Getting the Poop on Orca Genetics, Species, Names and Really Old Whales With NOAA Scientists Tom Jefferson & Kim Parsons

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NOAA scientists Kim Parsons & Tom Jefferson on orca species, orca survival, orca scat, really old whales, the return of harbour porpoises, the fight for vaquitas and so much more in the second part of a special two-part episode on the two soon-to-be official species of orcas who call the Salish Sea home.

Shownotes:

2:29 The challenge of naming new animals… scientific names, the names we use and the politics of naming. Yes, we’re sticking with Residents & Bigg’s.

5:15 How many orca species are there? The challenges of collecting data.

7:01 The genetic challenges facing the southern resident orcas.

10:09 Not enough J-pod baby-daddies.

12:32 “I think we need some optimism here…” a happy story about harbour porpoises. “There may be hope for this species after all. We know what the problems are… if we can make enough compromises in our own behaviour to reduce those threats, I think there’s good reason for being optimistic that the future of southern resident killer whales can still look quite bright.”

14:50 Biological and chronological ages.

19:30 The latest on the vanishing vaquitas – the most endangered marine mammal in the world. Are there only 10 left? “As long as there’s one male and one female left in the population there’s a chance for them to survive.”

23:20 Talking poop about orcas. And orca poop. “I spent a lot of time working with killer whale poop… I’ve collected a lot of poop in my time.”

24:55 Is there another orca species in Alaska? Probably! How many species are there? “We may be looking at six or maybe eight species… maybe more.”

26:58 Improvements in understanding orca health and their environments.

Skaana podcasts connect you to news and experts and their discussions about environments, oceans, and orcas.
Kim Parsons from NOAA.
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Killer Whales Versus Orcas & Big Bigg’s Whale News with NOAA Scientists Tom Jefferson & Kim Parsons

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NOAA scientists Kim Parsons & Tom Jefferson on killer whale science, killer whales versus orcas, orcas versus dolphins, how science becomes official, the challenges of translating science to civilians and so much more in the first of a special two-part episode on the two soon to be official species of orcas who call the Salish Sea home.

Shownotes:

3:45 Meet marine mammal biologist, Tom Jefferson.

4:21 Meet molecular geneticist, Kim Parsons.

5:10 Orcas or killer whales? And how to pronounce orcinus orca.

6:35 Orcas vs. whales/dolphins vs. Delphinidae and confusion over “common names.”

10:35 Talking taxonomy: splitting orca populations into two species.

12:55 Exploring orca genetics.

17:38 What’s in a name? Taxonomists reviewing splitting up species. And making the species designation official. Ish.

20:10 How to tell the difference between types of orcas.

24:31 Early observations of killer whales and how and why they got their names.

26:16 Naming the two orcas – the scientific names and the names we’ll all use…

Skaana podcasts connect you to news and experts and their discussions about environments, oceans, and orcas.
Tom Jefferson from NOAA.
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Eco-Pirate and Eco-Church Founder Paul Watson on Fighting for Whales and Phytoplankton, Launching Neptune’s Navy and Daring Iceland to Arrest Him

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Eco-pirate Paul Watson talks about taking on whalers in Iceland and Japan, splitting with the Sea Shepherd, launching an eco-church and what the hell just happened in his world with Skaana host Mark Leiren-Young (author of Sharks Forever & Orcas Everywhere). “We’re ecologically ignorant. And unless we learn to educate ourselves, we’re not going to survive.”

Shownotes:

4:45 Paul Watson on how he landed in Paris and why he’s only working with Sea Shepherd France & Brazil.

5:40  “They said I was too controversial. Too confrontational.”

9:20 On being an international fugitive. And the disappearance of his Interpol Red Notice.

19:00 “We’ll rebuild it.” On the split with Sea Shepherd Global, his new boat and the dangers of sponsors.

21:40 On radically retiring Sea Shepherd vessels.

22:18 “The three most valuable things – courage and imagination and passion.”

22:30 What’s in a name? Neptune’s Pirates, Neptune’s Navy and The Captain Paul Watson Foundation

23:43 Taking action in Iceland and saving whales by taking on “modern Ahab” Kristján Loftsson. “I’m not really concerned about getting arrested.” Why he’d like to be arrested in Iceland.

28:14 Chasing super-trawlers and the importance of saving krill.

30:30 The return of Japanese whalers – with a new factory ship. And preparing to take on a faster ship.

33:45 Shifting baselines and rebranding fish like pollock becoming artificial crab. “Who wants to buy a toothfish… It all comes down to marketing.”

35:10 “We’re overfishing the ocean.” The need for a 75 year moratorium on mechanized fishing.

35:40 The fight for phytoplankton. “If phytoplankton disappear from the ocean, we die… The ocean dies, we die.”

37:15 “We’re ecologically ignorant. And unless we learn to educate ourselves, we’re not going to survive.”

38:20 Founding the Church of Biocentrism and the dangers of anthropocentrism.

45:30 “We can’t have a viewpoint that it was all created for us and we’re the only species that matters.”

Skaana podcasts connect you to news and experts and their discussions about environments, oceans, and orcas.
Captain Paul Watson in his natural habitat!
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Animal Rights Lawyer, Camille Labchuk, on Canada’s Laws to Finish Shark-Finning and Cetacean Captivity and Animal Rights and Wrongs

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Camille Labchuk (@CamilleLabchuk) executive director of Animal Justice (@AnimalJustice) talks with Mark Leiren-Young (@Leirenyoung) about Canada’s new laws to cancel cetacean captivity and finish finning sharks and the fight for legal rights for animals and vegans. 

Skaana connects you with eco-heroes sharing ideas about oceans, eco-ethics, the environment and how you can change the world.

“Canada hadn’t passed any serious new animal protection legislation since the eighteen hundreds. That’s pretty shocking to most people.” – Camille Labchuk

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Links: 

Vegan firefighter suing the government says he didn’t deserve hunger and humiliation: ‘I’m tired of nice’ | The Star

Canada’s new shark fin ban sets an example for the world

In passage of ‘Free Willy’ bill, Canada bans captivity and breeding of whales and dolphins

Environmentalism’s next frontier: giving nature legal rights

BREAKING NEWS: House votes to end shark fin sales in the U.S.

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Music:

Historian Jason Colby on the History and Future of the Southern Resident Orcas

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Jason Colby (@jasoncolby2) author of Orca: How We Came to Know and Love the Ocean’s Greatest Predator on the history of humanity’s relationship with orcas – and his personal connection to the capture era.

“I refer to this sometimes as the unthinkable history of the Pacific North West.”

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

You can use the affiliate links below to support the pod.

Join the Pod……https://www.patreon.com/skaana

Skaana Tip Jar… https://paypal.me/skaana  

Skaana home…..skaana.org

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Links:

  1. Why Tilikum, SeaWorld’s Killer Orca, Was Infamous: https://news.nationalgeographic.com/2017/01/tilikum-seaworld-orca-killer-whale-dies/
  2. BC’s Pioneer Of Killer Whale Research: https://www.bcmag.ca/bcs-pioneer-of-killer-whale-research/
  3. Era of the Orca Cowboys: https://thetyee.ca/Life/2008/05/16/OrcaCowboys/
  4. From Machine Guns to Save-the-Whales: https://georgiastrait.org/2018/06/from-machine-guns-to-save-the-whales/
  5. They Shoot Orcas, Don’t They? File this under weird BC history. The harpooning of Moby Doll: https://thetyee.ca/Life/2008/05/13/ShootingOrcas/
  6. Sighting of rare giant basking shark in B.C. thrills scientists: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/sighting-of-rare-giant-basking-shark-in-b-c-thrills-scientists-1.3618708
  7. PBS: Interview with Ted Griffin: https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/whales/interviews/griffin.html
  8. YouTube: Breaching Basking Sharks | World’s Weirdest: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zsC61g36EqM
  9. YouTube: Ted Griffin taking a break while orca hunting in 1965: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s7jcFR6xE_o

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Music:

 

Paul Watson
“We’re killing these incredibly beautiful, socially complex, sentient creatures for the purpose of making a weapon meant for the mass extermination of human beings. And that’s when it struck me we’re insane, as a species we’re insane. And that’s when I said I’ll never do anything for people. I’m going to do this for them. (whales)”

“No orca has ever attacked any human being in the wild ever.”

“We’re killing these incredibly beautiful, socially complex, sentient creatures for the purpose of making a weapon meant for the mass extermination of human beings. And that’s when it struck me we’re insane, as a species we’re insane. And that’s when I said I’ll never do anything for people. I’m going to do this for them. (whales)”

 “After being criticized for sinking whaling ships:  “I said, ‘John, I didn’t sink those whaling ships for you or for Greenpeace or for anybody else. We sank them for the whales. Find me a whale who disagreed with what we did and I’ll promise I’ll never do it again.’”

“We’ve never been a protest organization. We’re an interventionist organization. Sea Shepherd is an anti-poaching organization.”

“I felt there was a need for intervention, not protest. I’ve never been a protester.”

“I call what we do aggressive nonviolence.”

“The real fault with the mainstream media is what they don’t talk about.”

“I used to joke that we were the ladies of night of the conservation movement because people may agree with us, but they don’t want to be seen with us in the daytime.”

Sea Shepherd Captain Paul Watson on the fight to save fish, whales, oceans and humans

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Captain Paul Watson (@CaptPaulWatson) founder of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society (@SeaShepherdSSCS) on the Sea Shepherd’s journey from outlaws to law enforcement and his battles to save the fish, the whales and the oceans.

“To be a real conservationist, you have to look ahead a million years.”

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

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Join the Pod……https://www.patreon.com/skaana

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Links:

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Sea Shepherd Conservation Society

Sea Shepherd Global

Sea Shepherd legal

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Music: