's unrivaled.  It's not about the fast action of basketball or football or the constant motion of soccer, it's about the stories and the past that culminates into short bursts of incredible action, just like sei whales making these short bursts of speed only to slow down moments later.  This is the athletic legend all the other whales know about.        

"Sei Racing By The Dutch Dikes"

Lady Beluga

Beluga (aka Lady Beluga, aka Bell, aka Lady Bell, aka The Arctic Author, aka The Sea Canary)

Female / narrator / 3.5 meters long (11.5 feet or 1.5 Yao Mings) / weight (a lady doesn't share that sort of information) / almost threatened population

Beluga whale the species:

If you're in a foul mood, do an image search for 'beluga' whales.  I've seen golden retriever puppies that looked less friendly than a beluga does, so they will cheer you up.  Or at least a little. Part of what gives these beautiful creatures their faces full of personality is that they have a flexible neck. No other whale has a neck with the same capabilities.  Their upper lip curves in just such a way that makes it appear that they're smiling or grinning.  To me they just look happy.  During certain parts of the year, the Inuit are on the lookout for belugas.  They don't hunt them, but they do hunt the bowhead whale for sustenance and belugas frequently stay near a bowhead.  Scientists have said that the relationship is symbiotic based on their very similar migration pattern, but I don't know what the mutual benefit is.  Belugas are high up on the food chain, but they are hunted by polar bears. They're highly social animals so they're almost never found alone and they twitter like birds almost constantly chattering away.  Thus their nickname is the sea canary.  The white skin they adorn provides camouflage amongst the ice, but when they travel south for the winters, they'll gather parasites that alter their color some.  Before they head back to the sea ice, they molt (shed) their skin so they're shiny and sparkling white once again.  

Beluga the character:

When I created the Beluga character (name of her species), I had studied her species carefully. Belugas were always seen with other belugas, so I thought of this as her congregation and her white skin would work well for a christian because purity seems to be such a focus of christianity that I remembered from growing up.  That and I remember there being so many hang ups for progress in your life, ones that you must overcome to move forward.  Also, your outward appearance always seemed to matter so much to your inward divinity (think dressing up for church) so I decided she would be a Christian whale who wrote to her congregation at regular intervals.  Her need to feel like she was still amongst her congregation, drives her.  She is a very important character to the story, so I hope you'll like her.  

"Bell sharing her smile with the world"

Pseudorca "The False Killer Whale"

Pseudorca (aka The False Killer, aka The Thunnus Throttler)

Male / skilled pack hunter / 6.1 meters long (20 ft or 2.7 Yao Mings) / 2.45 tons (1.1 chevy silverados) / insufficient population data

Pseudorca the species:

When the pseudorca was discovered, the scientist who discovered them believed they were an extinct species.  A few years later, a pod of living false killers were located and they're still found sporadically today.  The similar bone structure of the false killer to the killer whale led to a similar species name. Typically they're located in tropical climates but they will roam beyond their more common living spaces. They tend to be pack hunters and typically eat fish, but are also known to hunt fellow mammals.  When they do catch a fish, it's not uncommon for them to share their fish with one another, but the most fascinating is that they've been documented several times offering their catch to humans. It's happened on a boat at least once and divers/snorkelers have been offered fare as well. They sound quite hospitable to me.

The pseudorca is a species of whale that will occasionally beach themselves and when one beaches themselves, they all tend to do it.  In 1986, 114 false killer whales beached themselves in Flinders Bay, Western Australia.  A three day operation conducted by the Department of Conservation and Land Management and wonderful volunteers ensured that some of them would continue to swim freely in the ocean.  They were able to save 96 out of the 114.  Similar stories have occurred since that moment in 1986 and it seems to be making a human/false killer relationship a positive one for both species.

Pseudorca the character:

Pseudorca is named by the first half of his scientific species name, pseudorca crassidens. He knows that other whales might fear him because he's a type of killer, but he believes his pack hunting skills could be useful to whales going on a dangerous journey around the world.  Pseudorca doesn't have the same fear of humans that some of the others have, he trusts most of them.

"Pseudorca makes battle plans"

Sperm Whale

Sperm Whale (aka Sperm, aka Moby, aka The Essex Obliterator)

Male / known whaling-ship destroyer / 26 meters long (85 ft or 11.3 Yao Mings) / 73 tons (32 chevy silverados) / vulnerable status

Sperm whale the species:

The sperm whale uses something called echolocation to find its prey and their diet consists of almost entirely squid. To find the squid they nourish themselves with, they often have to plunge over a mile deep to get to a meal.  The way echolocation works for them, is by making clicking sounds that travel through the water, they can receive the sound waves that bounce back off of objects.  That information from the returning sound waves tell them where to look for their prey.  The sounds that they can make can be devastatingly loud.  My understanding is that if you were underwater and near a sperm whale when it was echoing at their loudest, it could rupture your heart and kill you instantaneously.  So getting in the water with sperm whales could be dangerous even if they have no desire to hurt you.  The organ that they receive the bouncing sound waves back after they create a clicking sound, is through an organ called the spermaceti organ.  The spermaceti organ acts like a satellite receiver, taking in the information and passing it onto the brain.  And it is the spermaceti itself that made them a target for whalers for so many years.  

Why whale oil and why spermaceti?  Well, any fat that you render from any animal or vegetable can be used to make a simple oil lamp.  I'm not suggesting you try it, but it does work.  I experimented with a simple vegetable oil lamp with a wick made from canvas and it sat in the liquid and burned. An hour later, my carpet was stained with black soot, but I learned a valuable answer to 'why whale oil'. Through my mistake, I researched and found that whale oil burned with a less offensive odor, burned brighter, and was less smoky than other animal fat.  Today, there are far better alternatives that are readily available that just weren't available to people during the peak period of whale hunting. Whale oil is a thing of the past, but when it was available, spermaceti was even better than standard whale oil rendered from the other animals and so the sperm whale was the species that whalers craved to get their harpoons into.

Sperm Whale the character:

Sperm (derived from his common species name) is based on the same whale that inspired Herman Melville to write the great novel Moby Dick. Sperm was hunted by humans but he got away by busting up the boats they used to harpoon him. Now he's very distrusting of others because of the incident.  He's grumpy, defensive, and talks a bit like the sailors who hunted him.

If you want to read about the real Moby Dick, here's a link kindly made available by the University of Denver.   Narrative of the Most Extraordinary and Distressing Shipwreck of the Whale-ship Essex   

"The Old Life of a Sperm Whale"

"Vegetable Oil Lamp"

This might be what whale oil lamps looked like while lit.

Humpback

Humpback (aka Hump, aka The Entertainer, aka The Breaching Ballerino, aka The Assuaging Accompanist, aka The Acrobatic Israelite)

Male / follower of Moses / 14 meters long (46 ft or 6.1 Yao Mings) / 40 tons (17.7 chevy silverados) / healthy population

Humpback whale species:  

The humpback whale can be found in every ocean in the world and is a well liked species.  The humpback breaches frequently and it's songs have helped the Save the Whales movement in unmeasurable ways.  The famous cetologist, Roger Payne handed a recording of humpback songs to Judy Collins and Collins included the cetacean audio on her platinum selling album, 'Whales and Nightingales'.  There's a song on the album called "Farewell to Tarwathie" that includes the whale-songs. This song pulled on hearts of humanity and drove a movement fueled by harrowed concerns for our fellow creatures because the lyrics of the song are about lonely trips to Greenland to hunt whales for profits.  The dichotomy is touching as the two songs, one about the whalers and one by the whales, are brought together leaving you questioning yourself why.  Why hunt whales at all?

These days, people travel for miles and then board vessels to get even closer views of these water ballet artists in their natural habitat.  Video after video of breaching humpbacks, you can see them breach high out of the water, spin and land, or leap upwards and arch backwards, over and over.  They slap the water with their flukes and enormous pectoral fins.  All the while you can hear sounds of awe, astonishment, fervor, and praise.  These sounds come from the people watching.  You can feel the pure joy of modern humanity as the excitement stops the heart of crowds and all onlookers.  These humpbacks sing and dance and swing their fins around in these performances that are jaw dropping and it almost seems as if it's all for you.  They are truly entertainers that share a piece of the beauty found below the surface with all of us to see, but only for a moment and then they're gone.

Humpback the character:

The name of the humpback whale in 'The Pod' is Humpback, the common name for his species. Humpback is a faithful Jewish whale with a heart that's easy to love. When times are at their worst, he shines the brightest. You will probably love him as much as I loved writing about him. He is as important to 'The Pod' as any whale on the journey.

"Slightly Improved Version of The Humpback"

"The Humpback"

Pygmy Right Whale

Pygmy (aka Pyg, aka Pygmy Right Whale)

Male / smallest baleen whale / 6 meters long (19.5 ft) / 4.4 tons (1.95 chevy silverados) / population unknown

Pygmy right whale the species:

Typical baleen whales are absolutely enormous, but this baleen whale is relatively small.  They're found only in the southern hemisphere and typically they spotted in the coastal waters of southern Africa or the south side of Australia.  This baleen typically eats copepods, but will also eat krill.  They're small but solidly built.  They have a relatively smaller head size than other baleen whales, but they have the hardest actual baleen (filtering teeth) and extra ribs that offer added protection.  Typically, whales will swim mostly with the use of their flukes, but a pygmy right was spotted using it's whole body to thrust itself through the water.  It's is believed that they're strong swimmers and probably fast as well.  There's little data out there about the pygmy right whale and a lot of what is known about them comes from studying the pygmy rights that are beached up onto the shores rather than behavior observed in the wild.  The lungs and heart are somewhat small which would suggest that this cetacean is not a deep diver.

Pygmy the character:  

Pyg is worried about his population becoming extinct and so he's decided to join The Pod to find an answer to his species woes.  He's on the small side of the group but he's got a can-do attitude.

Blue Whale

Blue Whale (aka Ol' Blue, aka Blue)

Male / 35% body fat / 30 meters in length (98.4 ft = 13 Yao Mings) / 199 tons (97 Chevy Silverados) / Endangered Species

Blue whale species:

The blue whale is the largest animal known to ever exist, however, it's diet consists primarily of one of the smaller and more common creatures in the ocean, krill.  Krill is only about 2 inches long and its weight is measured in grams, not kilograms and certainly not tons.  To maintain a blue's weight, an adult whale has to eat 7,000-8,000 lbs of food each and every day during the feeding season.  Their heart alone is the size of a car and its flukes would barely squeeze into a two car garage.  To say the least, they consume a lot because they have to.  Being the largest animal in the world, they also have the most fat on their bodies, but not the highest body fat percentage.  These guys are actually not even close to the highest body fat percentage.  At 35% body fat, a blue whale pales in comparison with the seemingly trim-looking polar bear that can push itself over 50% in body fat at the peak of feeding season.  But both of these creatures need their fat reserves in order to survive their environments.  What they're able to consume and consuming that much is just a sign of good health.

(If you bought every courtside seat on one side at a basketball game on, you still couldn't take a blue whale as your date.  You'd still need to buy 4 to 6 more seats to accommodate his length and another seat for yourself.  But bring plenty of mints, I understand their breath smells miserable.)

Ol' Blue the character:

Above all, Ol' Blue believes that he must consume to keep up his appearances, which is both his weakness and strength.  He's quite the sight to see if you're impressed by size.  There's certainly a good sense of humor about him and he's most definitely satisfied with his lifestyle.

"Ol' Blue Gorging"

Bowhead Whale

Bowhead Whale (aka The Head, aka The Ice Impaler, aka Balaena Mysticetus)

Male / no dorsal fin / 18 meters long (59 ft) / 110 tons (54 Chevy Silverados) / Healthy Population

The bowhead species:

The bowhead whale is one of the few whale species that does not have a dorsal fin.  Their population exists solely in the Arctic Ocean near the north pole's ice cap.  The species tends to shy away from human activity, but beluga whales can sometimes give away their whereabouts because they often travel together.  The inuit still hunt this whale today, but only for the purpose of feeding local residents.  The bowheads are believed to be the longest living mammals on the planet and can live to be 200 years old in some cases.  This means there are whales out there that would have been alive at the same time as Thomas Jefferson and survived through the peak of whale hunting. Cetologists have tried to record bowhead vocalization and they've discovered that bowheads are almost constantly vocalizing.  It's almost like they won't quit yapping.  They're predominantly dark grey in color, but have a greyish bands on their tails and around their mouths. They eat copepods that can be harvested from the mud from the sea floor beneath the sheet ice in the Arctic.  Frequently when they're spotted, they'll still have mud on their faces from their last meal.  The species never stops growing at any point in their lives.  Scientists have witnessed bowheads crushing through ice as thick as two feet in order to create a blowhole.  This done by striking the ice with the massive flat part on the front of their heads.    

Bowhead the character:

The name of the bowhead whale in The Pod is 'Bowhead'.  Like all the others, he's been tagged by the common name for his species.  Bowhead has one goal in life and that's to find his missing dorsal fin. He's a bit of a talker and he sees no reason to stop talking about his missing fin.  He's always looking for it no matter where he goes, so his motivations in life boil down to one task:  find the dorsal.  Did I mention that he really wants a dorsal fin?   

"The Head"

The Green Man

The Green Man (Also known as or equated to:  Khizr, Hizir, Kwadja Khadir, Mondamin, The Green Knight, al-Khidr, Qeezr, Qhezr, Sorush, Saint George, The King of the Sea, even equated to John The Baptist by some)

Facts about The Green Man:

There are no facts about The Green Man.  However, there are many that believe in The Green Man's existence.  The countless unverifiable stories about this man and his gifts hint at a reality.  I'm not trying to convince you to believe in The Green Man, but I have stood face to face with a man who claims Khizr* saved his life.  He was a fishermen and still is as far as I know.  He and his small crew suddenly got stuck out at sea in a life-threatening storm situation.  They asked Khizr for help and Khizr heard them.  He says that Khizr saved them from a tragedy at sea and he has stuck to his story. As a result of this experience, his fishing village built a shrine for Khizr so that he'd have a place to sit and rest if he passed through.  I had asked questions about the shrine when I visited his village and that's how I was introduced to The Green Man.  However, I already knew who The Green Man was and so do you.
(*translates to 'The Green One')

Where There Are Gargoyles:

Where there are gargoyles, you will likely find The Green Man if you look hard enough.  It's common practice for artists to depict The Green Man when they're crafting decorations for the outside of a church. The Green Man is that character that has leaves growing out of his mouth and he's usually looking fierce because he's there to protect the building.  Frequently, you'll find him in someone's garden watching over the greenery.  Switching gears, there's this element to nature that's virtually unending with the reseeding and regeneration.  So the Green Man takes on this characteristic by getting his long regenerating life the same way nature seems to do effortlessly.  But that's just one version of him that you might know without noticing.

The Green Knight:

The Green Knight is typically depicted in stories as the protector of the fountain of youth or the water of life.  Quite a few stories in the western world are derivative works of 'Sir Gawain and the Green Knight' or 'Perceval, the Story of the Grail'.  Gawain and Perceval are both knights and characters from King Arthur's reign.  My favorite adaptation of these two stories fits seamlessly in the script for 'Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade'.  The whole story revolves around this search for the Holy Grail and when they finally find it, a knight with unnatural long life greets them there.  He wasn't green, however the knight he was derived from in the Gawain story was.  He also shares characteristics with that same man that's been gifted with ultra long life by a small pool of special water:  Khizr.

Mondamin The Maize God:

Mondamin is the name of the Native American version of The Green Man.  He's attributed with green leaves wrapping around his body, he's a young man, and has yellow hair like the stringy yellow tops of an ear of corn.  The legend that I'm aware of, is the Mondamin found in Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's epic poem, The Song of Hiawatha.  Mondamin and Hiawatha physically wrestle over the issue of starvation during freezing winters.  In the end, Hiawatha wins the wrestling match and buries the maize god.  This sacrifice yields corn for the tribes to eat all through the winter, winter after winter.  It's a typical Green Man story, a helpful sage full of age earned wisdom, yet has the gift of a long life through rebirth.  (Side note:  If you ever find yourself in the position to read 'The Song of Hiawatha', I suggest reading it to a simple continuous drum beat (simple 4/4 quarter notes):  bah-boom-bah-boom-bah-boom-bah-boom.  Hard syllables follow the soft syllables like this:  IN the SONG of HIaWATHa... )

Khadir and Iskandar (Alexander the Great):

Alexander the Great is often paired with Khadir as his vizier.  A vizier is essentially the highest ranking individual other than the ruler who appoints them.  In other words, Khadir is thought of as Alexander's right hand man.  The legend is that Alexander and Khadir went into the Hindu Kush mountains in search of the Water of Life, or you might know it as the Fountain of Youth.  Together, Khadir and Alexander crushed the opposition and blazed an empire that was unrivaled in value at the time.  But that all unraveled when the two went in search of the water of life.  Inside the pitch black mountain passages, Khadir tried to guide Alexander to the fountain, but Alexander became stubborn so they both went their own way after the dispute.  Khadir found the water of life and Alexander continued his quest for more land into India and the Hindu Kush mountains.  Alexander lost the power he had because his warrior friend, Khadir the he derived his conquering powers from, was gone.  Alexander was crushed by the armies he faced in the Hindu Kush.

Khizr The King of the Sea:    

I find this version light-hearted, but who knows.. it could be true.  Khizr, the King of the Sea rides around the world on the backs of two fish when he's not guarding the water of life.  Often, he's depicted with two fish, including a painting displayed at the Smithsonian.   In this painting, he sits with the prophet Elijah and they appear to share a meal of two fish.

The Story of Moses and Hazrat Khizr:

Moses was widely believed to be the wisest on Earth, but he learns of a man with vast knowledge that well exceed his own.  The man's name is Hazrat Khizr.  Moses goes to visit Khizr and asks him to teach the lessons of the wisdom that God's given to him.  However, Khizr replies and tells Moses, "You will not have the patience to understand my wisdom."

Moses pleads with him, "Please take me with you.  If God wills it, I will have the patience I need."

Khizr tells him, "If you follow me, you will not speak until I explain my wisdom to you."

Moses agrees and they travel together.  They travel until they come upon a ship and right away, Khizr sinks it without a hesitation.  Moses says to Khizr, "You might kill the passengers by sinking this ship.  You've done something awful."

Khizr tells him, "Do not question my wisdom, merely learn from it with pursed lips."

Moses apologizes to Khizr and tells him he will not break his silence again.  So they continue to travel until they meet a young boy and Khizr immediately kills the boy, not questions asked.  Moses is shocked and says, "What have you done?"

Khizr once again tells him not to speak until he teaches the wisdom to him.  Moses must apologize again in order to stay with Khizr.  They continue to travel again, but Khizr warns Moses, "If you interrupt me one more time, I will have to leave you."

Moses agrees.  They pair reaches a village and they're so tired and cold but have nothing to remedy their situation.  They walk about and ask everyone in town for food or firewood, but no one will offer any hospitality.  So, the pair finds shelter on the outskirts of town amongst a collapsed building. Khizr begins to repair the building and Moses helps him.  After they're finished, Moses wants to know why they didn't charge the town fees for their labor.  Khizr tells Moses, "That was your final warning.  We'll have to part ways now, but first I will explain these acts so that you may at least learn something of wisdom.

"The ship belonged to poor fishermen and the king had commandeered it for his war.  The owners of the ship would have been forced to fight and die.  Now the poor fishermen can continue living instead of facing death.  As for the boy, his parents were good God fearing people and their son was disobedient and would go on to do heinous things to good people.  His parents did not deserve such a disgrace, so I took the boy away.  God will give them the right child soon.  And for the collapsed building.  Two orphaned boys currently own the property and their inheritance was buried beneath the stones we've erected.   So now they can recoup what they deserve.  If the building had not collapsed, you saw how those people are, they would have stolen it.  We have given this wealth to these two deserving orphans and now they're old enough to keep it safe."

Then he said, "I can clearly see that you have no patience for wisdom, so I will go."

The Green Man as a character in The Pod:

The Green Man seems to be a facet found in almost every culture, and this is why Narwhal and The Pod are seeking him.  He's a man with a story in almost every culture.  If you add all his stories up, he's an older and wiser man than any who has ever lived.  He's not a challenger of the wise people found within the many religions and cultures that we have, but he helps guard wisdom and uses it to help good people.  He's a warrior, a guide, a sage, and he helps small people reach the greatest of heights.  Narwhal hopes Khizr will unite all the diverse whales with one purpose, receiving the great wisdoms that come with long life.

 

I Green Manned Myself!

The Narwhal

Narwhal (aka Narwhale, aka The 'whal, aka Monodon monoceros, aka Unicorn of the Sea)

Male/ 5 meters long (16.4 ft) / 1,500 kg (3,306 lbs) / deep diver / multi-colored / threatened species

The narwhal species:

Narwhals are a beautiful mammal species with a unique anatomy that probably inspired the tales of unicorns.  That's because most male narwhals and some females have either one or two teeth (tusks) that grow out of the front of their head and extend almost 10 feet in certain cases.  The tooth itself is filled with roughly 10 million nerve endings so it's truly part of them because they can feel it.  They can use it to sense, but what they can sense is somewhat unknown.  It has been mentioned by some that it's potentially used as a weather rod.  They're mostly white on the belly, then speckled with grayscale spots throughout the center section of their body, a dark head, flukes, pectoral fins and a dark strip that stretches the length of their bodies along the vertebral column.      

Narwhal the character:

The name of the narwhal in The Pod is 'Narwhal', named simply by his common species name.  Narwhal is inspired by dreams and has an unshakeable belief in all the other species.  He's a seeker above all else, seeking peace, seeking answers, seeking to know more than he already knows.  He's a mystic but is still grounded in many ways because he's a seeker of the middle path.  The other whales want to know what religion he follows, but he finds this very difficult to define as he believes in all of whale-kind.  The story begins with Narwhal and a powerful dream that transcends his sleep time imagination.  His powerful transcendent dream is about The Green Man.    

"Narwhal and the Hoopoe"

"Jello Narwhal" by Rona

Hello World

Hello world and how are you?

If we've met, hello again.  If we've never met, I'm Andy.  I'm your brother sitting across the screen from your eyes right now.  Quite literally.  I'm staring at the screen on my side creating and editing and you're just on the other side of the screen taking in whatever you please.  I'm going to tell you about my book about whales called, The Pod, and I hope you'll decide you want to read it.

If I had to tell you what The Pod is about in one sentence, this is what I would say:  "It's a book about mystical creatures on an epic journey, circumnavigating a rhythmic yet hostile underwater world." I'll be honest with you, I'm not a fan of the word 'circumnavigating' but it's the right word because these whales are 20 different mystical species that come together for a purpose and that purpose will not be fulfilled by simply navigating the oceans, they have to solve problems along the way as well.

So, I'm not here to tell you what the diverse whales do in this book every step of the way on their journey, but I'd be happy to tell you all about who they are.  What motivates them, what they look like, and details that give them their character.  I hope you'll get a chance to read The Pod at some point, and this blog is here to just enrich the experience as you read about their adventure in this whale novel.

Here's the autographs of every one of the whales you'll meet:

And here is mine:

Sincerely,

Your Brother Andy