The best I can tell, whales (like horses, monkeys, parrots, kangaroos, cats and dogs) do not seek material possessions. They seek nourishment for their bodies, and they seek those activities that lead to the production of young. The only other thing they seek is nearness to others. Companions.

Watching deer, it's not long before you'll see them nuzzling each other around the neck areas. Cats curl up on your feet or lap. Dogs and giraffes, cows and many other species lick each other. Goats will press their little muzzles up against each other and their human friends. Parrots flock together, and huddle side by side along canyon walls. Whales travel in pods, and the calves swim in synchrony with the moms. Elephants migrate 'holding hands' trunk to tail. In the wild, horses gallop in herds. Many times, I've seen a single fenced horse stretching its neck as far as it could reach toward a horse leaning from a fence on the other side of the road.

Many animals make companions of creatures of other species. Dogs are 'man's best friend'. The last two farm animals to reside in our pasture, an ancient pony and elderly billy goat, grazed side by side every single day. Humans, dogs, cats, pigs and others adopt hungry abandoned infants from other species.

People are mammals, and though we may have a penchant for the material, we too are not designed for physical isolation. Our bodies and souls yearn for interaction. When we permit ourselves to feel with all of our senses, our bodies know the difference between kin and strangers even while the talk in our minds may try to convince us otherwise. We too have the synchrony of other beasts. We have the animal wisdom when we permit ourselves to experience it.