The mate of the injured female appears to be particularly grief stricken as he nuzzles her body, staying close during her critical period. Whalers take advantage of this protective behavior when they hunt bottlenose whales. When one is harpooned, the other whales crowd around and a second is soon harpooned, usually before the first one is dead. This pattern continues until the whalers have taken ten or fifteen whales. Among the bottlenose whales, protective instinct is greater than that of self-preservation.
Whales have only two enemies-man and the killer whale.
Perhaps the whale that turns over is not doing it out of fright, but rather as a means to save the lives of his comrades. Although his behavior is instinctive, in surrendering his life, one whale diverts the attention of the vicious killers and the rest of the herd flees for safety. One whale dies to save many from injury or death. Because it is difficult for us to imagine this kind of devotion displayed by whales, we sometimes explain it away as the survival instinct of animals, which may be true. But think of the devotion, the love, shown by Jesus.