I greatly enjoyed Oliver Burkeman’s take on the silly season earlier this week:
A whale, tiger or escaped pig caused hilarity or uproar after it was spotted in the Thames, on Dartmoor, or openly wandering through the streets of Nottingham, according to prominent reports in all newspapers. The surprisingly located animal became an unlikely hero, and was given a cute nickname as the whole country watched the drama unfold on Sky News.
And already we find that life imitates satire (again) with the news that A minke Whale has been causing a furore up in Fraserborough Harbour.
Yesterday I realised how amazing it would have been if the shark story had occurred in the same week as the floods. We all felt sympathy for those on the flood-plains who found their living-rooms submerged in five feet of water… but just imagine if a shark had been swimming around too! It would have been like the Beast of Bodmin, only for sharks.
I love the name minky whale.
Having watched jaws a couple of weeks ago it brings to mind the famous end scene with Roy Scheider on the mast of the sinking boat, aiming a rifle at the compressed air bottle in the closing great white’s mouth. Instead of him we have a yokel, complete with gaitors and straw hat, perched on exhaust of a sinking combine harvester with his shotgun, and through a tootheless mouth whispering “smile you b*****d”.