Lessons from the Whales.

Abstract

The cover of this issue shows some of the humpback whales I was privileged to observe this past July. Humpbacks demonstrate a fascinating behavior called bubble-net feeding. These huge animals live most of the year on their own, fending for themselves throughout the ocean. But, during the summer feeding season, many gather along the coast of Alaska to feed on schools of herring. When they do this, a few of these loners instinctively work cooperatively to take full advantage of a feeding opportunity for the good of all involved. There are multiple videos of this available that a Google search will provide. It is an amazing behavior.One thing that has been made clear during the past couple of years is that there are wonderful opportunities for individual human beings to come together for the greater good. As dentists, we historically have thrived on functioning as individuals but also have somehow known that we all benefit when we gather and work together. Our academies and professional organizations are wonderful examples of this. In these environments, we feed on the support, instruction, and camaraderie that they provide. Recent years have also taught us that, indeed, electronic formats can be used effectively for some pursuits. But, at least instinctively, we have seen validated that there is important feeding that is lost when we do not gather. Many of our organizations are feeling the loss of membership unlike at any time in my memory. One clear challenge is the changing mode of practice and practice ownership. Many dentists are now gaining a measure of support, instruction, and camaraderie through their employers. Now, more than ever, we must be aware of this threat to our traditional organizations and work harder than ever to come along side of all members of our profession—finding ways to adapt so that these essential needs are met on a broader scale. We must learn to communicate through technology in even better ways while we strive to create opportunities to gather together that are more attractive to all.The past couple of years have been a tremendous challenge to this journal. The pandemic hit just as we were making a major transition in our publication support structure to enhance our financial viability. The timing of it all was a “perfect storm” that negatively impacted our ability to move from manuscript acceptance to publication in ways never imagined. Recovery from that storm has required many individuals to come together for the common good. It has been a long road of recovery, but we are making headway. We continue to work to decrease the backlog of papers that need to be available online early. We are nearly back on schedule on publication dates for each of our volumes. It has taken dedicated effort on the part of our staff, a new cadre of copy editors and typesetters, a loyal team of reviewers, and authors who have had to tolerate the storm along with us. We hope that our authors will continue to provide excellent submissions, even as we continue in our recovery.Indeed, the humpbacks I observed last summer gave me the opportunity to reflect on many things. I would encourage everyone to take a few minutes to watch an online video of this amazing behavior and to think about how each of us can apply lessons learned from the whales!