The dream today was about dead whales. I am a deckhand on a research ship. The ship has put into port in Lisbon, Portugal. The crew and I are heading into the city on shore leave. We are riding in what looks like a bus or a tram. The windows are open or there are no windows. I can feel the wind and smell the ocean. We are heading south along a coastal drive. We across a bridge over a river outlet and this is when we start to see dozens of dead whales scattered about just like in the photograph above. Two rather large dead whales are right at the mouth of the river. Some are floating in the surf and a few are on the beach. We ask some of the locals riding with us what happened. The rumour seems to be it is quick silver or mercury that may have killed them. I think to myself it would have to be a large quantity of mercury to kill all these whales like this. It is at this point I wake up from the dream.
I have never been to Lisbon, Portugal. I see from photos it does have a public tram service. I once visited the Azores while serving on the Coast Guard sailing ship the Eagle during the summer of 1989. I remember once when the ship encountered a pod of pilot whales there in the Atlantic. An announcement was made over the ship intercom. I was sleeping in my rack at the time after a long night of making pizza for the crew. I was too tired to head topside to check it out. I had a surreal experience hearing their calls with my head resting against the bulkhead. Their plaintive voices were clearly heard. It was a moment I'll cherish for the rest of my life.
It is always a sad thing to see when these magnificent creatures die from when they become stranded on the beach. It would be twice the tragedy if it was the result of some kind of poison or pollution. This is an alarming dream.
Let's examine the chief symbols of this dream. This is yet another dream involving water. Water represents the emotional life. The dead and or dying whales might mean I have a sense of despair of something in my waking life, such as an unmet goal, or a sense of disconnection. Dead whales on the beach might represent an ending. I might question what has died in my unconscious self. Has it been poisoned or has it died from illness or natural causes? All things die. Was this a premature death? Was it murder or an accident, or just a chance ending of something? What could these symbols be telling me about my unconscious self or pointing to in my waking life?
I know I am having some frustrations over not getting my documents prepared quickly enough before I make my trip to Spain this September. I think I might be suppressing or in denial over the anxiety that this is making me feel. There are some things in this situation that seem out of my control. I confess I worry about not having enough money for the fees and being at the mercy of bureaucrats.
Why the whales? Well, they are huge intelligent animals. They can travel long distances and dive to great depths. They are long on endurance. Their untimely death would seem like such a sad injustice if it was from mercury. The whole food chain would be at risk in such a scenario. Humans could die as well. Nothing and no one would be safe from the contamination. It is kind of ironic that mercury is the messenger god of ancient myth. Perhaps we may have a cautionary message here about polluting our oceans as well. Lots to ponder about with this dream.
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