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Weeping whales: Stillborn humpback whale grieving documented

243 points · 192 comments · wglb

  1. georgemcbay · · focus · HN ↗
    Blows my mind that so many people just have this hardened internalized idea that we're somehow significantly different than any other animal.

    Sure, we've got them beat on language and planning, but we're currently in the process of being passed up on both those fronts by multi-dimensional arrays of floating point numbers sitting inside of sand. So, like, how special is that then, really?

    1. alpineman · · focus · HN ↗
      Cows also grieve their young yet we keep them permanently (forcibly) impregnated and take their young away to be slaughtered every few months just so we can drink their breast milk in our coffee. I can’t take seriously people who get emotional over stories like this then eat dairy products.
      1. annex-winged-cr · · focus · HN ↗
        I once heard someone claim that we've somehow completely "bred away" any maternal instincts from dairy cows. So it's perfectly okay to forcibly separate them from their calves.

        It's crazy to hear the various bizzare ways people use to try to justify and cope with their habits.

        1. Aromasin · · focus · HN ↗
          Man, I remember carrying a veal calf in a wheelbarrow away from it's grieving mother (who ended up distressed for days) when I was 16 doing some Summer farm work. It messed me up for weeks, and I still somehow went back to drinking dairy. Thankfully I've sworn off all animal products now, but the knowing cruelty of it I suppressed for a long time.
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