Kleptoparasitic Tendencies
At first sight of the sperm whales, the fishermen all cringe,
for these felons of the ocean loiter on the fringe,
and when they hear the motors hauling in the lines,
each poacher dives to steal the fish, hook after hook, and dines.
The perils of the ocean include gale-force wind and rain,
but this larceny of sperm whales is the larger pain.
To see sperm whales targeting fishing boats for an easy meal, go HERE.
Prompt words for the day are fringe, rain, first, felon and fish.
lifelessons - a blog by Judy Dykstra-Brown 
Great poem, but bad thoughts come to my mind…. Those fishermen have been raping those waters to the point where many of the fish are in such short supply that we now mostly must have fish farms to keep up with the supply. The statement “Sperm whales, the ocean’s largest PREDATORS, have been targeting the boats of black cod fishermen and SWIPING their catch off their lines. This just did not sit well with me. This somehow reminds me of how we blamed those awful “Indians”, when they killed a “white Man” when he was only wanting to look for gold in the Black Hills~! So they tried their best to obliterate the Red Man. Yes the fishermen have sonar and other fine devices which give them the edge, and I have read that they do shoot smaller animals that “STEAL” the very food that wildlife depends on to live. Turn about is fair play~!!; what do you say~? Now back to my coffee, and maybe another stanza from you about that situation.
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No need.. you’ve said it, Sam…
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My thoughts ran along the same lines as Sam’s. Sympathies for the fishermen who’ve spend so much effort, but the ocean’s have been harvested mercilessly. Our cod fishing industry’s pretty well extinct because of big commercial foreign vessels scooping up huge schools of fish off-shore.
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Yes, I know that. This poem was meant tongue-in-cheek and not as a protest against whales. It might be fun for you and Sam to write an answering poem from the point of view of the whales. I’ll do a link to it on my blog.
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Good use of all the prompts Judy.
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Thanks, Sadje.
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You’re welcome! I did get your humorous twist on the story.
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A part of me wants to say “good for the whales!” But it would seem that the fishermen know enough about what is happening to be able to counter it with sonar of their own (or sonar interruptors) so the whales could not locate the fish so easily. Perhaps man is not at the top of the food chain as we had previously thought!
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I think when we go into their territory we play by their rules and I sorta love that the whales have sort of discovered their own super market of fish–just pick them off the shelves/hooks.
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Exactly! Good for the whales for not letting us violate those rules!
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Any chance of a free meal has got to be good I’m the same myself!
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As long as they don’t shoot the whales. This poor earth has taken quite enough abuse from us already.
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Agreed.
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What a creative use of the prompts. I was unaware of this happening, but find it true justice. After all the harm we’ve caused these beautiful, intelligent beings, now they can just say, “Oh waiter! I’ll have another serving of black cod, please.”
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Ha.. I agree.
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