Cetaphobia: The Fear of Whales | Teen Ink

Cetaphobia: The Fear of Whales MAG

January 2, 2013
By natcac SILVER, Folsom, California
natcac SILVER, Folsom, California
5 articles 0 photos 8 comments

Favorite Quote:
1John 4:16


Everyone has an irrational fear. For some it is the color green; for others it could be the dark. In my case, it's whales. I don't know why everyone finds this so amusing and surprising, considering there are people out there scared of much weirder things, such as marshmallows (no offense if that's you). I mean, I see why fears like heights, snakes, or spiders are far more common and fairly accepted. You can fall, you can be bitten, but what are the chances of a whale swallowing you? I really have no idea. To be honest, my fear seems a little odd even to me, since I can't really give you a good reason. But, that's what makes it an irrational fear.

Every time someone learns about my fear of whales they're so entertained you'd think they'd been told I was scared of something as harmless as a teddy bear. In one class at school we were practicing descriptive writing, and naturally the teacher used a picture of a whale. Even though it was in its natural habitat and a photograph (for ­crying out loud), I could barely look at it without shuddering. So of course my friends told my teacher, who burst out laughing and wouldn't let it go. But cetaphobia is perfectly justifiable. I mean, if you really think about it, a fear of whales is reasonable.

For one thing, a killer whale (great name, huh?) has a dorsal fin six feet in length. And that's just the fin. But the killer whale, also known as orca, is relatively small. Compared to a humpback or a sperm whale, the orca is like a chihuahua next to a Great Dane.

Whales are ginormous. How is that not at least a little scary? Whales are the largest mammals (yes, mammals, complete with hair and the ability to nurse their babies), even dwarfing elephants. Their monstrous size is probably the leading factor in my fear.

Another reason for my fear is that I can't imagine swimming in the ocean with a whale right there beside me. I have reoccurring nightmares that I'm in the ocean, at school, or in some other public place and a whale (or multiple whales) appears and begins circling me and brushing up against me. This is terrifying. If anyone else with cetaphobia is reading this, he'll understand the terror of these dreams. How could any human get that close to a whale without freaking out? I swear you'd have to be a robot or something.

There are plenty of scary facts and explanations for cetaphobia, but I'll limit myself to just two more: their power/strength and their appearance. Considering their size, imagine how strong they must be. I mean, those things can take out great white sharks, a commonly feared ocean predator. Just let that sink in. It perplexes me that anyone would get onto a boat to go whale-watching when for all they know, the whale is right beneath them and might breech at any moment, capsizing the boat.

My parents don't understand my fear because they say “whales are so beautiful.” I'm sorry, but I really don't understand how whales can be considered beautiful. Out of all the creatures in the world, from lions to mice, you're telling me this giant creature covered in barnacles is beautiful? I mean, you could argue that crabs are stunning too.

Hopefully I have helped you understand that cetaphobia is real and perfectly reasonable. Or maybe you have some clarification about my fear of whales. If any part of this article has caused you to become afraid of whales or like them any less, I apologize.


The author's comments:
This is for people who are wondering who in the world would be scared of whales and why. I'm interested to see who else shares my fear of whales. This probably isn't exactly a great piece of work. Since I'm always open to improving, criticism is welcome, as well as anybody's opinion on both my fear and this piece.

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This article has 50 comments.


DobbyIsAlive said...
on Jun. 9 2014 at 10:04 pm
Oh my gosh! I just googled "The fear of whales" to find out what I had and I read your article! I'm so glad there are others that are afraid! I too cannot even look at pictures of whales without feeling as if I'm going to faint! It's so scary! 

SooCalpity said...
on Jun. 8 2014 at 6:00 am
I hate whales and am absolutely terrified of them. I think my fear acctualy comes from pinocchio (the whale part) which is weird as it's a U. Anyway I'm glad to know I'm not the only one as I freak out when I see a picture of one, oh and the same thing happens when I see pictures of dolphins. Thankyou for this article.

Pathy said...
on May. 29 2014 at 1:25 am
I feel your pain, I can't even go into that room with the whale suspended on the ceiling in the measeum of natural history, I would faint, or die on the spot. I cried for hours after being forced to walk through there for a school trip as a child.

I'm scared of whales for a variety of reasons. I am afraid that if I were in the water with one it would eat me, it would possibly knock me unconcious to drown in the water with it's tail fin or flippers or they will swim above be in such a slow fashion that I would run out of air before getting around them and to the surface.

Just reading out thinking about them gives me an intense feeling that one is right behind me with its mouth to the back of my neck.(and I know that if it opens it's mouth I will be forced into it by suction)

Orca's don't scare me since I think of them as friendly dolphins (because they are dolphins). I don't know why I think of whales as menacing creatures though

JERRADV said...
on May. 13 2014 at 2:04 am
I dont know who you are, but that you from the bottom of my heart for literally putting all of my feelings in words. I literally could have wrote this (if I wasnt afraid to even talk about the W word). I had to stop reading your article and skip over a few places because I couldnt handle the description. LOL. Actually, no, not LOL. Its not funny to me really. Ive gotten so use to having to laugh with everyone else about my fear of them that it just seems like im SUPPOSE to laugh about it now. But in all honestly, its not funny, its probably the scariest thing in the world to me. And you have no idea how realived I feel knowing that I am not the only person in the world that are petrified of these monsters. So thank you.

madwegs said...
on May. 5 2014 at 11:45 pm
I am terrified of whales, and I live in Illinois. Just thinking about them makes me anxious. I had to step out of biology lecture last year because there was a picture of a whale on the board, and I got so scared that I couldn't breathe. People think it's so cute when I tell them, but really, it's awful. I totally understand you! Also the ocean in general is perplexing.

on Apr. 29 2014 at 9:08 pm
I'm petrified of any whale larger than a killer whale. I'm not sure why but I can't even look on the web at a picture. Especially a dead beached whale (or anything dead for that matter, will not even get into that phobia now.). For me it's the sheer size of them. I think I have an issue with trying to wrap my head around their size and the fact that I could probably be swallowed up whole throw their blow hole and the whale most likely wouldn't notice. I don't know but it's nice to see there is others like me!

valeryv said...
on Apr. 22 2014 at 3:34 pm
I completely understand you! I've been scared of whales since i was 12 or 13. I'm a swimmer and in the pool were i practice (since i was 3) there are dark blue majolica imitating the shape of a whale at the bottom and it just freaks me out. Everytime i look down i see that enormous figure right behind me and i get very anxious, sometimes i have to stop swimming to calm myself down. But that's not all, when im sleeping i have current nightmares about being alone in the ocean surrounded by a gigantic whale and it scares the sh*t out of me.I don't know where this fear began, but knowing theres someone else than me who suffers from cetaphobia too makes me feel slightly better so if you have any tip on how to avoid this irrational fear, please share.

RAMJ said...
on Apr. 17 2014 at 2:07 pm
Sorry if my English isn't that well, I'm Dutch.  I got goosebumps reading you're story. I am so extremely afraid of whales. Even the name scares me. When I see a picture or a documentary on TV I can't look at it. My body totaly goes into shock. People aways make fun of me because they say I will never see one in real life. GOD NO I'll make sure I won't 

natcac SILVER said...
on Apr. 2 2014 at 11:05 pm
natcac SILVER, Folsom, California
5 articles 0 photos 8 comments

Favorite Quote:
1John 4:16

Thanks for your reply!  I definitely feel that way with the pool thing, too! Haha.  Good to hear I'm not alone!

Natnat328 said...
on Dec. 23 2013 at 2:29 pm
I understand yo completely! I thought i was the only one! I started getting random nightmares about orcas like 4-5 years ago and i still do. I am terrified of killer whales. I cant even stand looking at a picture of them. My friends always laugh when i tell them about it, but i dont find it that weird. I guess they think that the chance of actually getting killed by a killer whale isnt that big, but either way they terrify me. If im in a pool and i go uderwater, I feel like a killer whale is right behind me and ready to attack (is that weird?) lol but I definetely agree with the things you wrote!