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Telling Stories with Robert Redford and the Disaster in the Gulf

2010-06-04T20:50:41Z

Phil Gutis, Director of Communications, New York City

A few months after starting at NRDC, I was asked to give a major presentation on communications at an NRDC Board retreat in Sundance, Utah. As to be expected, I was nervous, but I had worked hard on the presentation and felt I had the situation under control.

Until Robert Redford arrived.

Words cannot adequately describe the shattered nerves, the spike of self-doubt, the absolute terror. I remember walking to a big picture window at the Sundance conference center to pull myself together. And, yes, I did spend some time staring into space wondering if I’d be able to get my old job back if I were to just walk away.

The terror turned out to be completely misplaced. Along with the rest of the NRDC Board, Bob listened politely as I worked through my presentation and then delivered his own impassioned and complementary speech to his fellow trustees about how NRDC needed to start relying less on words and more on video and pictures to tell its environmental stories.

He’s followed up on his initial thoughts with great generosity over the last five years, helping us launch our NRDC films team and appearing in many of our video products.

His most recent contribution comes in the form of three videos, two short pieces that we’ve released in the last few weeks, and the most recent, “The Fix,” a “mini-doc” that we’re sending out today. In the Fix, Bob speaks movingly about the Gulf disaster and how we need to break our national addiction to oil. He also describes how his environmental views were shaped by working in the oil fields of Southern California as a teenager. (He also gave us a great photo from those days, which you can see in the video.)

I’m really proud of the NRDC team of Daniel Hinerfeld, Lisa Whiteman, Kashina Kessler and Sherry Goldberg that worked with Bob to realize his vision. Please help us spread Bob’s critical message by sharing this video with all of your friends on Facebook and other social networks.

Empire State Building Glows Green for Forces of Nature

2010-04-15T19:03:00Z

Phil Gutis, Director of Communications, New York City

Skyscrapers. Even after thirty years of living and working in New York City, the engineering, the architecture, the majesty all keep me peering upward.

The Empire State Building is, without a doubt, one of the most special of them all. She’s nearly 80 years young and continues to thrill more than 3 million visitors each year.

There’s no doubt that the view from the 86th floor observatories are stunning, but for the environmental wonks around us, what is particularly interesting about the Empire State Building these days is what is happening inside: a $500 million retrofit to improve energy efficiency by 38 percent and cut carbon pollution by 105,000 metric tons over the next 15 years.

Malkin Properties, the company that owns and operates the Empire State Building, is understandably proud of its environmental accomplishments; we’re proud to count the Malkins as long-time supporters.

Tonight, at our annual New York gala, NRDC will honor Anthony and Shelly Malkin along with musician and climate activist Sheryl Crow with our Forces of Nature award.

NRDC Trustee Shelly Malkin is a landscape painter and rock climber who helps keep destructive energy development out of wild places. Tony Malkin is real estate industry leader who is turning the Empire State Building into a model of energy efficiency.

The Malkins helped found NRDC’s Center for Market Innovation to direct private investment toward clean energy. Thanks to their work, more equity firms, institutional lenders, and business leaders recognize that green practices and economic vitality go hand-in-hand.

Sheryl Crow is a Grammy-winning artist and a passionate environmentalist. Recently, she took a model she is deeply familiar with -- hitting the road in a tour bus -- and joined NRDC Trustee Laurie David in a barnstorming campaign through Southern college towns to educate students about climate change. Sheryl attracted people who might not have been concerned about the issue, and then she mobilized them to take positive action.

The Empire State Building will glow green tonight in honor of Shelly and Tony Malkin, Sheryl Crow and NRDC. And as her retrofit continues, she’ll glow green throughout the year as a 102-story beacon of sustainability.

Photograph by Lisa Whiteman

A Tree Falls in the Suburbs, Victim of an Early Morning “Hit”

2010-04-13T15:15:08Z

Phil Gutis, Director of Communications, New York City

Early this morning, as I pulled into the parking lot to catch the bus to New York City, I had to pull around a construction truck that was parked in the middle of the road. Odd, I thought. Why was the truck just sitting there in the dark, seemingly empty?

Moments later, I found out as I saw the bus approaching and stepped out of my car to be greeted by a loud buzzing noise. In less than a minute, a man in a hooded sweatshirt had cut through the trunk of what looked like a 20-year-old beautifully compact tree, fully in bloom.

Twenty years gone. In less than a minute. And when I turned around to catch the name of the company on the truck, it too was gone. A gorgeous tree, laying on the ground, the hit man gone within a minute. And all at 6:10 in the morning, when the parking area would have been quiet except for the three of us who boarded a bus to New York.

“A sin,” one of my fellow passengers said. I glared, anger building, wondering what to do. Miss my bus to chase the truck to confront the guy with the electric saw and ask for a permit? In the split second I had to decide, I thought that the damage was done, the tree was dead and, anyway, what was my complaining going to do?

After all, the tree sat in a small slice of greenery in the middle of a large parking area. What does it matter to have a parking area look, well, more like a parking area? It wasn't in a park or anything. But still, trees should always matter. And rather than have it cut in two, couldn't the owner have moved it to another spot on his property? Offered it for free to someone who wanted to have it moved?

I am curious. I want to find out who owned the land on which the tree sat and who, if anyone, ordered it to be beheaded in the dawn? I’m going to circulate this blog around town and see what I can find. If I can get to the bottom of this hit on nature, I’ll report back.

Oh yes. I live in New Hope, Pennsylvania. The tree was in a large retail area called Logan Square that sits on Lower York Road and is anchored by a Giant supermarket. Across the street from the deceased tree is the UPS Store where we buy our tickets for the Transbridge daily bus service to New York.

I called my husband Tim this morning from the bus and asked him to drive over to the parking lot to take the picture of the victim. Unfortunately by the time he went over 45 minutes later, the tree was gone; only a trail of blooms and dirt remained.

Best of Green! NRDC Chosen "Best Political Watchdog" by TreeHugger!

2010-04-08T21:55:45Z

Phil Gutis, Director of Communications, New York City

On behalf of all of NRDC -- our Board, our Members, supporters and activists and, of course, our staff -- a huge thank you to the editors and readers of TreeHugger. This afternoon, the NRDC family learned that NRDC was chosen as the “Best Political Watchdog” as part of TreeHugger's annual Best of Green competition.

Particularly gratifying was that NRDC was the choice of both the TreeHugger editors and its readers. Also gratifying were the very nice words that accompanied the selection:

The green movement equally needs people storming the barricades and walking the halls of power and working the lobbies in Washington, and there is no better example of doing the latter successfully than the NRDC. As environmental crusader and friend-of-TreeHugger Ed Begley Jr put it, "NRDC has been our tireless architects of change for decades. No one group does more for the environment than them."

What more could we say?

Plastic Bags: Time for a Confession

2010-04-05T13:56:52Z

Phil Gutis, Director of Communications, New York City

As we left the supermarket Friday evening, we saw a family of five lugging their groceries to the parking lot. Each family member was carrying a reusable bag; one young man had an unbagged jug of cider. And there we stood with our cartfull of plastic bags. Redfaced with embarassment and happy that I wasn't wearing my NRDC vest, I immediately told Tim that we needed to do a better job about remembering the reusable bags.

Its not like we haven't purchased many of the reusable bags. We even keep some in the car!

There's just some sort of a mental block. I always always always forget about the reusables until I start to bag. By then it is even too late to run out to the car without inconviencing the others in line.

Maybe I need a bit of a financial push. Perhaps I'd remember the bags if Pennsylvania were to institute a 5 cent tax like DC did earlier this year. According to Treehugger, plastic bag use in DC dropped by 22 million in one month. In its report, The Washington Post says:

In its first assessment of how the new law is working, the D.C. Office of Tax and Revenue estimated that food and grocery establishments gave out about 3 million bags in January. Before the bag tax took effect Jan. 1, the Office of the Chief Financial Officer had said that about 22.5 million bags were being issued each month in 2009.

The 3 million bags that were used raised $150,000 for cleanup of the Anacostia River, a significantly lower sum than had been projected but still a nice boost for a very polluted river.

As with everything else, we're fanatical about recycling the plastic bags (and apparently we're not alone; recycling of plastic bags has been increasing). But I recognize that it is best not to use at all.

And we will do better!

The First Touch at Laguna San Ignacio

2010-03-21T13:41:55Z

Phil Gutis, Director of Communications, New York City

It was later than usual when we set off this afternoon for our second trip onto the lagoon. A world-renown marine scientist, Bruce Mate from the Marine Mammal Institute at Oregon State University, was on a boat nearby and he arrived for lunch and conversation with my colleague Joel Reynolds, himself world-renown in whaling circles for his work in saving Laguna San Ignacio and from challenging the Navy’s use of sonar.

Mate specializes in tagging whales with GPS devices that can track their migratory patterns and other activities. He showed us data from one of his latest studies that he believes demonstrates that sperm whales work together in hunting for squid, apparently their favorite food. He described a complicated dance among three male whales to encircle and ultimately consume a school of squid.

After talking for two hours, Bruce and his wife needed to get back to their boat and we prepared for our second visit to the lagoon. This time we stayed closer to camp and within 15 minutes we were surrounded by whales, whales that were clearly friendlies who wanted to interact. The first whale I touched was approximately 35 feet long. It seemed to be unattached, meaning that it could be a male or a female that had not conceived this cycle.

When it did bring itself to the side of our boat, most everyone on board got a stroke. I petted its head, rubbing across the barnacles and touching some smooth rubbery skin. I wasn’t sure what to make of my first experience. When asked how I felt, my only answer was that I had process it for a while. When presented with something so unusual, so unexpected, so unnatural, you have to think a bit.

(While you pause to think, take a look at the following video. It isn't the best but holding a Flip camera and touching a whale isn't the easiest thing in the world to do! But stay with it and you'll see an astounding shot of a farewell gesture. And, yes, I'm the one saying "oh my, oh my." And then read on for a wonderful spyhop and then we get our first visit by a friendly baby.)

Within ten minutes, the time for thinking time was clearly over. After an astounding close spyhop, a baby whale floated over to our boat and within seconds its head was coming ever closer. Suddenly I stroked the head of a baby whale as the mother watched nearby (and I got it all on film...see below for some beautiful shots of the baby).

No process needed. For many (most?) people, life is inalterably changed at the moment you feel the soft skin of the baby of any species. Then add the notion that the baby weighs a few tons and spends the vast majority of its time diving deep under water, far from any human interaction.

My husband Tim cried when I showed him the video clip of the baby. I didn't cry when it happened but I did change. And dramatically so. Who wouldn't?

***

I recently returned from a five-day trip to Mexico to visit the site of one of NRDC's greatest wildlife victories. Over the next week or so, I'll be writing about the journey. Up first was Fear, Awe and Anticipation. Then I chronicled my first whale watch in the Friendlies at Laguna San Ignacio. Future blogs will focus on the history of NRDC's battle to save the lagoon, birding in the mangroves, spying an octopus in the tidal flats and maybe more!

The "Friendlies" at Laguna San Ignacio

2010-03-17T01:59:15Z

Phil Gutis, Director of Communications, New York City

Ten percent of the whales that come to Laguna San Ignacio are believed to be “friendly,” to seek the company of humans.

Finding them in this big lagoon is not guaranteed.

As we set off on our first boat trip this morning our guide Jim urged us to have no expectations, an almost impossible exhortation given everything that I’ve read and heard since joining NRDC almost five years ago. But I tried to keep the anticipation in check, thinking that at worse I’d spend an hour or two relaxing in the sun.

As it turned out, we found no friendlies this morning. The closest a whale came to our boat was probably about 12 feet or so. So no touches or kisses.

But did I mention that whales came within 12 feet of our boat?!? And that mothers and calves frolicked together, rising out of the sea with little or no advance notice. We saw spyhopping, some distant breaching and, oh yes, whales came within 12 feet of our boat.

Even though these whales did not choose to come close enough to touch, I clearly got the sense that we were part of something bigger than ourselves. The lagoon is, as I’ve mentioned, quite large and the whales are quite sensitive to sound.

In other words, those whales had plenty of opportunities to avoid us. Yet they chose to swim nearby with their babies. Curiousity? Education? Communication?

We’ll never know.

***

I've just returned from a five-day trip to Mexico to visit the site of one of NRDC's greatest wildlife victories. Over the next week or so, I'll be writing about the journey. Yesterday's entry was Fear, Awe and Anticipation. Tomorrow's entry (with photos/video) is called "I Have To Process This."

Fear, Awe and Anticipation

2010-03-15T14:00:00Z

Phil Gutis, Director of Communications, New York City

Fear. That’s the only way to describe the emotion that quickly flashed through my mind when we spotted our first gray whale. We were flying over Laguna San Ignacio on approach to the camp and suddenly there it was. I only had a fleeting glimpse but it was vast. Unbelievably huge.

Scary. But then we spotted a baby. Again only the most fleeting of glances from high above the lagoon but suddenly the fear turned to awe. I don’t know what shifted the emotion, but there it was. Fear to awe in a millisecond. And then awe turned to incredible anticipation, anticipation that tomorrow we would go out on tiny little boats and try to interact with these awesome creatures.

But first a perfect landing on a strip of dirt marked by old tires. A short but bumpy ride in a van and then an exhilarating (and very wet) ride in a boat to our camp. A quick orientation around a low-impact facility (solar rules!), a quick but beautiful sunset and some chile rellenos, a chunk of cake in celebration of camp leader Jose Luis's birthday.

And then the stars. How does a city boy describe the indescribable vastness of the unpolluted night sky? I’ve only seen it once before, lying on the beach at Cape May Point in New Jersey many decades ago. We watched for hours then, fascinated by the endless sea of light.

This night I went to sleep under the same endless sea of light, wondering how we would actually find whales in the endless sea.

***

I've just returned from a five-day trip to Mexico to visit the site of one of NRDC's greatest wildlife victories. Over the next week or so, I'll be writing about the journey. Tomorrow's entry (with photos and video) is called "The Friendlies."

An Orangutan and a Dog ...

2010-02-27T15:00:00Z

Phil Gutis, Director of Communications, New York City

Next month, I'll be traveling to Mexico for a visit to Laguna San Ignacio, a birthing ground for the gray whale that almost became a salt factory. I'm beyond giddy at the idea of looking these vast creatures in the eye and watching as they frolic with their babies and will certainly write about my experiences as soon as I return to the land of Internet access.

A video forwarded by a colleague today made me think of my upcoming trip with even more wonder. In the short piece, an orangutan and a hound meet and -- how can I say this without sounding stupid? -- seem to fall in love. (Okay, I can't say it without sounding over the top!)

But watch the video. See what you think of the hound-orangutan relationship. Can there be any doubt that these two very different critters establish a deep bond, a bond that seems utterly unimaginable.

NRDC has long worked to strengthen the essential connection between humans and other forms of life. What could prove that need more than the story of an orangutan and hound who meet and become best of friends?

Unchopping a Tree: Videos from Maya Lin

2009-12-11T20:09:58Z

Phil Gutis, Director of Communications, New York City

NRDC Trustee Maya Lin has a remarkable mind. The art and memorials that she's created have moved millions of people and left many of them speechless with emotion.

This afternoon CNN will air a story about one of her newest projects, a memorial titled What is Missing, which will be launched in several phases over the next several years. The CNN story this afternoon will preview a new video called "What is Missing: Unchopping a Tree," which will have its unveiling at the Copenhagen climate conference next week. It's aim is to stop the rapid deforestation of the planet.

You can see the video here:

Maya says that What is Missing will be her last memorial. It aims to motivate us about climate change and pollution in the way that only Maya can. You can watch the dedication ceremony for What is Missing at the California Academy of Science here:

We're proud to have Maya as an NRDC Trustee and I personally have tremendously enjoyed getting to know her and to see her mind at work as she tackles some of the world's most difficult issues.

Let us know what you think of her latest work in the comments section below. No promises, but I bet I can get her to respond to some of your thoughts or questions.

Liquidity Traps and Clunkers

2009-08-06T03:30:11Z

Phil Gutis, Director of Communications, New York City

Late last month, we moved fast and became one of the hundreds of thousands of Americans who trashed a clunker as part of the government's Cash for Clunkers program. Thanks to the government subsidy, we received more than $4,500 for our 1998 Ford Explorer, well more than the $1,000 we would have received without the stimulus program. And we may have as much as doubled our gas mileage with our new Chevy HHR (pictured below with Max, who apparently likes his new cat toy.)

Increased fuel efficiency. Added economic stimulus. All of that I knew. What I didn't know until reading this week's Economist is that by taking advantage of the government program we may have helped burst what John Maynard Keynes called the "liquidity trap."

According to his theory, consumers may become so worried about the economy that they cling to as much liquid wealth as possible, cutting their spending sharply and thereby triggering precisely the slump they feared.

The Economist endorses the Cash for Clunkers program and says it is a piece of stimulus well worth its salt from an economic perspective. Less clear, the article says, are the environmental benefits of the program, but on this question let's look at the numbers (and related commentary) released by the Department of Transportation earlier this week:

Cash for Clunkers transactions are generating a 61 percent increase in vehicle fuel economy. The average fuel economy of new vehicles purchased under the program is 25.4 MPG, and the average fuel economy of trade-ins is 15.8 MPG. The average increase in fuel economy is 9.6 MPG, or a 61 percent improvement.

Thus far, 83 percent of trade-ins under the program are trucks, and 60 percent of new vehicle purchases are cars. The program is working far better than anyone anticipated at moving consumers out of old, dirty trucks and SUVs and into new more fuel-efficient cars.

Cars purchased under the program are, on average, 18 percent above the average fuel economy of all new cars currently available, and 63 percent above the average fuel economy of cars that were traded in. This means the program is raising the average fuel economy of the fleet, while getting the dirtiest and most polluting vehicles off the road.

We also paid almost $700 in sales tax on the new car. Multiply that by hundreds of thousands and perhaps millions of car buyers (if the Cash for Clunkers program receives new funding) and the cash infusion into horribly depleted state and local budgets suddenly becomes another powerful argument for the program.

The Economist ends its article by quoting NRDC friend Jack Hidary of SmartTransportation.org, who notes that "car dealers are now advertising the 'total cost of ownership' of vehicles, not just the purchase price, drawing the attention of consumers to differences in fuel efficiency between vehicles and estimating how much it would cost to fill them up with gas each year."

Busting the liquidity trap. Increasing the fuel efficiency of the national auto fleet. And changing the way that Americans look at the lifetime cost of their cars. Where's the downside?

Clunkermania Continues

2009-07-31T15:28:47Z

Phil Gutis, Director of Communications, New York City

It felt good, I'll admit, to see the headline on The New York Times website last night. Apparently the $1 billion fund Congress had provided for the Cash for Clunkers program was almost exhausted. In less than a week, more than 250,000 people had traded in their old cars for newer models.

I was pleased, of course, because we were among those who rushed to a local dealership as soon as the Obama Administration finalized the rules for the program. As I wrote yesterday, we traded in a 1999 Ford Explorer that my husband had inherited for a new Chevy HHR. We qualified for a $4,500 benefit plus $165 additional for the value of the recyclable materials in the old car.

We also went from a vehicle that, at best, got 16 miles to the gallon to one that does at least 30 and perhaps even as much as 36 miles to the gallon on the highway.

In the Times story about the program, Congressman Ed Markey, an environmental hero who has been leading efforts to adopt energy and climate legislation, said participants in the Cash For Clunkers program are getting a 69 percent improvement in fuel economy, with the trade-ins being mostly sport utility vehicles, trucks and vans with over 100,000 miles, being replaced with new passenger cars.

“Cash for Clunkers may have run out of cash, but America’s consumers haven’t run out of clunkers,” Markey told the Times, adding that the program should be extended to cover 1 million vehicles, about four times the number covered so far.

In the same story, Senators Dianne Feinstein, a Democrat from California, and Susan Collins, a Republican of Maine, were quoted as saying that they will insist that any extension of the program require even high minimum fuel economy improvement and that provisions be made for lower-income buyers to trade clunkers for more efficient used cars. Those would be welcome improvements to the program.

All of this is great news for the economy and the planet. As the Cash for Clunkers program demonstrates, connecting economic progress with environmental well-being is what works. Call me crazy, but I believe that's the line of argument that will ultimately convince Congress to adopt clean energy climate legislation this fall.

A Car Named Fred

2009-07-30T15:18:39Z

Phil Gutis, Director of Communications, New York City

More than a year ago, I came out of the closet. (No, not that one. I’ve been out of that closet for decades.) I came out as an owner of a SUV, a hulking 1998 Ford Explorer that my husband inherited years ago.

In my confession, I said that we’d had it, that rising gas prices and embarrassment meant that the Explorer had to go. With an average fuel efficiency rating of 16 miles per gallon, the Explorer was costing us a fortune and doing nothing good for the planet either.

Well, I’m embarrassed again to admit that it took more than a year -- and a hefty incentive from the government in the form of the Cash for Clunkers program – but last night we picked up our new more fuel-efficient car. And while a year ago, I said I would never consider buying an American car because I was so angry at Detroit, we ended up buying American.

After much agonizing, we ended up with the modern-day equivalent of a station wagon: a Chevy HHR in a sparkly royal blue. We promptly named it Fred.

How did we end up with an HHR? We thought about buying a second Civic hybrid or even buying a new Toyota Prius. But with our family of 8 (two humans, five dogs and a confused cat) and seemingly endless home renovations, we decided that we needed more space than either of those cars would provide.

And of the station wagon type vehicles, the HHR does fairly well. Twenty eight average city and 32 average highway. This car is unlikely to spend much time in a city so I’m thinking that our mileage will be much closer – and hopefully higher – than the 32 average.

I would have liked to do better mileage and emissions wise, but doubling what we were getting isn’t bad. And we’re going to do our darndest to keep this car in good shape so that if there is a technological breakthrough, we’ll be able to trade it in and perhaps double the mileage again.

As for the Explorer, it is on its way to be shredded or compacted. We did end up getting $4,500 from the government plus another $165 as compensation for the money the dealership is likely to make on selling some of the recyclable pieces of the Explorer.

I’ve never enjoyed the process of buying a car; this year it seemed even worse. The information on fuel rankings and global warming pollution is confusing and hard to find. American manufacturers still lag way behind what’s possible; foreign-made cars often seemed shoddy or, alternatively, way too luxurious and pricey.

Even the clunker program – which, for us, did lead to a bonus of $3,500 off our car because the Ford was only worth about $1,000 in trade in – led to grumpiness at the dealership. (Apparently there were 16 pages of forms that needed to be filled out for each clunker.)

But it is over for now. Since I am, at heart, an optimist, I have confidence that the next time will be easier to do the right thing. Even with the compromises we had to make, I can’t let myself forget that we did make progress. Slow progress, yes, but progress nonetheless.

Here's an Offer to Refuse

2009-07-20T16:39:28Z

Phil Gutis, Director of Communications, New York City

During last year's election campaign, I often turned to FiveThirtyEight.com and its lead blogger Nate Silver for the best analysis of the electoral numbers and polling trends. Since then, I've seen Nate repeatedly on various MSNBC shows and he continues to impress me with his ability to clarify the meaning of often-slippery statistics (and his cool glasses).

I saw a new post from Nate today in which he takes on the climate skeptics and suggests they put their money where their big mouths are. He says he is way tired of the denier rhetoric and wonders "when pointing out the fact that it might be cool or rainy in your hometown one afternoon became subject for worthwhile blog material," but notes that we have started to see such ridiculousness "on certain conservative blogs, probably led by the example of Matt Drudge."

"Therefore," he says, "because I'd like to see more accountability on all sides of this debate and because I'm tired of people who don't understand statistics and because I'd like to make some money, I issue the following challenge:"

1. For each day that the high temperature in your hometown is at least 1 degree Fahrenheit above average, as listed by Weather Underground, you owe me $25. For each day that it is at least 1 degree Fahrenheit below average, I owe you $25.
2. The challenge proceeds in monthly intervals, with the first month being August. At the end of each month, we'll tally up the winning and losing days and the loser writes the winner a check for the balance.
3. The challenge automatically rolls over to the next month until/unless: (i) one party informs the other by the 20th of the previous month that he would like to discontinue the challenge (that is, if you want to discontinue the challenge for September, you'd have to tell me this by August 20th), or (ii) the losing party has failed to pay the winning party in a timely fashion, in which case the challenge may be canceled at the sole discretion of the winning party.

Shockingly enough, Nate hasn't received any takers. The offer is open through the end of the day today, however, so perhaps a denier or two will be willing to put up ... or perhaps they will just shut up?

What Are the Whales Telling Us?

2009-07-12T22:53:04Z

Phil Gutis, Director of Communications, New York City

I am determined. Next winter, Tim and I will travel to Baja California and Laguna San Ignacio to witness for ourselves a ritual almost too impossible to believe: mother whales encouraging their newborns to interact with humans. NRDC preserved the laguna from development as a salt factory in 2000 and since then my colleagues have reported consistently amazing journeys and opportunities to go eye-to-eye with a whale.

In the New York Times magazine today, journalist Charles Siebert authored a lengthy report on the mysteries of whales. He describes his first trip to view the gray whales at Laguna San Ignacio and writes:

The baby gray glided up the boat's edge, and then the whole of his long, hornbilled-shaped head was rising up out of the water directly beside me, a huge ovoid eye slowly opening to take me in. I'd never felt so beheld in my life.

In his article -- What Are the Whales Trying to Tell Us? -- Siebert asks a marine mammal behavioralist named Toni Frohoff if perhaps the whale interaction at the laguna is somehow a symbolic act of forgiveness for human sins against the species. She replies:

There are reasons why something like forgiveness is a possiblity. And even if it's not that exactly, I believe it's something. That there's something very potent occurring here from a behavorial and a biological perspective. I'd put my career on the line and challenge anybody to say that these whales are not actively soliciting and engaging in a form of communication with humans, both through eye contact and tactile interaction and perhaps acoustically in ways that we have not yet determined.

If indeed the whales are offering us forgiveness, they are a munificent bunch. For while whale hunting is thankfully no longer as common, we continue to torment whales and other ocean creatures with horrific sound in the form of sonar and other human-caused ocean noise.

Siebert credits NRDC with leading a long fight against sonar and notes that one of our legal challenges even made it to the Supreme Court last year. The case, United States Navy v. NRDC, resulted in unfortunate ruling on the facts but Siebert says the "majority's verdict somehow seemed incidental to the greater, tacit victory for environmentalists of having gotten the nation's highest court to even consider the well-being of whales in the context of a debate about national security, something that would have been unthinkable not so very long ago."

Siebert is correct. The movement to protect whales and other ocean critters has come far but much still needs to be done. Please take a moment to watch Lethal Sounds, NRDC's video narrated by Pierce Brosnan on sonar and other human ocean noise, and to take action to further protect the whales.

For while no one knows exactly what the whales are trying to tell us, it is probably safe to say that a vast majority of us hope they are around for a great deal longer to keep trying.