#if any of my whale mutuals wanna weigh in on this or correct me FEEL FREE!!!!

[merciresolution]

IT’S WHALE TIME

HERE WE GO, BOIS, IT’S TIME TO TALK ABOUT WHY TOAD AND THE WHALE WOULDN’T WORK IRL LMFAO LET’S GOOOOO

So I know this episode came out years ago, but it’s been on my mind lately. I’ve always wanted to talk about why it’s super unrealistic

But this show itself is unrealistic lmao and I didn’t wanna seem hyper critical of it or anything. This is just for funsies and a chance for me to talk about WHALES

SO LET’S BEGIN!!!!!

So the episode starts. A minute in, Toad sees a beached whale, but no one believes him at first. Let’s ignore that part and talk about the whale itself!!!

It ain’t a Blue Whale, that’s for sure. Thing’s too small! And the markings don’t really match up. Imo it kinda doesn’t look like any whale species I’m familiar with, but for the sake of giving it a species, let’s call it a Minke Whale. Minkes do live in the Irish Sea (where the Island of Sodor is located), plus this thing kinda has faint flipper mittens! Very faint.

Photo Link

So let’s call it a Minke. A Minke Whale washed ashore. It’s not having a good day, clearly. People gather around it, the Search and Rescue Center is alerted, y’know, standard stuff.

Also Duck yelled at Toad, how dare you, sir?????? Let the bab sing.

They givin’ that baby lots of attention. BUT ALSO Why are you bringing trains of water? Why are you bringing fire engines? Why not just... Bucket the sea water to the whale? Surely that’d... Cost less? Probably be more efficient?

BUT IT’S TRAIN SHOW. I’ll forgive it for wanting to add trains.

So Butch comes along with the intent of dragging the whale back to the sea, but Harold says the tide is too far out. YES! This is a real issue that happens when it comes to rescuing stranded cetaceans. Their bodies are so heavy, they can’t really support their own weight on land. So to DRAG IT back to the ocean would probably kill it.

Good job, train show!

But also what were you planning on hooking up to, Butch? 

MOVING ON!!!

The workers cover the whale to protect it from the sun. Another yes! Beached cetaceans are very susceptible to sunburns, so they are often covered with towels and such if rescuing them takes a while. (Also I’m pretty sure the fabric holds in water, thus assisting in keeping the whale moist, so double good!)

© Steve Everts

But uh, after covering the whale they uh spray it with... fire hoses....???

Yeah I don’t think that’s... The greatest plan. The whale still needs to breathe. (Good job, show, for not covering the whale’s blowhole with the towel!!) That might also stress the whale out? I know some cetaceans enjoy being sprayed with pressurized water, but... Not when they’re beached... 

BUT THEY GOTTA USE THE TRAINS IN TRAIN SHOW. SO I CAN FORGIVE, AGAIN.

So Oliver says the whale can swim away when the tide comes back in. Yup, that’s pretty much how these things go! It’s kinda hard to move an animal that can weigh, in this case, up to 10 tons. But high tide won’t be for hours, and Toad wants the whale rescued now. Understandable! So he comes up with a plan to pick the whale up and bring it to the docks, where the water is deeper! 

u h

Well. Some whales have been lifted and brought back into the ocean. Exhibit A. But... They plan on putting it on a train. And... Taking it to Brendam. From Bluff’s Cove. How far away is that, again?

...oh.

Yeah, that, uh.... That- that might be an issue, Toad. BUT THEY GO WITH IT ANYWAYS! IT’S TOAD’S EPISODE!

where the fuck did you get a sling that big how did you get it underneath the whale

what

Also... That poor thing’s pectoral fins are being crushed???? Here’s what a whale in a sling looks like:

©  The Press Association

From what I remember in the documentary Born to be Free, a Beluga was lifted in a stretcher without holes for its pectoral fins, and its shoulders risked being broken. (I think another one’s actually were broken? Like, during a capture. I’d have to go back and look.) But then again, I have seen a few (and I mean like 1 or 2) rescues with slings without holes for their pecs, so I can’t really criticize too much...

but how the fuck did you get a sling that big? did you custom make it? if so, why didn’T YOU ADD HOLES--

SUDDENLY THE WHALE IS HERE NOW, WHAT????? WHO MOVED IT CLOSER TO ROCKY???

That’s just an inconsistency error than a realism issue lmfao

So they load the whale onto a flatbed, and Toad starts singing to it to soothe it along the ride.

Whales do sing to each other. But Minkes don’t sound like what you’d think a whale should sound like. (My personal favorite is the “Star-Wars” vocalization.) But let Toad sing. I’ll allow it because it’s Toad. Plus he’s singing so softly, he loves his new friend so much already

Strangely enough, the whale survives the trek.

And Cranky lifts it up and into the water of the docks. The... Noisy... Polluted... Docks... Whales are very acoustic creatures. Sound is a way of life for them! If this thing wasn’t disoriented already from stranding and being carried across the island to a foreign location, suddenly being tossed into the docks probably didn’t help.

THIS THING BOLTS FROM THE SLING IN LIKE 4 SECONDS FLAT, SO I GUESS IT REALLY WANTED OUTTA THERE!!!

AND GUESS WHAT, SKIPPIES???

It swims away and waves goodbye to Toad c:

IN CONCLUSION the whale should have died. stress should have killed it.

BUT this show is fictional. it’s fun, it’s cute, the story was sweet, toad is baby

and i did this just to scream about a whale

and i’m still very happy a whale was in a ttte episode thank you, season 19

BUT TO BE ACTUALLY SERIOUS FOR A SECOND

If you do spot a stranded animal, please don’t try to push or carry it back into the water. There could be something wrong with it. It could be very sick and disoriented, and if you push it back into the water, it would likely just restrand itself.

Instead, contact a local marine mammal rescue center! Sometimes animals just need to spend a little time in human care to recover, then they can be released, good as new!

THIS HAS BEEN AN EDUCATIONAL MOMENT WITH MERCIRESOLUTION.

THANK YOU FOR READING

AND IF YOU MADE IT THIS FAR, I LOVE YOU. Have a heckin’ good day.