Sixth Sense for Tsumani Animals

The world has been rocked by the huge number of human dead, injured and missing and the massive devastation of the Indian Ocean Tsunami.

In the midst of all this carnage, there was a report that stated no elephants and other wild animals had been reported. This lead the reporter to trot out the line that animals have a sixth sense, could feel the Tsunami coming and left the beaches to escape from the danger they knew was coming.

As someone who lived in one of the effected countries for a couple of years, I can't seem to recall seeing elephants frolicking on the beaches and in the tourist resorts when I was there. Could we also say that Kangaroos, Polar Bears and Penguins also have this sixth sense? There are no reports of them being dead.

When Cyclone Tracey hit Australia's Northern Capital, Darwin in 1974 there were no dead giraffes, lions or bears, so maybe they also have this sixth sense.

Actually, now that I think of it, we humans also have this same sixth sense. Back in 1994, when the Shoemaker-Levy Comet 9 slammed into Jupiter, us humans managed to avoid the place and not a single death was recorded.

Back in the land of reality, authorities are dealing with a death toll in excess of 100,000 and likely to grow significantly higher. There is a concerted effort to bring medical attention to the injured, to provide clean water & food and to prevent diseases from taking even more lives. This leads to the following questions:

Who says there are no dead animals? I'm sure authorities are more concerned caring for the sick and injured people than looking for dead animals. As time goes by, I'm sure there will be reports of dead animals that were considered not important enough at the time when the focus was on the human toll.

Most of the attention has been in the well populated areas. These are also the areas where the amount of wildlife is small. As I said before, how many elephants do you see frolicking on the resort beaches or city streets?

The number of missing people is enormous. Many were swept out into the ocean and the bodies will never be recovered. Could not the same have occurred with the animals?

If you were starving with no food supply, would you help yourself to some meat from a dead animal? Hunger makes great seasoning.

This type of reporting is sloppy journalism and shows that people will believe something without stopping to think logically about the belief they have formed. Can animals sense impending danger from natural disasters? While the belief has been around for centuries, there is little evidence to support it.

"There is only one truth. How we interpret that truth is called belief."
"The presence of belief, does not indicate the existence of truth."