flukeprintphotography:

Why I Hate the Phrase “They’re Putting on a Show for Us!”

If you’ve ever been on a whale watching trip and have been lucky enough to see whales breach, cartwheel, spyhop, or participate in other showy aerial behaviors, chances are you heard somebody say “Wow! They’re putting on a show!” or some other iteration of that phrase. 

As a naturalist on a whale watching boat, I cringe every time I hear it. 

It seems like an innocent comment at first glance, but it’s a very anthropocentric view of these animals. We do not always know why whales breach or do other high energy behaviors, but “showing off for humans on a big piece of floating fiberglass” is probably pretty darn low on the list. They could be trying to remove irritating parasites, communicating with other whales, or perhaps just jumping for the fun of it. Whatever it is they are doing, they’re whales doing whaley things for whaley purposes. 

It is my job as a marine naturalist to show the public these animals in a safe, respectful way, and to ensure they leave our boat with a better scientific understanding of whales. I feel it is a disservice to the whales to perpetuate anthropocentric views; their behaviors are interesting in and of themselves without the idea that they could be doing such behaviors for our enjoyment.