Never Look Back

  

A friend of mine named Jim recently had an interesting experience while vacationing at the Oregon Coast. Debris from the Japanese tsunami continues to make its way across the ocean and all sorts of items float ashore. Jim tells me he’s seen plastic bottles with Japanese labels, tires and sports equipment. But early one morning on an isolated beach he recently spotted something else on the sand, something struggling.

      

Jim approached and saw a large dolphin, its tail tangled in a heavy nylon fishing net. Jim pulled out his pocket knife and cut away the net, but when finished the tide was out, leaving the dolphin stranded on the beach. No one else was around to help but an undeterred Jim grabbed the dolphin by the tail and dragged it into the surf. Did I mention Jim is eighty-six?

      

The dolphin’s ordeal had weakened it, but after a few minutes its strength returned and the creature, with Jim’s help, pushed itself into a wave and soon disappeared. Jim watched until he spotted the dolphin a hundred yards from shore, headed out to sea. I’ve read accounts of people rushing to the aid of stranded pilot whales or seals or dolphins.  I love animals, and I’ve imagined myself dashing to their rescue.

      

When Jim related his encounter with the dolphin I was impressed and imagined a Free Willy moment. I asked, “When you cut it free from the net and dragged it into the water, did the dolphin look back before it swam away?”

      

“You mean like a thank you?” Jim asked.

      

“Yeah. I mean you did save its life.”

     

 Jim smiled. “No, it didn’t look back, thank God!”

      

I must have shown my confusion.

      

“I’ve saved quite a few animals in my lifetime,” Jim explained, “and I’ve learned a thing or two over the years. Such as: the best outcome you can expect when you restore and release an animal into the wild is that it charge back into its environment without looking back. This is a good sign that it isn’t acclimated to humans and has a good chance of surviving.”

      

Hearing this, I felt foolish. I would have wanted Flipper to look back, maybe even wink at me. Damn Hollywood!


Submitted to the great Guys at Dude Write.