In fact, of all the conferences I have attended over the years on the subject of whales and dolphins, this one is by far the most positive, the most all-inclusive, the most hawkeyed to a future world of friendly but increasingly sparse cetaceans. The credit for all this must be given to the sponsoring organization, ICERC, growing fast, now with offices in Australia, Tokyo, Aukland, and Brussels.
Most conferences provide a "vertical" focus for specific interest groups. Imagine allegorically, three meeting halls built next to one another in some huge urban conference center. In the first hall, five hundred marine biologists ponder the meaning of some research on the spectral analysis of minke whale blubber being used to determine the genetic identities of specific threatened populations off the coast of Norway. In the hall next door, five hundred envirnmentalists excoriate the Norwegian whaling fleet for continuing to kill minke whales. In the third hall, five hundred plain-folks whale lovers chant together in the hope of protecting minke whales and perhaps attempt to channel some benign whale energy right out of the North Atlantic and into the hearts of those in attendance.
The three different groups of people network in isolation from one another. They hold no group meetings. No mutual press conferences. Some members of all three groups view the others focus as missing the point of what is truly important about whales. A minority go so far as to deny the validity of the other conferees point of view.
As this absurd example is meant to demonstrate, the vertical context upholds a world of specialists. Ive been there, seen it, done it, wondered why it has to be. And in so many ways, conferences which are meant to bring people together, as often as not keep people who hold key pieces of a larger puzzle from talking to one another by reinforcing the artificial position that they have nothing in common. It achieves this sleight of hand by redefining the concept of the common interest to accentuate all that is special with their specific field of interest while neutralizing all that is universal.
The true need remains. In this case, we all need to work extra hard to build bridges to connect better with one together, and to create processes and forums that allow for a sharing of information. Let us acknowledge mutual passions across platforms. Despite egos, positions, professions.
I suppose this harangue holds just as well for knitting conferences and marketing conferences as it does for whale conferences. The first International conference that attempted to bridge the many disciplines that compose cetacean research was called WhalesAlive, produced by The Connecticut Cetacean Society, with the blessing of the International Whaling Commission. Philosophers, marine biologists, environmentalists, politicians all were given equal time at the podium. The focus of that conference was information across fields. There was a wonderful air of various professions sniffing keenly at one another for three days. Those who attended the original viewed it as a healthy novelty, an entertaining and provocative interlude to the more substantial business of more specialized conferences.
Unfortunately, this ecumenical focus proved to be a one-time affair, not to be confused with the Whalesalive conference held every year in Hawaii and which, despite the name, is much more of a manly and professional affair. The Hawaiian conference does not strive hard enough to achieve the unifying, networking spirit that defined its namesake.
The task of bringing disparate specialties together is today manfested best by ICERC a group that brings a much more gentle and perhaps feminine energy to the task. The reason is straightforward enough: ICERCs focus is community rather than information. In other words, how everyone relates to one another always seems to receive more attention than what anyone in particular has to say. I have always believed that most of the presenters end up saying the same thing on stage that they say at their other conferences. But the audience hears it differently because of the juxtapositions with other presenters talking totally different subjects. The whole is much greaterand perhaps more poeticthan the sum of its parts.
There is, of course, one unifying subject true to all the the presenters, and I have tried, in the next sentence, to hang a name on this subject once and for all: ICERC brings together all the myriad individuals and fields of endeavor that palpate at the cusp where human beings meet cetaceans.
Synergy reigned at the Brussels conference. Scientists not only presented their papers on the same stage as environmentalists, artists, mystics, and business people, they often spoke together in a symposium format, complete with a moderator or a host versed in the threads that tie all these specialities together.
Whalewatching guides, whale publicists, and computer experts discussed ways the internet is spreading the news about the economics of living, breathing whales, while providing new hi-tech ammo against the dying monster of whaling.
Other discussions were less linear, more metaphorical. One moderated discussion brought together Jacques Mayol, who holds the world free-diving record, with Michel Odent, a medical doctor who delivers births underwater, and Andre von Elysabeth, a yogi master of pranayama breathing. How does it relate to dolphins? Actually, it provoked a nearly mythical discussion about why human beings turn to the cetaceans in search of answers to any question, including questions about health and power.
The best discussion of the conference honed in on the current rush to use dolphin photos in so much advertising. One speaker, Patrice van Eersel commented at length that, whereas companies have traditionally used photos of twenty year old females to sell cars and watches and chocolates, suddenly dolphins are being used to sell these products. The walls of the Tokyo subway system have so many cetacean pictures selling computers and magazines that it looks like the gift shop at an aquarium.
Why dolphins? You mean you dont already know the answer? Its friendliness, vitality, perfection of form. That ineluctable dolphin smile.
The girls worked hard on their presentation which eventually included a slide show and several audio samples of communication with orcas. At the conference, they were the youngest presenters on the program; speaking to seven hundred people just before John Lilly who was the oldest presenter. It was an intriguing juxtaposition of speakers that completely engaged the audience.
ICs other presentation was a performance entitled The Wild Heart, which included the Seattle-based dancer Christian Swenson, a Dutch didgeridoo player, Rasta Robert, and myself. Our show comprised elements of mime, dance, live music, ceremony, and even lecture, in an attempt to demonstrate what it actually means to communicate with another species in the wild. The show was also presented at the National Theatre in Helsinki.
We plan to take The Wild Heart on a tour of Japan early next year.
copyright, 1996, Jim Nollman
Interspecies Communication Inc. for Pacific