Lynda V. Mapes Talks Tahlequah - The Orca Who Changed the World for Orca Action Month
And Frans de Waal Takes on Anthropodenial
Lynda V. Mapes and The Orca Who Changed the World
I called Moby Doll the killer whale who changed the world because, in 1964, no one was referring to his family as orcas. Moby changed that.
Okay, Moby begat Skaana who sparked Paul Spong to change that. And in 2018, the orca - Tahlequah - rocked the world again.
In 2018, Tahlequah, carried her dead daughter's body for 17 days and showed the world that the southern resident orcas were amazing beings and that they needed our help to protect their world... from us.
We covered her story for Skaana and I wrote about Tahlequah for several publications (and talked about her in a lot of interviews) but the reporter who owned the story for The Seattle Times was Lynda V. Mapes.
Her writing was essential. And I was so thrilled that she was game to spend an hour Zooming with me for Skaana to talk about Tahlequah, her new book, saving salmon and what we can and ought to be doing to save the southern resident orcas.
I’m delighted to be sharing this for Orca Action Month and hope you love this interview as much as I do.
And I really hope you'll share this one to spark more people to take action for orca action month. Here are the links:
iTunes
Spotify
Frans de Waal Vs. Anthropodenial
“I’m not against humanizing animals or animalizing humans.” - Frans de Waal
If you've heard the podcast - or seen me talk or read my books - you've heard me mention anthropodenial - so it was such a treat to do a Zoom interview with the man who coined the term - Frans de Waal.
For so many reasons this took forever to post, but at least it’s live when he has a new book to promote - Different: What Apes Can Teach Us About Gender.
On Skaana we talk about great apes, not-so-great humans, animal emotions and anthropodenial.
Here's the link to the episode on Spotify
And here we are on iTunes!
Happy listening!
Mark
Book ‘em
All my books are on sale now from your local bookstore. And please support your local bookstore. Or buy the audiobooks (I produced, recorded and own my own audiobooks :)) Orcas Everywhere and The Killer Whale Who Changed the World are both available on most audio platforms. So is Never Shoot a Stampede Queen - which doesn’t mention whales, but did with The Stephen Leacock Medal for Humour.
For more information, visit orcaseverywhere.com.
Orcas Everywhere is for EVERYONE! Orcas Everywhere explores how humans around the world related to orcas in the past, how we relate to them now, and how we can keep cetacean communities alive and thriving.
Big Whales, Small World is a rhyming photographic board book that introduces young readers to blue whales bigger than dinosaurs and tiny vaquitas who swim close to shores.
Meet Onyx and the orcas of J pod, the world’s most famous whales. Illustrated with stunning photos, this picture book introduces young readers to the orcas humans first fell in love with.
The fascinating and heartbreaking account of the first publicly exhibited captive killer whale—a story that forever changed the way we see orcas and sparked the movement to save them.
And coming soon:
Sharks Forever- The Mystery and History of the Planet’s Perfect Predator and… for your favourite baby! Big Sharks, Small World
Orca Bites
Orca Bites is the newest podcast series from the Skaana team. Each short podcast features words of wisdom from scientists, activists, eco-philosophers, ocean warriors and friends of the planet.
