The orca is an apex predator, and yet, without Chinook salmon to feed on and silent waters to hunt in, Seattle’s most famous animal cannot survive. There are only 73 Southern Resident killer whales remaining, and the population will have a hard time growing unless we change our behavior to accommodate them. As part of the Beasts of Seattle podcast series, Town Hall’s Podcast Artist-in-Residence Samantha Allen talks with The Seattle Times environmental reporter and Orca: Shared Waters, Shared Home author Lynda V. Mapes about what we need to do for the orca to come home.

This podcast is presented by Town Hall Seattle and it was produced as part of Town Hall Seattle’s Podcast Artist-in-Residence Program.

The music for this podcast was written and performed by John Gould. You can find more of John’s music at johngould.bandcamp.com.

 The art for this podcast was made by Sadie Collins. 

“The Great Salish Sea” provided courtesy of Dana Lyons. You can hear more of Dana’s music at cowswithguns.com.

Orca: Shared Waters, Shared Home by Lynda V. Mapes and published by Braided River is available from local booksellers.

Orca: How We Came to Know and Love the Ocean’s Greatest Predator is available from Oxford University Press.

Sources:

https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/environment/the-orca-and-the-orca-catcher-how-a-generation-of-killer-whales-was-taken-from-puget-sound/
https://seaworld.com/san-diego/commitment/killer-whales/

https://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/os-xpm-2010-03-07-os-seaworld-killer-whale-brains-20100302-story.html

https://www.npr.org/2018/07/31/634314741/after-calfs-death-orca-mother-carries-it-for-days-in-tragic-tour-of-grief

https://www.npr.org/2018/08/12/638047095/after-17-days-and-1-000-miles-a-mother-orcas-tour-of-grief-is-over

https://orcaconservancy.networkforgood.com/projects/129224-hydrophone-project

https://killerwhale.org/biggs-transient-killer-whales/

http://orcazine.com/granny-j2/

https://ptmsc.org/programs/investigate/citizen-science/completed-projects/orca-project/resident-and-transient-orcas

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/understanding-orca-culture-12494696/

https://e360.yale.edu/features/on-the-northwests-snake-river-the-case-for-dam-removal-grows

https://www.salmonrecovery.gov/home/lower-snake-river-dams-power-benefits