Happy World Orca Day!
Meet The Hundred-Year-Old Whale - Mark Leiren-Young's award-winning documentary streaming online for free!
Happy World Orca Day (July 14th).
Maybe it's because of all the orca "attacks" #orcarevolution but several streaming sites have just purchased the rights to share The Hundred-Year-Old Whale - the story of Granny and the endangered southern resident orcas.
You can check out the movie on Discovered and Typhoon.
The movie is also featured on The Green Channel - which isn't free, but is a fantastic Canadian-based streaming site that also features my short eco-comedy, The Green Film & my feature film about our connection with forests The Green Chain.
The Hundred-Year-Old Whale was directed and written by me… Skaana host Mark Leiren-Young… and most of the cinematography - including the iconic footage of our orca star, Granny, was shot by our executive producer and the creator of Skaana, Rayne Benu.
The short doc about a long-lived orca has played festivals around the world and won several major awards - including a Writers Guild of Canada Award for Best Documentary. Not best short doc. Best doc.
Featured humans include Jason Colby, Lance Barrett-Lennard, Kirsten Kanes and a couple of key players in the history of the southern resident orcas who have recently passed: Joe Bauer and Ken Balcomb. The narrator is Laara Vandervoort.
Before almost anyone had seen the movie anywhere some "fans" of SeaWorld took offense at the title and the implication that wild whales lived longer than the various Shamus and, perhaps, the fact that Laara had publicly condemned captivity. So we were "review bombed" on the imdb, Rotten Tomatoes and other sites so... if you like the movie... please hit us with as many stars as you see fit on your favourite review site.
And please share the links with anyone who might want to know more about the history and future of the southern resident orcas.
Thanks!
Mark
Also… Skaana
We’ve got a couple of new episodes up - and I’ll send you more on those soon - but for now please check out our interviews with Sean Holman on the essential work he’s doing on climate coverage and Jonathan Mesulam, who is leading the fight against Deep Sea Mining.
And Patreon - if you’re into orcas, oceans, octopus - and all sorts of vital things that don’t begin with the letter O - support our work at Patreon.
You can also support us by becoming a paid subscriber to this newsletter.
Orca & Ocean News
If you’re not in Canada you may not realize that Google and Facebook are currently at war with the Canadian government and our news sites aren’t being shared and are actively being blocked so… I’m going to start sharing some vital stories here… And the plan is to start sharing weekly.
I hope you’ll also share our stories and episodes, because our stories are also being vanished from search engines and social media.
Southern residents
Two new L Pod babies - gender reveal - a boy and a girl! And, yes, of course I’d like them both to get names IMMEDIATELY. Genders of two new southern resident killer whale calves confirmed: researchers
And an a%$hole poses with selfies with orcas. Will the Canadian government find and (at least) fine this dufus? Don’t hold your breath - even if you can hold it as long as an orca. ‘Bad behaviour’: Boater allegedly harasses, takes selfies with orcas off Vancouver Island
Alaska vs. orcas? To feed endangered orcas, Alaska ordered to stop intercepting B.C.-bound salmon
Orca attacks
So ya know all that stuff I’ve been writing about how no orcas in the wild have ever attacked anyone… Nevermind… Orcas becoming strategic in their attacks, says boat captain ambushed twice
And just because… how often do we get to talk about elephant seals?
An elephant seal moves into one of Canada’s poshest neighbourhoods: Emerson the roving elephant seal warms to Oak Bay