Why
Did All 16 Stay Together?
Adapted
from Joe Duff's Field Journal: Nov. 22, 2009
There is a theory that schools of fish or large flocks of small birds
sometime function with one mindset, often referred to as group-mind. You
can see them wheel and turn as one unit made of several parts. They
are reacting too fast to be taking their cues from each other. It's
more like they are
all thinking the exact same thing at the exact same time.
Maybe some
group-mind is taking place among the Whooping cranes in the Class of
2009. And that may explain why they have all stayed together on one
aircraft
so many times. (In
years
past when they have broken up
into smaller
groups led by two or three ultralights.) It may be that one dissenter
has little influence over a flock this large. Perhaps they all feel
more
secure
in the anonymity
of a
larger group. Possibly
the joy
of soaring and the confidence of the group was all it took to overcome
the insecurity that has always brought them back on "exercise days."
Whatever the motivation, 16 of them surprised us and kept going.
Journey
North is pleased to feature this educational adventure made possible by
the
Whooping Crane Eastern Partnership (WCEP).
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