What Moon the Humpback Whale Taught Me on Her Last Journey from Northern British Columbia to Maui

Moon a female humpback whale that has been tracked by scientists for years was discovered near northern British Columbia (BC) in Canada with a broken back on September 7, 2022. Nearly three months later on December 1, 2022, Moon was spotted on whales' breeding ground near Maui, Hawaii, USA. Scientists believed that Moon's broken back was caused by being struck by a large vessel. The broken back rendered Moon's tail completely immobile and she could only swim with her pectoral fins. The approximately 3,000 miles of journey for whales from the BC feeding ground to the Maui breeding ground usually takes a healthy female whale about 36 days to complete took Moon more about three months. Not only did Moon have to endure the paralyzing pains from the broken back and completely relied on the strength of her pectoral fins and sheer will of her desire to complete this final journey back to Maui since the day she was a calf. While I cannot possibly comprehend what she went through, I am grateful for her example and the lessons I learned from such immense courage and tenacity.

First, Moon was true to her identity as a whale. I do not believe that Moon set a goal of journeying from BC to Maui every winter. She was completely true to her identity as a whale and as a whale, she made the journey regardless of what had happened. I learned from Moon's example that setting goals are only temporary and implying an end once a goal is achieved. Additionally, goals may never be achieved if events rendered us physically difficult to complete the task such as what happened to Moon. We all need to ask ourselves who we really are in order to accomplish what we truly desire. 

Second, Moon lived in the moment. Moon did not hang on to the hurt and resentment when she was struck by the large vessel. Holding a grudge against the vessel that struck her would not help heal her back and restore the function of her tail. Moon let go and focus on who she really was by being a whale and do what a whale must do to complete the annual pilgrimage from BC to Maui. How often do we allow the past hurt and injustice done by other to us to linger and consume our strength to move forward? I learned from Moon that by living in the moment and letting the past that was out of our control go allowed her to fulfill her true identity as a whale on her last mission to complete her journey. We can all strive to let go of the past that was out of our control and move forward. Holding unto the injustice done to us in the past by others allows those who offended us to gain power over us and hinder our own search for fulfillment and true joy.

Finally, Moon exemplified the spirit of not worrying about the future, which is ALWAYS out of our control regardless of how one carefully plans for it. The 2022 journey from BC to Maui might be Moon's last one according to scientists who had been tracking and observing Moon for years. Even though I cannot nor will ever be able to know what Moon had been thinking, I believe that Moon, even during her nearly impossible swim, did not worry about whether her future allowed her to complete the long ocean voyage. She identified as a whale, let go of the past hurt done to her by the unidentified vessel, and competed her long and slow trek of more than 3,000 miles.

People customarily set goals for a new year and often many fail as they do not usually become who they truly want to become. In this new year of 2023, perhaps we can all learn from Moon to let go of the past, stop worrying about the future, live in the moment, and ask ourselves this crucial question of what our true identity is. I hope this blog entry allows readers to contemplate this question. I am a blogger who will continue posting manageable tiny steps for my readers in their journey of self discoveries to become who they truly identify. My aspiration is for all of us to achieve true joy in this process.

Jason Chen, PhD