At the East Gate crossover on Tybee Island, residents of Tybee Island gathered with Chantal Audran, director of the Tybee Island Marine Science Center and Hermina Glass-Hill, for an opening ceremony for whale week.
Whale Week, which is in its sixth year, is a week full of events to raise awareness and "build a corridor of consciousness" to protect and honor the endangered North Atlantic Right Whales' oceans. The beginning of December marks the season for these whales to come home to Georgia's coasts to give birth to their newborns.
The North Atlantic Right Whales are one of the most endangered large marine mammals on the planet, with less than 350 of them remaining, Hill said.
"They are being threatened by entanglement and fishing line and strikes from large vessels, small vessels," Glass-Hill said. "Whales are mostly endangered by ship strike and we have the busiest port in the country, between Savannah, Charleston and Brunswick. Between all three these whales are critically endangered."
Glass-Hill, who is also volunteer director of whale week, said that she thought that they should do something to send out positive vibrations, positive messages and to invite the public to become whale advocates.
"[They] can call our senators and tell them that Georgians really care about this beautiful endangered whale that's coming to our part of the Atlantic ocean to give birth," Glass-Hill said.
In the ceremony, Audran of the Otoe-Missouria Tribe, gave a blessing with a Ute prayer called, "Earth, Teach Me." Audran ended by sharing how the right whale can teach lessons about compassion and resilience.
"This was kind of to give us a moment of mindfulness before we go into the week, and to set some intentions," Audran said. "We're going into this week of education and conservation for an animal that needs our help."
Credit: Destini Ambus
Credit: Destini Ambus
Glass-Hill also preformed an African libation, honoring the memories of those who had passed. Before the ceremony Audran handed residents pieces of paper with the names of right whales that have died by either ship strike or entanglement. After residents said the names of their deceased loved ones, they also said the names of the deceased whales.
Lidea Clever, a local 9-year-old conservationist, also spoke, saying that the solution to saving the endangered whales was as simple as ships slowing down.
"If the ships slow down to 11.5 miles per hour, these whales stand a chance of surviving if there's a collision," Glass-Hill said.
More events for this week can be found here.
Destini Ambus is the general assignment reporter for Chatham County municipalities for the Savannah Morning News. You can reach her at dambus@gannett.com
This article originally appeared on Savannah Morning News: ‘Build a corridor of consciousness:’ Whale Week on Tybee Island honors endangered whales
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