Dr. Gillian Taylor?

[RPJOB]

The Federation should be making long term plans to ensure the survival of the species. That would include selecting planets where they could be settled. That's something that should be undertaken ASAP so that they can be transplanted as soon as they are ready.

How are the whales in danger in Earth's oceans? No one hunts whales in a world where replicators (or at least "food slots") supply everything humans need.

As northern humpbacks, George & Gracie are tied to Earth's northern hemisphere. Northern hemisphere humpbacks don't travel to the southern hemisphere. Would they cope being transplanted to an alien world's oceans?

Are you also going to infest an alien world with krill, too, or will the transplanted humpbacks be expected to eat local food?

Has Earth transplanted examples of every other lifeform to other planets too? Have we not learned the dangers of animals going feral in places they didn't evolve in? Has every UFP world also transplanted their animals and plants? It's gonna be a messy galaxy.

Humans are being settled on all sorts of planets. Sherman's planet was being seeded with Earth grain. People can eat the fruits of alien worlds, Kafarian Apples for instance. Why should humans have all the fun and the whales HAVE to stay home?

As far as them being safe on Earth, yes Earth is safe. Except for:

The Xindii sphere
Romulan plasma torpedos
The Doomsday machine
Nomad
V'ger
Any hostile alien race that happens to develop a Genesis torpedo.
The Breen/Dominion alliance
The Klingons
Stellar core fragments
Nearby black holes like the one Voyager 6 fell into
Space amoebas
Protomatter being thrown into the sun like the Bashir changeling attempted at Bajor.
Supernovas like the one that destroyed Romulus
And let's not forget, red matter black holes like the one that ate Vulcan and could have done the same to Earth except for Kirk.

Other than that, Earth is perfectly safe.

We almost got wiped out once because we didn't have the whales. It's a good idea to have a backup.

 

[RPJOB]

Also, I would imagine that a number of planets would want some humpbacks of their own. After all, they are the ONLY known defense against the attack of the Probe. What happens if it comes back but decides to check out another planet's missing cetaceans?

That doesn't make any sense, because those missing cetaceans would obviously not be Megaptera novaeangliae. How could the humpbacks fill in for some alien cetacean species that would've spoken a completely different language?

No, they wouldn't be the same species but they are the only beings we know of that can communicate with the probe at all.

Imagine an alien force lands in North America speaking an extinct native tongue. Through an amazing stoke of luck we actually find out that there's exactly one person who can speak it. We're saved!

The aliens then pick up and land in China, trying to talk to someone in a lost language there. Would we just sit back and say "wow, sucks to be them" or would we have our expert, the person we know can talk to the invaders try to talk to them and explain the situation?

The universal translator doesn't understand the probe. Nobody speaks whale except for the whales themselves. Would you at least want a chance to talk to the probe if it showed up on your doorstep one day? The only way you could do that is if you had a whale there.

 

[Therin of Andor]

Other than that, Earth is perfectly safe.

This list of possible catastrophes could apply to any planet. Indeed, some could apply to all of Known Colonized UFP Space at once.

We almost got wiped out once because we didn't have the whales. It's a good idea to have a backup.

Then we should also back up every lifeform on every UFP home world and colony. Humpback whales were important this time. Too bad next time if it's T-Rexes, thylacines or dodos.

How many offspring will you let Gracie have before you split the pod into two, sparate them, and risk the others beaching themselves in their grief?

The only way you could do that is if you had a whale there

Slingshot 'round the sun.

 

[garamet]

Wow, ancient history. Gillian's line when Kirk asks her where she's going is "You're going to your ship, I'm going to mine. Science vessel. I've got 300 years of catch-up learning to do." I just spun off from there. And IIRC, neither the type of ship nor the name Clarke were mentioned in the Memo That Killed The Manuscript.

 

[RPJOB]

Other than that, Earth is perfectly safe.

This list of possible catastrophes could apply to any planet. Indeed, some could apply to all of Known Colonized UFP Space at once.

We almost got wiped out once because we didn't have the whales. It's a good idea to have a backup.

Then we should also back up every lifeform on every UFP home world and colony. Humpback whales were important this time. Too bad next time if it's T-Rexes, thylacines or dodos.

How many offspring will you let Gracie have before you split the pod into two, sparate them, and risk the others beaching themselves in their grief?

The only way you could do that is if you had a whale there

Slingshot 'round the sun.

Are humans the only species that is worth saving? Are we the only ones that should be established on colony worlds so that we will survive if something happens to Earth? Like Gillian says I don't base my compassion on the the intelligence of the subject.

Let's not forget that with Vulcans we can communicate with the whales. We can ask them about their wishes and explain the situation to them. Who knows, maybe there's already some of their children in Starfleet in the 24th century. If a Horta can be a member of the crew of the Enterprise just a few years after first contact, why not whales? Neither of them had any technology and yet people seem to accept that Naraht was serving on a starship only 8 years after hatching.

http://memory-beta.wikia.com/wiki/Naraht

Relying on time travel to solve your problems would pretty much become the solution to every problem in the future. It may fit the rules established in what Starfleet is capable of but it makes for poor drama if overused. Do we wait for a probe to show up looking to talk to the dodo or brontosaurus and then simply go "OK, take the Wellington and go get what we need. The rest of you, take five. They'll be back to solve the problem by the end of the coffee break."

 

[UncleRogi]

Wow, ancient history. Gillian's line when Kirk asks her where she's going is "You're going to your ship, I'm going to mine. Science vessel. I've got 300 years of catch-up learning to do." I just spun off from there. And IIRC, neither the type of ship nor the name Clarke were mentioned in the Memo That Killed The Manuscript.

Still, I get a thrill out of that line, and maybe the cause of misconstruedness (?), "See ya around the Galaxy."

She seems aware Starfleet will call on Kirk, always. Look at her experince as a whole. She sat through the trial.

Gillian: I'm so proud I just can't tell ya.

Damn! I'd get her number too!

 

[RPJOB]

Wow, ancient history. Gillian's line when Kirk asks her where she's going is "You're going to your ship, I'm going to mine. Science vessel. I've got 300 years of catch-up learning to do." I just spun off from there. And IIRC, neither the type of ship nor the name Clarke were mentioned in the Memo That Killed The Manuscript.

<bows>

I took the line to mean she was off to go back to school although in a neat, Trekian way. She didn't say "Science vessel, I've got three whales to care for" or "I've got a species to reestablish". I figured that she was off to get her feet wet in the waters of 23rd century science (so to speak )

 

[DimesDan]

Really, I don't understand though the persistent and insistent desire to convince everyone she HAD to have gone to a boat instead of a starship. Does it really matter, in the grand scheme of things?

No.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

An Oberth-class should be able to handle any contingency regardless of weather or anything else to study the whales, whereas a sea-going vessel could potentially run into some problems (storms? ice?).

Weather control has existed in Trek's time since at least the 22nd century. (i.e. Risa)

 

[UncleRogi]

This is inane. Why would anyone think Starfleet would send her ANYWHERE but with the whales. On Earth. The Pacific Ocean.

The Federation Would Need a biologist of her specialty to make sure they propogate...

What if it comes back...

Humpbacks are not the only whales that sing...

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

Surely she can keep tabs on the whales no matter where she is? There are probably monitoring devices down there in the water that can allow her to view them even from a starship lightyears away.

 

[UncleRogi]

Surely she can keep tabs on the whales no matter where she is? There are probably monitoring devices down there in the water that can allow her to view them even from a starship lightyears away.

She has Kirk for an example. And the mentality of 20th century thinking...and her own words...

"I'm NOT leaving these whales!!"

 

[Pavonis]

Surely she can keep tabs on the whales no matter where she is? There are probably monitoring devices down there in the water that can allow her to view them even from a starship lightyears away.

Sure she could. But why? Where does she have to be? What's out there for her? Why leave Earth?

 

[Therin of Andor]

Let's not forget that with Vulcans we can communicate with the whales. We can ask them about their wishes and explain the situation to them.

So now you want the Vulcans to attempt mind melds with every animal species on Earth - and throughout Known Space - that might have enough intelligence to have an opinion on the survival of their future generations, and somehow address all of this information in the coda to ST IV.

 

[CorporalCaptain]

An Oberth-class should be able to handle any contingency regardless of weather or anything else to study the whales, whereas a sea-going vessel could potentially run into some problems (storms? ice?).

Weather control has existed in Trek's time since at least the 22nd century. (i.e. Risa)

There is no canonically established weather control network on Earth until the 24th century. The full range of its capabilities are unknown even then.

 

[Pavonis]

Even without a weather control network, what would make the oceans of the future more dangerous than today? We've been sailing for thousands of years. Surely it's not too dangerous in the 23rd century.

 

[UncleRogi]

An Oberth-class should be able to handle any contingency regardless of weather or anything else to study the whales, whereas a sea-going vessel could potentially run into some problems (storms? ice?).

Weather control has existed in Trek's time since at least the 22nd century. (i.e. Risa)

There is no canonically established weather control network on Earth until the 24th century. The full range of its capabilities are unknown even then.

How then did the Enterprise-E determine that the Borg had assimilated Earth in "First Contact"? Or even know that the Borg knew WHEN to target?

Review your research

Good reading is Christopher Bennetts' research included in his novel "Watching the Clock"

 

[CorporalCaptain]

Weather control has existed in Trek's time since at least the 22nd century. (i.e. Risa)

There is no canonically established weather control network on Earth until the 24th century. The full range of its capabilities are unknown even then.

How then did the Enterprise-E determine that the Borg had assimilated Earth in "First Contact"? Or even know that the Borg knew WHEN to target?

Review your research

Enlighten me. From http://www.chakoteya.net/movies/movie8.html:

DATA: Sensors show chronometric particles emanating from the sphere.
PICARD: They're creating a temporal vortex.
RIKER: Time travel!
(the Enterprise suffers a shockwave)
PICARD: Data, report!
DATA: We appear to be caught in a temporal wake.
WORF: Captain, ...Earth.
DATA: The atmosphere contains high concentrations of methane, carbon monoxide and fluorine.
PICARD: Life signs?
DATA: Population ...approximately nine billion. ...All Borg!
TROI: How?
PICARD: They must have done it in the past. ...They went back and assimilated Earth. ...Changed history.
CRUSHER: Then if they changed history why are we still here?
DATA: The temporal wake must somehow have protected us from the changes in the time-line.
(Data's console bleeps)
DATA: Sir, the vortex is collapsing.
PICARD: Hold your course, Mister Hawk. We must follow them back. Repair whatever damage they've done.

No mention of weather control.

 

[UncleRogi]

There is no canonically established weather control network on Earth until the 24th century. The full range of its capabilities are unknown even then.

How then did the Enterprise-E determine that the Borg had assimilated Earth in "First Contact"? Or even know that the Borg knew WHEN to target?

Review your research

Enlighten me. From http://www.chakoteya.net/movies/movie8.html:

DATA: Sensors show chronometric particles emanating from the sphere.
PICARD: They're creating a temporal vortex.
RIKER: Time travel!
(the Enterprise suffers a shockwave)
PICARD: Data, report!
DATA: We appear to be caught in a temporal wake.
WORF: Captain, ...Earth.
DATA: The atmosphere contains high concentrations of methane, carbon monoxide and fluorine.
PICARD: Life signs?
DATA: Population ...approximately nine billion. ...All Borg!
TROI: How?
PICARD: They must have done it in the past. ...They went back and assimilated Earth. ...Changed history.
CRUSHER: Then if they changed history why are we still here?
DATA: The temporal wake must somehow have protected us from the changes in the time-line.
(Data's console bleeps)
DATA: Sir, the vortex is collapsing.
PICARD: Hold your course, Mister Hawk. We must follow them back. Repair whatever damage they've done.

No mention of weather control.

I stand corrected.

 

[Therin of Andor]

No mention of weather control.

ST IV (Script appendix D):

STARFLEET COMMAND TABLE OPERATOR
"Right, I want S.F.C. up on console 5 on One... cue. Coming up on console three Com sat 4 no filtering southern Quadrants... check zero one five niner On cue three. Switching over to manual Camera control on sat vert two three Two. Mark on my cue 4... 3... 2... 1... check coming up on com 4... new probe data input to major A.1. banks for possible com link... switching to data com line priority one weather control..."

(Michael Berryman's Arkenite)