Jason Colby (author of Orca: How We Came to Know and Love the Ocean’s Greatest Predator) talks with Skaana host Mark Leiren-Young about the capture of Toki/Tokitae/Lolita/Sk’aliCh’elh-tenaut and how Penn Cove almost ended the southern resident orcas and was the beginning of the end of the capture era. “It’s worth remembering that the argument at the time, if there could have been a debate at the time, it was really between whale catching and whale shooting, not whale catching and whale watching.”

Shownotes:

0:00 The voice of Toki.

4:08 Jason Colby on writing the book – or at least a very long chapter of his book – on Penn Cove.

6:05 “They eventually capture virtually all of these orcas behind nets. They estimate at the time around 90 individuals… The estimates vary but almost certainly the entire population of the Southern residents.”

7:43 “It’s worth remembering that the argument at the time, if there could have been a debate at the time, it was really between whale catching and whale shooting, not whale catching and whale watching.”

8:50 “Once they rounded them up, 90 to 100 animals, if Ted Griffin and his company would have wanted to and would have had the market to sell all 90 of them they could have done that. If they had wanted to shoot them all in the nets, they could have done that. There may have been a firearms violation, but there would be no sort of conservation law violation.”

10:30 “This must have been horrifically traumatic for these pods to be torn apart.”

11:20 How activists trying to free the orcas accidentally kill four baby orcas.

12:20 Hiding the bodies… “Whether it was illegal or not, it looks like a murder scene.”

14:20 Is Toki really L Pod or did she learn how to speak L Pod from Hugo in Miami?

20:04 “It was a generational loss.”

21:20 “If Griffin had done what the fisherman who was helping him demanded – which is to sell all of them all – you could have seen the entire population of Southern residents extinguished before we had even identified them scientifically as a population.”

23:00 How to help orcas today and the problems humans are creating for orcas today.

26:04 Toki talks.

Skaana podcasts connect you to news and experts and their discussions about environments, oceans, and orcas.
Jason Colby from Mark Leiren-Young’s award-winning documentary The Hundred Year-Old Whale
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Howard Garrett (Orca Network) remembering the southern resident orca Toki/Tokitae/Lolita/Sk’aliCh’elh-tenaut and his nearly thirty year fight to bring Toki home to the Salish Sea. “Toki’s legacy is building, building, building by the day… She wasn’t just a circus animal. She was a member of the southern residents.”

Shownotes:

0:00 The voice of Toki.
4:57 How Howard started fighting to bring Toki home

7:50 “I really feel like she would have thrived and been thrilled and so relieved to be in her familiar waters.”

14:16 A superpod wake for Toki?

15:55 The Lummi Nation’s fight for Toki.

20:05  The origins of Toki’s names and becoming Sk’aliCh’elh-tenaut.

21:44 “Her tank violated the very dismal standard of the animal welfare act…”

30:15 Getting the news that she was gone.

34:00 Toki’s legacy.

43:00 Toki speaks.

Skaana podcasts connect you to news and experts and their discussions about environments, oceans, and orcas.
Howard Garrett at a marine conference in Vancouver in 2017
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The Southern Resident Orcas Talk Trudeau

The Southern Resident Orcas do not have a voice in Canada’s federal election.  We wanted to give them a chance to speak their truth.  Here it is, with a little commentary from Mark Leiren-Young.

The Liberal Party Platform

Read the official Liberal Party Platform here:  https://2019.liberal.ca/our-platform/?utm_source=2019.liberal.ca&utm_medium=platform-casgrain

The Liberals wish our friends at the Canadian Orca Rescue Society would stop carrying their adorable orca balloons at every West Coast protest and reminding voters about pipelines and bitumen. Justin Trudeau supporters also claim the prime minister was fond of dressing up as a Blackfish. Oops… that’s not in the official platform.

Officially… Team Trudeau boldly declares #whalelivesmatter.

“From coast to coast to coast, the health of Canada’s oceans matters—to the people whose livelihoods depend on them and to the marine species, including whales and commercial fishing stocks, that cannot exist without them.”

Someone in the PMO also finally read the Cohen report—or listened to the unsinkable Alexandra Morton—and are looking to “transition from open net pen salmon farming in coastal waters to closed containment systems by 2025”.

Skaana connects you to news and experts and their discussions about orcas, oceans and the environment.

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Orcas Everywhere orcaseverwhere.com


A message from the producer Rayne Benu:

Decisions being made by our leaders over the next four years will change the course of history and could be the key factor in whether our Southern Residents survive and thrive.

I can’t tell you who to vote for this election.

I carry a deep sadness in my heart that none of the parties have any official policy on the Southern Residents.  I have a longing in my soul for someone to stand up and represent the species that live here on our beautiful planet, that do not have a voice.   Many people and organizations are willing to stand up and use the images of the orcas when it’s convenient for them to make a political point, or to sell an idea, but when it comes down to the fundamental truths that they live by, forget to mention the Orcas in their policies, core platforms and overall vision.

If a party had a policy or had even mentioned the SROs in their platforms, that is who I would be championing.    

With the federal election, and what’s happening down south, it’s hard not to feel discouraged by it all.  I look around and there’s a lot public mudslinging, so much it’s getting hard to see the actual people with all the mud on their faces (ok, some of that is probably just the brown-face….)

I worry a lot about how partisan we are all getting – how tribal and us vs them things can be.

I encourage you with all my heart to ask good questions of the individuals involved right now, instead of throwing more mud.

I know you have a million things to do this week,  but I want to encourage you to take a moment to try to meet or get to know something about the person you’re considering voting for in your riding.    There’s still time.

Are they someone you could talk to or bring concerns to?   Do they want to serve the people, or is running for office an ego trip?  Do their volunteers like them? Is the campaign office a positive and welcoming place to be?   How do they work with others?   Are they integral?  Honest?   Clear on their objectives?  Are they kind?

Because if you can have a conversation, there’s room to grow.  No matter which party wins the election, your representative is there for you, and we all better make sure that they care about their communities.  You are the only voice in this election that the Southern Residents have.    

Please use your voice responsibly, and consider those who can not speak and whose family, culture and future are on the line this election.

Peace out

Rayne


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The post Orcas on Trudeau: The Southern Residents Dish Dirt on Canada’s Federal Election appeared first on MLY.

 

The latest on the Lummi Nation’s fight to free Lolita (Tokitae), ceremonial feedings of the southern resident orcas, rights, responsibilities and reunification from Kurt Russo of the Lummi Nation Sovereignty and Treaty Protection Office. Stories of inspiring actions to save the orcas for Orca Action Month. 

Skaana podcasts connect you to news and experts and their discussions about oceans, orcas and the environment.

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Links:

  1. Lummi Nation fights for return of relative
  2.  Rembering Lolita, an orca taken nearly 49 years ago and still in captivity at the Miami Seaquarium  https://vancouverisland.ctvnews.ca/endangered-southern-resident-orcas-seen-swimming-off-california-coast-1.4360793

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The post Lummi & Orcas – Kurt Russo on Liberating Lolita & Saving the Southern Residents appeared first on MLY.