Guardians

This post is by Steven Rumbelow.

A Shaman once told me that whales are telepathic and that they demonstrate it all the time. He showed me ‘proof’ when he went to visit a whale that was trapped in an estuary in California. A number of people had gathered for days trying to get the whale to return to the safety of the open sea. Walking Nightbear drummed, said a prayer and then communed telepathically with the whale, after which the whale promptly turned around and swam back to the sea. Walking Nightbear (whom I jokingly referred to as Walking Nightmare whenever I could) said the whale had come to try to communicate with a serial killer who was jailed temporarily in the nearby Sacramento holding prison, on his way to death row.

Walking Nightbear delivered the compassionate message in person later that week to Richard Ramirez, ‘The Night Stalker’. Evidently, the whale was communicating that Ramirez had misunderstood some native teachings that Ramirez had decided was inspiring him to punish the non-native population. Walking Nightbear asserted the whale was trying to set the killer straight.

Many people refer to the uncanny ability of whales to communicate and sometimes even assist sailors in trouble. I have a personal account, albeit less dramatic, that demonstrated a great deal to me about these wonderful giant mammals who seem to exhibit gentle spirituality at every turn.

I was taking some much needed R&R on the forgotten Mexican coast of central Baja. One afternoon my girlfriend and I set out to do some fishing in a small boat during siesta. We trawled for a bit with lures and then sat for an hour or so being gently tossed by the waves that lapped the boat. We started drifting at just about one mile off shore and when I looked up I realized we had drifted out about another three or four miles and we were caught in quite a fast current that was heading out to sea. The shoreline had become a very thin line on the horizon. I went to the outboard and it wouldn’t start.

Realizing we might be in trouble, I gave my girlfriend a flat float and took the plank that served for a seat and suggested, in an offhand way that we should start rowing. The effect was that we were unable to do any better than either stand still in the current or go round and round in circles. I tried to show no concern but was getting worried that we’d end up in the middle of the Sea of Cortez by nightfall. I then heard my girlfriend stop paddling and say, “Are they dolphins? They seem really big?” I looked up to see two whales breaching water in what looked like slow motion. They swam in synchronized circles around the boat. Their wake was considerable and I was concerned that the boat would capsize.

However, I believe there was a purpose to their pattern that became clear a little while later. They kept up until we saw a 40 foot fishing boat motoring out directly towards us. The fisherman had awakened uncharacteristically from his siesta and been compelled to look out at the sea where he saw disturbances where there should be none. He felt that there was a problem and set off to investigate. Without the whales he would never have seen us or been motivated to check out what was happening.

The whales kept circling until they were sure we were being rescued and then they swam off. The fisherman towed us back in and was as amazed as we were by the event, though he did say that dolphins and whales were guardians that could be trusted. For me they were much appreciated angels of the deep.

Steven Rumbelow

Steven Rumbelow was born in Bristol, England, and has been a director in the entertainment industry for decades. He began in theatre in London and then started on films. His career has been a melange between media productions and theatre ever since. Rumbelow runs his own production company in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, Renegade Motion Pictures, which produced “Beyond,” a paranormal series that Steven directed.