In 2018 Tahlequah captured the world’s attention when she carried her dead daughter’s body for seventeen days in what became known as the “tour of grief.” The human who shared that story with the world was Seattle Times reporter, Lynda Mapes. Tahlequah just lost another newborn daughter. She just completed a second tour of grief. And this time… the world wasn’t watching. Lynda Mapes and Skaana host Mark Leiren-Young talk about why the media and the world wasn’t tuned in this time, trolls who blame Tahlequah for her tragedies, the future and fate of Tahlequah and her family and the challenges facing everyone who cares about whales and the planet in 2025. “The way to think about these animals is as an ancient society.” – Lynda Mapes.
Made in Canada 🍁
Shownotes:
4:10 Meet Lynda Mapes. “It’s a pretty catastrophic time.”
5:11 The difference between Tahlequah’s first and second tour of grief. “It’s not like the last time with six million people reading my stories.”
6:20 “She’s still the ultimate media star.”
8:27 Remembering the first tour of grief and the attempts to save Scarlet (J-50).
10:04 “These animals define the region.”
10:25 “Look at the world right now… it’s a pretty dire time in the US.”
11:15 “Some people blame her.” We interrupt this show note (Mark here) to say this makes me want to scream…
14:18 “This is a co-extinction.”
18:17 “What we have left we cannot lose.”
18:55 Is the biggest threat to the Southern Residents the Biggs transients?
20:00 “I’m afraid people are going to forget about the southern residents… they have a right to be here… the way to think about these animals is as an ancient society.”
23:44 Tour 2… “It isn’t what it was…”
25:06 People trolling Tahlequah…
27:15 “We’ve taken away her food, we’ve taken away her territory…”
28:05 The future and fate of NOAA. “It’s dire… it couldn’t be a more serious situation for the environment and people who care about it. It’s a scary time.”
30:02 “We’re going to have to make profound changes in order to bring back salmon in greater numbers…” Cleaning up and trashing dams.
34:11 “The power of nature, the resilience of nature is thrilling and real.”
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