DEAD BEES, DEAD DOLPHINS, DEAD BATS, OH MY!

Okay, okay, there’s nothing funny about 900 dolphins washing up on Peruvian beaches or millions of bees dropping dead in Florida or white nose fungus prompting bats to wake up from their hibernation and flying into the winter landscape to search for food and instead freeze to death.

Experts in Peru are investigating the dead dolphins, which washed up along a hundred mile stretch of coastline beginning in January. The most likely suspect is “environmental contamination.”

It is estimated that seven million bats have died across northeast America due to the white nose fungus. Members of the Speleological Society – cavers – dispute the government’s numbers, but regardless of the actual count, bats have been dying in droves and, of course, some people see it as a sign of the approach apocalypse.

The bee deaths have been widely reported for several years now and have stirred up a good deal of concern among scientists, especially those working in agricultural areas. One religious commentator, speculating about all of these strange deaths, coined a new phrase: “Mark of the Bees.” 

Are they related? Unlikely, but I suppose they could be. The trouble is, we live in a time when the environmental foolishness of the last couple of centuries appears to be catching up with us and good ol’ Mother Nature is kicking ass and taking names.

It’s easy for the Doomsters to interpret everything as End of Days! However, it may simple be the ecosphere recalibrating. I mean, if you’re looking for signs of Armageddon/End of Days/Apocalypse/the End Times, you can always find some. Just the other day, a white killer whale was spotted swimming in a pod with 12 other whale – was he lucky 13? – in the Pacific just off the coast of Russia. Named “Iceberg” by the scientists, the male orca has a six and a half foot high dorsal fin and is estimated to be at least 16 years old. Is he a sign of doom and gloom to come?

American Indians were excited about the birth of a white buffalo some years ago. Maybe we should be excited about a white orca. Maybe it’s a sign of spiritual renewal or a mystical awakening. Frankly, I’d rather believe that than run around peeing my pants and wagging my tongue about the End of Days!