D.A. DUFFUS
 

Dave Duffus completed his doctoral studies in 1988 on the then brand new tourism adventure, whale-watching in the Pacific Northwest. He now directs the Whale Research Lab housed in the Department of Geography at the University of Victoria where he is an Associate Professor. The Whale Research Lab graduate student research programs span topics such as gray whale ecology and management, First Nations culture and marine wildlife, whale watching management, dugong populations and conservation in the Andaman Sea, and humpback whale maternal behavior in southeast Alaska. Duffus credits a procession of excellent graduate students, assistants, friends, and colleagues with keeping him involved in a variety of human responses to fascinating seascapes and the intricate nuances of ecology. When not immersed in marine research, Duffus' interest turns to the historical ecology and culture of western North America.

ABSTRACT

FROM PRAYER TO PARTY BOATS: THE ABSURD JOURNEY OF WHALES IN HUMAN CONSCIOUSNESS... Can we imagine ourselves from a whale's point of view? For only the most slender fraction of their evolutionary history, whales have encountered an unusual co-habitant of their blue planet. In that short time, humanity has grown from an occasional noise and thrashing about on the surface boundary to a ruthless predator and now a multifaceted neighbor, occasionally plunderer, occasionally lover (figuratively speaking). If whales have the capacity and/or desire to contemplate the meaning of humanity, it must be apparent we are divided in time and space into different and unpredictable groups. We name the collected characteristics of these groups to a culture. Cultures borrow, reconfigure, and rarely generate new ideals and use them to buffer our interaction with the natural world. Yet each culture is centric in both time and space: each is correct in its approach to nature. One culmination of this is a sometimes sad, and sometimes comical relationship between whales and humans. The comedic aspects end when we consider how many of us there are, how much we extend our footprint into the whales' world, and how little ethical authority exists in our current human state. In this presentation I will propose that the post-modern world offers few avenues for moderating human impact on cetaceans. We will need to dig into our past and look toward the future simultaneously, and invoke the range of creative spirit from cosmology to molecular science to bend our pathways toward long term co-existence. I question whether we have the capacity to address such a task.