Transcript:

The Stuff of LegendsHeres a program from our archives.Throughout history, the sight of whales has filled mankind with awe and wonder. I'm Jim Metzner and this is the Pulse of the Planet.ambience, humpback whales Payne: I was in a small boat gingerly making my way behind what looked like sort of a slight disturbance to the surface ahead of me, and as I went the tail of the whale lifted up, and then appeared before me. And they're the size of a roadside sign board. And this huge structure, all willed and moved by one brain was suddenly before our eyes, and then vanished beneath the shroud of the sea in such a way that it was gone completely. And I had never seen anything like that emerge or reenter the sea before.Describing his first encounter with a whale is Roger Payne, who's spent over twenty years studying them. He's president of the Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society. Payne: There's a fascinating thing about the relationship between humans and whales which is that humans have incorporated whales into their myths for years and years. Their creation myths often have a whale. The whale plays all the classic mythological roles. And they also have been at the same time our victims in hunting which has gone back at least twelve hundred years and probably more than that in places like Japan and amongst the Eskimos. But basically human beings have both loved and then also killed and eaten whales for as long as there is recorded history.This archival program is part of our thirtieth anniversary celebration. Im Jim Metzner and this is the Pulse of the Planet.