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https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2026/jul/10/ecological-grief>
"I remember interviewing a North Atlantic right whale expert years ago. He was
a practical, science-minded man. But as we discussed a female whale that had
lost her calf, he became visibly emotional. She had lost the previous one, too,
struck by a ship. He seemed almost embarrassed by the depth of his feeling.
I wasn’t surprised. I found his grief honorable.
There are fewer than 400 North Atlantic right whales left. Every birth is a
celebration; every death is mathematically and emotionally devastating.
Scientists who spend years studying endangered species inevitably form
attachments to them. So do many of us, whether to an endangered tree, a stretch
of crumbling coastline, or summer nights once filled with fireflies.
Yet our culture has almost no language or rituals for this kind of grief."
Via Susan ****
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
