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Explore every episode of the podcast Skaana with Mark Leiren-Young

Dive into the complete episode list for Skaana with Mark Leiren-Young. Each episode is cataloged with detailed descriptions, making it easy to find and explore specific topics. Keep track of all episodes from your favorite podcast and never miss a moment of insightful content.

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TitlePub. DateDuration
Dr. Andrew Rosenberg on Trump vs. Science, Facts & The Planet05 Oct 202400:54:42

Talking Trump vs. science, facts and the planet with Dr. Andrew Rosenberg.  The former director of the Center for Science and Democracy at the Union of Concerned Scientists and former director of NOAA on Project 2025, popping social media bubbles and why it is so friggin’ important that Americans vote… And not for Trump. “Whatever your issue is, should you be concerned? Yes! …This is not a time to sit it out.” On Project 2025: “It’s worse than you think it is. No matter how bad you think it is, it’s worse.”

Shownotes:

4:11 Andrew Rosenberg explains what the Union of Concerned Scientists is concerned about and how the focus shifted from weapons to using science to spin for politicians.

7:00 “Everyone will ask what are you concerned about… until Mr. Trump was elected and then nobody needed to ask that question anymore because it was pretty obvious what we were concerned about.”

8:00 Trump’s wasn’t the first administration to distort facts. “Everything that was talked about the facts became whatever Mr. Trump said they were at any given moment and that was not the same thing from one moment to the next. And in our current presidential campaign that’d gotten even worse.”

8:52 The futility of fact-checking when “everybody’s in their little bubbles in the social media age.”

11:06 Why the Trump administration kept losing their challenges in court and how Project 2025 will stop the courts from ignoring laws.

11:51 “We also leaned into the ideas that scientists can and should be much more active in the political process.” And the resistance to that…

16:45 How to challenge lies. What works, what doesn’t and why. “We’re not going to turn everybody into scientists.”

22:07 The impact of COVID and isolation on fact based reality.

23:10 “Anybody can say anything on social media.”

28:45 On Project 2025: “It’s worse than you think it is. No matter how bad you think it is, it’s worse.”

33:41 “President Trump was frustrated that people didn’t just do what he wanted.” ‘cause laws and consciences…

35:20 “It’s 900 pages long and covers every agency.” The end of NOAA… the end of science and research… and privatizing the weather service and…. yeah it’s worse…

37:00 Everybody becomes a political appointee…  You’re fired! “You would choose people based on their loyalty, not their expertise.”

39:15 Sharpiegate! How Trump moved a hurricane – so he could send money to a state he liked.

43:25 You can imagine what it will be like if he’s back in office. It will be worse… things will get a lot worse.”

44:00 “There’s no tethering to facts at all… it’s just whatever he happens to think about it at a given time.

48:04 BC water moving to California?

49:00 “I don’t believe he understands the sovereignty of other nations. Or cares.”

55:00 What you can do…

51:25 “Whatever your issue is, should you be concerned? Yes!”

51:52 “This is not a time to sit it out.”

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

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Andrew Rosenberg Support Our Guest

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Podcaster Andrew Lewin On Protecting the Oceans11 Sep 202400:27:42

Andrew Lewin – host of the How to Protect the Ocean podcast – on teaching the world about oceans, myth-busting fake facts and falling for the oceans from his home in Ontario. “This is what people should be talking about.”

Shownotes:

3:25 How Andrew Lewin fell for the oceans and marine biology.

5:18 The first time Andrew saw a whale.

6:47 Finding Flipper and falling for dolphins. “You have this sense of awe when you look at dolphins.” Can dolphins be, um, jerks?

8:45 Talking orcas – including the orcas who eat great white sharks.

11:20 The origin of How to Protect the Oceans podcast and the mission to educate.

17:20  “My why is just change somebody’s life.”

18:52 The challenge of fighting fake facts and junk science. “The goal is to inform.”

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

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Andrew Lewin Support Our Guest

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Gloria Pancrazi: On Endangered Orcas, Endangered Humans and Making Movies that Change the World24 Dec 202300:31:26

Filmmaker Gloria Pancrazi (Coextinction) talks with Skaana host Mark Leiren-Young about red herrings, fishy fish farms, whale watching, whale saving and Coextinction. “Orcas are telling us something. They’re showing us something. You can learn a lot about the things we’ve got to do in the world right now by looking at these orcas.”

Shownotes:

3:35 Meet Gloria Pancrazi and how the story of love for orcas turned into a mission to save the southern resident orcas.

6:12 “A lot of politicians like to blame whale watchers because then they can accept a pipeline that’s going to increase tanker traffic by seven- fold… you can go on and on about the impact of the Trans Mountain pipeline and how it’s going to impact southern resident orcas.”

8:38 “One of the biggest points of the movie is that everything is connected… it’s hard to pick one big issue.”

11:50 “It always fascinated us how the orcas are telling us something. They’s showing us something. You can learn a lot about the things we’ve got to do in the world right now by looking at these orcas.”

13:18 “They are each other’s home and we’re destroying that home.”

13:38 The first time she saw a whale:

15:35 Working for Cetus’s Straitwatch program in Canada and SoundWatch in the US and the challenges of keeping orcas safe from small boats.

22:04 Visiting OrcaLab. “It’s magical up there.”

25:28 The impacts of colonization and colonial trauma.

27:50 Where and how to see Coextinction.

Skaana podcasts connect you to news and experts and their discussions about environments, oceans, and orcas. Support Our Guest Books for sale and Classes from Team Skaana

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Danna Staaf: On Alien Octopuses, Squid Squads and Why Baby Animals Rule18 Oct 202300:48:31

Cephalopod expert Danna Staaf (author of The Lady and the Octopus and Monarchs of the Sea) talks with Skaana host Mark Leiren-Young about the alien world of octopuses, the secret lives of squid and her two new books Nursery Earth: The Wondrous Lives of Baby Animals and the Extraordinary Ways They Shape Our World and The Lives of Octopuses and Their Relatives: A Natural History of Cephalopods. “They are definitely our fellow earthlings and some of the oddest ones we share the planet with.”

Shownotes:

3:20 Meet Danna Staaf. “They are extremely intelligent animals with extremely short life-spans.”

6:12 Meet Danna Staaf’s first pet octopus – Serendipity.

12:32 “There’s this tension between the alien and the familiar in them.” And octopus decor…

13:50 “They are definitely our fellow earthlings and some of the oddest ones we share the planet with.”

15:49 How and why cephalopods lost their shells.

22:15 The difference between octopus and squid. “Squid basically evolved for swimming and for speed.”

25:10 “Cephalopods are amazing.”

27:13 “These are real animals that inspired a lot of myths and legends.”

28:35 “Squid are like the protein bars of the oceans.”

31:30 Squid squads!

32:36 Baby animals doot doot doot doot – Danna Staff’s new baby book!

34:31 “At any given moment, most of the animals on earth are babies… I find all of them to be adorable in their own ways.”

41:20 Her favourite odd octopus facts… donut brains!

42:17 “I love asking what if questions about nature and about science.”

44:20 How humans are threatening octopuses and the health of the oceans.

Skaana podcasts connect you to news and experts and their discussions about environments, oceans, and orcas. Danna Staff Author Photo – credit Josh Weaver Support Our Guest Books for sale and Classes from Team Skaana

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Jason Colby: On the Capture of Toki/Tokitae/Lolita/Sk’aliCh’elh-tenaut and How Penn Cove Almost Ended the Southern Resident Orcas13 Sep 202300:26:05

Jason Colby (author of Orca: How We Came to Know and Love the Ocean’s Greatest Predator) talks with Skaana host Mark Leiren-Young about the capture of Toki/Tokitae/Lolita/Sk’aliCh’elh-tenaut and how Penn Cove almost ended the southern resident orcas and was the beginning of the end of the capture era. “It’s worth remembering that the argument at the time, if there could have been a debate at the time, it was really between whale catching and whale shooting, not whale catching and whale watching.”

Shownotes:

0:00 The voice of Toki.

4:08 Jason Colby on writing the book – or at least a very long chapter of his book – on Penn Cove.

6:05 “They eventually capture virtually all of these orcas behind nets. They estimate at the time around 90 individuals… The estimates vary but almost certainly the entire population of the Southern residents.”

7:43 “It’s worth remembering that the argument at the time, if there could have been a debate at the time, it was really between whale catching and whale shooting, not whale catching and whale watching.”

8:50 “Once they rounded them up, 90 to 100 animals, if Ted Griffin and his company would have wanted to and would have had the market to sell all 90 of them they could have done that. If they had wanted to shoot them all in the nets, they could have done that. There may have been a firearms violation, but there would be no sort of conservation law violation.”

10:30 “This must have been horrifically traumatic for these pods to be torn apart.”

11:20 How activists trying to free the orcas accidentally kill four baby orcas.

12:20 Hiding the bodies… “Whether it was illegal or not, it looks like a murder scene.”

14:20 Is Toki really L Pod or did she learn how to speak L Pod from Hugo in Miami?

20:04 “It was a generational loss.”

21:20 “If Griffin had done what the fisherman who was helping him demanded – which is to sell all of them all – you could have seen the entire population of Southern residents extinguished before we had even identified them scientifically as a population.”

23:00 How to help orcas today and the problems humans are creating for orcas today.

26:04 Toki talks.

Skaana podcasts connect you to news and experts and their discussions about environments, oceans, and orcas. Jason Colby from Mark Leiren-Young’s award-winning documentary The Hundred Year-Old Whale Support Our Guest Books for sale and Classes from Team Skaana

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Howard Garrett: On the Life and Death of the Orca Toki/Tokitae/Lolita/Sk’aliCh’elh-tenaut31 Aug 202300:42:42

Howard Garrett (Orca Network) remembering the southern resident orca Toki/Tokitae/Lolita/Sk’aliCh’elh-tenaut and his nearly thirty year fight to bring Toki home to the Salish Sea. “Toki’s legacy is building, building, building by the day… She wasn’t just a circus animal. She was a member of the southern residents.”

Shownotes:

0:00 The voice of Toki.
4:57 How Howard started fighting to bring Toki home

7:50 “I really feel like she would have thrived and been thrilled and so relieved to be in her familiar waters.”

14:16 A superpod wake for Toki?

15:55 The Lummi Nation’s fight for Toki.

20:05  The origins of Toki’s names and becoming Sk’aliCh’elh-tenaut.

21:44 “Her tank violated the very dismal standard of the animal welfare act…”

30:15 Getting the news that she was gone.

34:00 Toki’s legacy.

43:00 Toki speaks.

Skaana podcasts connect you to news and experts and their discussions about environments, oceans, and orcas. Howard Garrett at a marine conference in Vancouver in 2017 Support Our Guest Books for sale and Classes from Team Skaana

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Rowena Rae on How We Can Save Salmon, the Fish Farm Jail-Break & Unlocking the Mysteries of a Keystone Species16 Aug 202300:35:27

Author and biologist Rowena Rae on swimming with salmon, threats to this essential species and their incredible resilience with Skaana host Mark Leiren-Young. “Salmon can thrive if we just give them a chance… if people would just get out of the way, they can thrive”.

Shownotes:

3:54 On becoming a biologist and leaving biology for writing.
7:12 Introducing young readers to the story of Rachel Carson.

9:20 Introducing Rachel Carson and the importance of Silent Spring.

12:20 Swimming with salmon.

14:07 Keystone species and why they matter.

  Humans Vs. Salmon; almost everything eats salmon  — salmon as “eco-system engineers”.

23:44 How to save Chinook salmon.

26:09 The fish farm jail-break in Washington State.

28:50 On the resilience of nature and salmon, and why to have hope. “They’re tenacious, they hang on … salmon can thrive if we just give them a chance”.

31:30 How we can help salmon.

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

Rowena Rae – author of Salmon: Swimming for Survival

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Alessandro De Maddalena on Hunting for the Perfect Shark Photo and the Orcas Hunting Great White Sharks28 Jul 202300:51:01

Shark expert Alessandro De Maddalena talks with Skaana host Mark Leiren-Young about hunting for the perfect shark photo, the two orcas who are hunting great white sharks in South African waters, what makes great whites great and so much more! “The reason I love sharks is that they are a perfect art form. I consider Mother Nature the greatest artist.”

Shownotes:

4:22 How Alessandro De Maddalena fell for sharks as a kid and why sharks are cooler than dinosaurs.
9:00 Why he thinks the great white is great: “the first time I was watching a great white underwater it was magic… The reason I love sharks is that they are a perfect art form. I consider Mother Nature the greatest artist.” 13:10 Perfect predators and perfect book titles. 17:01 How little sharks care about humans. “Sharks care very little about humans. In most cases they don’t care at all.” 21:40 “The fear was born with Jaws…” 27:50 “People like to be afraid. People like monsters. People also like to create monsters.” 28:44 Leading Great White Shark expeditions. 33:40 His three best moments with sharks. 37:15 The truth behind the orcas attacking sharks in South Africa. No they are not a major threat to the great white shark population! Skaana podcasts connect you to news and experts and their discussions about environments, oceans, and orcas.

Alessandro De Maddalena

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Alessandro De Maddalena image – featured in Mark Leiren-Young’s book Sharks Forever

Sean Holman on Fighting for Facts and Holding Onto Hope as the World Burns12 Jul 202300:32:42

Sean Holman @Seanholman founder and lead of the Climate Disaster Project @cdp_community talks with Skaana host Mark Leiren-Young @leirenyoung about the past and future of the media’s climate coverage, fighting fires with facts and sharing stories to save the future.

Shownotes:

5:00 Welcome Sean Holman. Why he challenged journalists to do better in their climate coverage.
10:57 The challenge of news cycles moving faster than science 15:10 “There is a lot that we can individually do about combat climate change creating collective action around that. as an example In the United States if everyone switched from eating beef to beans the United States would have actually met the greenhouse gas targets that were set by Obama.” 16:34 ““Almost all of us are climate disaster survivors in one way shape or form but many of us are also perpetrators of climate change as well in our individual lives.” 17:01 Climate impact on the oceans. 21:53 Climate impact on the economy 23:44 How the smoke from the 2017 BC Wildfire season changed the way he saw the world 26:40 The origins of the Climate Disaster Project and the importance of creating community 29:33 What gives Sean Holman hope Skaana podcasts connect you to news and experts and their discussions about environments, oceans, and orcas. Support Our Guest For more on the climate disaster project  Books on Amazon and Classes

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Photo via the BC Wildfire Service.

Decimating the Deep: The Dangers of Ocean Floor Mining With Jonathan Mesulam21 Jun 202300:34:35

Jonathan Mesulam @MesulamJonathan Founder and Coordinator of the West Coast Development Foundation in New Guinea talks with Skaana host Mark Leiren-Young @leirenyoung about the crucial fight to stop Deep Sea Mining in his home – New Guinea – and around the world.

Shownotes:

5:00 Welcome to Jonathan Mesulam
10:00 The importance of the church in fighting sea bed mining in New Guinea 12:20 Calling out Canada for allowing Canadian companies to mine in the waters off other countries 14:49 “No one knows the risk.” 16:23 On displacing communities. “If the sea is destroyed where are people going to get food?” 21:40 On leaving teaching to fight for the oceans. 25:12 “This fight is not really about us, it’s about everyone.” 27:00 All the places the sign we carried has traveled. 28:32 What he’d like Canadians to do. “We’re looking at the Pacific Ocean and it’s connecting you and me.Any activity on the Pacific Ocean is going to affect your coastline as well. The sea has no boundary… Canadians really need to speak up… Canadians should say no to sea bed mining… This project is a Canadian initiation.” Skaana podcasts connect you to news and experts and their discussions about environments, oceans, and orcas. Support Our Guest For more on how to stop Deep Sea Mining Books on Amazon and Classes

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Sharks Don’t Want to Eat You! Mark Leiren-Young’s New Book Sharks Forever15 Mar 202300:14:43

Skaana (@Skaanapod) host Mark Leiren-Young (@LeirenYoung) shares the introduction and opening chapter of his new book Sharks Forever: The Mystery and History of the Planet’s Perfect Predator published by Orca Book Publishers (@orcabook).  “If you swim in the ocean every day for 100 years, you are more likely to be struck by lightning than swallowed by a shark.” – Mark Leiren-Young from Chapter 1, Sharks Forever.

 

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Show notes:

0:00 – Intro
0:00 – Introduction to Sharks Forever
0:00 – Chapter 1: Sharks Forever

Shark Myths and Mysteries with Mark Leiren-Young16 Nov 202200:38:43

Skaana (@Skaanapod) host Mark Leiren-Young (@leirenyoung) talks sharks, Sharkwater (@teamsharkwater) and politics with Joseph Planta (@Planta) on a special shared episode with Planta On the Line @TheCommentary.ca


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Show notes:

00:21 Introduction
2:51 Joseph Planta introduces Mark Leiren-Young.
4:00 Why Sharks Forever is dedicated to Rob Stewart and meeting Rob in Barcelona
10:45 Why I call sharks “the perfect predator.” “They are eating machines… they look devastating and awesome when you see them hunting.”
12:40 The impact of Jaws “What is baffling to me is that this one movie – released in 1976 – completely defined the way humans see sharks…. every time somebody saw a shark it was reported as if aliens invaded.”
16:41 “One moose hit one person in Jasper? ‘We’re going to shoot every moose in Jasper!’ That is the approach to sharks. And I wish I put that analogy in the book… the government does not go, “it’s time for a war on moose.” You get a bear bite you don’t go after every bear.”
17:20 “We’re not food to them. We’re a lousy food source.”
18:00 “Sharks just look scary to us – something about them hits us on a primal level.”
21:18 Shark personalities and shark friendships.
23:40 The dangers of anthropodenial and the term’s creator, Frans de Waal.  “When you tickle a monkey it laughs.”
25:47 “Everything is now eating plastics… humans don’t share. Humans just are not good at sharing.”
26:30 “The more environmental stuff that I do, the more astonished I am by nature.”
28:10 “There are almost always sharks fairly close to shore… they’re everywhere. We’ve all been really close to sharks if we’ve been in the water.”
30:00 “Roughly five people are killed by sharks each year… falling bookshelves definitely kill more people each year than sharks. TVs falling on people. Just pick the most random thing and they are all more dangerous than sharks.”
31:10 Running for Saanich council. Why I ran for political office.
36:08 “Joseph – you’re an essential service.”

16-year-old Rylee Brooke on Young People Saving the Planet21 Aug 202400:30:50

Sixteen-year-old Hawaiian environmental activist Rylee Brooke hasn’t just been fighting for the environment – and the rights of keiki (young people) – since the age of eight, she’s teaching other young people and adults how to make change and make laws. Adventures in changing things locally and globally, making the case for Vote 16 and proving that young people can do pretty much anything – including inspiring law-makers to do better.

Shownotes:

3:30 Meet Rylee Brooke. “I kind of grew up doing community service.”

7:12 Starting “The Plastics Project” and sparking youth-run beach clean-ups at age eight.

8:20 How 15 kids clean up 500 pounds of plastic. In one day!

10:20 The power of social media. And the local grapevine.

12:45 Learning to create law – and teaching young people how to create laws. “I got into writing my own bills…”

15:40 “I was asked to be part of the first youth-led conservation case… I was one of the thirteen plaintiffs on that.”

20:00  Vote 16 and the fight to lower the voting age in Hawaii and throughout the US.

22:08 Shark diving with Ocean Ramsey.

23:23  “I think just a kid coming in to speak is really powerful.” On getting comfortable talking to politicians and crowds.

28:24 Advice for other young people and, really, everyone. “It’s really figuring out what you’re passionate about.”

Skaana podcasts connect you to news and experts and their discussions about environments, oceans, and orcas. Rylee Brooke Support Our Guests

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Director Josh Zeman on a Lonely Whale, Lonely People and the Search for 52 Blue02 Nov 202200:33:00
Director Josh Zeman (@joshzeman)  on the quest for the loneliest whale in the world and shifting his focus from human mysteries to marine mysteries with his movie, The Loneliest Whale: The Search for 52.  “Just when you think you’ve had too much devil-worshipping and serial killers, you go and you spend a day working on whales and everything’s okay again.”
Skaana podcasts connect you to news and experts and their discussions about environments, oceans, and orcas. Support Our Guest Books on Amazon and Classes

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Show notes:

0:00 – intro
4:37 – There once was a film in Nantucket. . .
6:20 – Working on a whaling ship at age 14.
9:47 – “It was such a cool story that interconnected science and legend and naval stuff. It was such a fascinating journey.”
13:38 – “There’s a mystery here for us to solve.”
13:55 – The first time he saw a whale.
17:18 – Looking at loneliness and why this story became a phenomenon.
19:28 – Explaining the idea of 52 Hertz.
23:12 – Moving from true crime to the mystery of 52 Blue.
24:50 – Catching fire on Kickstarter
28:52 – “Just when you think you’ve had too much devil-worshipping and serial killers you go and you spend a day working on whales and everything’s okay again.”
29:33 – “Understand what your consumerism does.”

Filmmaker Nadine Pequeneza On The Right Ways To Save Right Whales07 Oct 202200:42:29


Filmmaker Nadine Pequeneza talks about meeting and fighting for the North Atlantic Right Whales Right Whales for her award-winning documentary, Last of the Right Whales, with Skaana (@Skaanapod) host Mark Leiren-Young (@leirenyoung).

Mark mentioning his campaign is authorized by Rayne Ellycrys Benu. Mark’s campaign sponsorship mention is authorized by Rayne Ellycrys Benu -mly@icloud.com Skaana podcasts connect you to news and experts and their discussions about environments, oceans, and orcas. Support Our Guest Books on Amazon and Classes

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Author Lynda V. Mapes on Saving Salmon and the Southern Resident Orcas19 Jun 202201:13:34
Seattle Times (@seattletimes) environment reporter Lynda V Mapes (@LyndaVMapes) on dams versus salmon, saving the southern resident orcas and how Tahlequah changed the world. “All the things we do for our comfort, convenience and commerce are not good for the southern residents. And that’s just fact.” Skaana podcasts connect you to news and experts and their discussions about environments, oceans, and orcas.

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Show notes: 00:30 – Lynda Mapes on falling in love with Ocean Sun 1:50 – Skaana introduction to Lynda Mapes and Tahlequah 9:31 – Removing dams and saving orcas 10:47 – “What do we want the next 150 years to look like?” 11:06 – Becoming the environmental reporter for Seattle newspapers and covering the Makah whale hunt. 15:25 – “We have a motto at the Seattle Times – news you can’t get anywhere else.” 17:11 – Seattle Times epic orca coverage – Hostile Waters – Orcas in Peril https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/environment/hostile-waters-orcas-killer-whale-puget-sound-washington-canada/ 19:30 – Hearing about Tahlequah and her daughter: “And I thought, she won’t let it go. I’m not letting it go.” 20:26 – “I don’t think she ever dropped it. I think it fell apart.” 21:04 – “By the time we wrote that last story where she dropped the calf, there were six million people reading that story online.” 21:13 – Scientists know that these very sophisticated intelligent animals grieve and that that’s what she was doing… these are families.” 26:05 – Tahlequah’s political impact. 30:54 – The Snake River Dam vs. salmon and orcas. 39:15 – Undamming the Elwha River – a river revival. 43:20 – Return of the eagles and dippers (a songbird at the Elwha). 46:36 – “Canada has been a real heartbreak for us down here in the States” – American opposition to Canadian pipeline expansion. 50:27 – “All the things we do for our comfort, convenience and commerce are not good for the southern residents. And that’s just fact.” 55:00 – On the differences in dealing with NOAA and the DFO. 57:38 – Names versus numbers. 1:00:17 – “Calling them by this sort of widget number is bizarre and insulting.” 1:04:00 – “The right way to think about these animals is… they comprise ancient societies.” 1:04:45 – “People say to me oh they’re just like us. Don’t flatter yourself… we could learn a lot from them.” 1:09:30 – “Everywhere we live is orca country.” 1:10:00 – On why she has hope.
Ape Expert Frans de Waal Versus Anthropodenial26 May 202200:59:49

Author and primatologist Frans de Waal  talks about great apes, not-so-great humans, animal emotions and anthropodenial with Skaana (@Skaanapod) host Mark Leiren-Young (@leirenyoung).

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Show Notes

1:30 – Intro

3:35 – Defining anthropodenial.

6:05 – Anthropomorphism and primates.

7:02 – “That’s the interesting part is we are so human-centric that we can deal with facial expressions, but not with the expressions of an elephant who do a lot of things was their trunk and ears, but their face is not very mobile.”

8:31 – Are humans a “successful” species?

11:05 – On human exceptionalism. “People always want to be special.”

12:40 – “If related species show similar behavior under similar circumstances, you have to use the same terminology because the psychology behind it is probably similar too.”

13:28 – How science’s relationship with anthropomorphism is changing.

14:40 – Laughing chimps.

16:15 -Why primatologists use names for apes not numbers.

17:58 – Animals and grief. “All animals that have attachments can also grieve.”

20:30 -“I’m not against humanizing animals or animalizing humans.”

22:49 – Survival of the kindest versus survival of the fittest.

26:00 – Talking about his book Mama’s Last Hug.

27:40 – Gender roles in bonobos.

30:05 – Bonobos solve problems with sex.

32:46 – Is there resistance to de Waal’s work and theories?

34:27 – His thoughts on animal personhood and the rights of animals.

36:30 – How he became interested in animals and animal behaviour.

42:34 – How he began working with chimpanzees.

46:32 – Becoming friends with apes.

47:25 – Animal communication and “dialect”.

51:12 – On being a cat person. “I consider cats extremely social.”

52:10 – Talking to the Dalai Lama about empathy. “I think empathy is found in all the mammals.”

Sea Shepherd Captain, Paul Watson, on saving salmon, aggressive nonviolence and his journey from outlaw to law enforcement. Part two of our special two-part interview.03 Apr 202200:31:33

Sea Shepherd Captain, Paul Watson (@CaptPaulWatson), talks with Mark Leiren-Young (@leirenyoung) about getting political, remembering Rob Stewart, saving salmon with Alexandra Morton and the Sea Shepherd Navy! Part two of our special two-part interview.

Skaana podcasts connect you to news and experts and their discussions about environments, oceans, and orcas. Support Our Guest Excerpts from Orcapedia by Paul Watson and Tiffany Humphrey Sea Shepherd Conservation Society Sea Shepherd Global Sea Shepherd Legal Books on Amazon and Classes

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Time Codes
    • 03:08 Running for public office. 
    • 03:38 “I did it primarily for the platform that it provided.”
    • 04:09 The Green Party trying to kick him out as a candidate.
    • 05:08 On the Sea Shepherd’s policy of “aggressive nonviolence.”
    • 08:29 On the Sea Shepherd going from outlaw to law enforcement.
    • 08:54 “We uphold international conservation maritime law.”
    • 11:47 The impact of Rob Stewart and his documentary, Sharkwater
    • 15:01 “The camera’s the most powerful weapon that’s ever been invented. It changes things. It can change society.”
    • 15:35 Operation Virus Hunter and working with Alexandra Morton to help save the salmon in the Salish Sea.
    • 19:02 Saving the vaquita.
    • 22:52 The Sea Shepherd’s current campaigns.
    • 23:45 The size of the Sea Shepherd navy
    • 24:14 “Everybody can do something.”
    • 27:00 Mark Leiren-Young performs Operation Dessert Storm live in Victoria in 2018 – music by Mike McCormick from The Arrogant Worms
Sea Shepherd Captain, Paul Watson, on Seaspiracies and the Smartest Species on Earth17 Nov 202100:33:21

Sea Shepherd Captain, Paul Watson (@CaptPaulWatson), talks with Mark Leiren-Young (@leirenyoung) about Seaspiracy, life as an outlaw and as a movie star, the impact of Covid on life in the oceans and whether whales are more intelligent than we are.

Skaana podcasts connect you to news and experts and their discussions about environments, oceans, and orcas. Support Our Guest

Berke Breathed’s original drawing of Opus, the Penguin – used to illustrate Mark Leiren-Young’s poem Operation Dessert Storm in the Sea Shepherd newsletter.

Excerpts from Orcapedia Mentioned Episodes: Sea Shepherd Conservation Society Sea Shepherd Global Sea Shepherd Legal Books on Amazon and Classes

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TIME CODES
  • 4:38– How Covid has effected the Sea Shepherd and the oceans
  • 4:52– “There has been an increase in poaching.”
  • 6:52– His new book, Orcapedia
  • 7:10– “What we’re talking about here is an international slave trade where the orcas are the new slaves.”
  • 8:36– “The orcas in captivity have names and therefore we tend to relate to them more so than the ones that are in the wild.”
  • 10:13– Tilikum’s story
  • 13:41– How Watson fell for whales.
  • 13:58– “To me whales are highly intelligent, very social, self-aware sentient beings and I think, in many cases, they’re probably more intelligent than we are.”
  • 17:20–  The backlash to Seaspiracy
  • 17:30– “The fishing industry’s very powerful and they throw a lot of money into their PR machines.”
  • 20:55–   “What we really need is a tuna-free tuna.”
  • 21:12–   “You can find scientists who will defend any side of an argument. I call them “biostitutes,” when they’re working for the industry.”
  • 23:36– “A good percentage of the fishing industry is strictly, completely illegal – unregulated and uncontrolled.”
  • 27:10– How his movie Watson happened.
  • 29:04– Selling his life story – a lot.
Meet the Orcas Who Hunt on Land! Guests: Josh McInnes & Justine Buckmaster01 Oct 202100:30:00

Killer whales hunting on land? Josh McInnis (scientist) and Justine Buckmaster (naturalist) on their wild discovery that some Salish Sea orcas are hunting seals on the shores of Protection Island and how orcas continue to surprise us.

Skaana shares stories about oceans, eco-ethics and the environment.

Photo credits: Justine Buckmaster

 

Josh McInnes is a marine ecologist and masters candidate at the University of British Columbia’s Institute for the Oceans and Fisheries Marine Mammal Research Unit. Josh grew up on Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada.  For over a decade Josh has studied the ecology and behaviour of transient (Bigg’s) killer whales along the Pacific Coast, but has also traveled to remote locations off British Columbia, Washington State, Alaska, California, Australia, and Antarctica to study marine mammal populations.

Justine Buckmaster is a certified Marine Naturalist currently working at Puget Sound Express. She has been working in the Salish Sea region for over ten years as a guide and educator on whale watching ecotours. Justine works with local marine mammal researchers by providing digital photos and sightings data from her encounters to record proof of presence and unique behaviors of the marine mammal species and populations of the Salish Sea. Justine was raised in southern Washington State near the Columbia River and currently resides in the town of Mukilteo in northern Puget Sound.

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Please support our guests and our podcast.

 

Timecodes
  • 0:00– Intro
  • 4:18– Killer whales hunting on land? Josh McInnis (scientist) and Justine Buckmaster (naturalist) on their wild discovery that some Salish Sea orcas are hunting seals on the shores of Protection Island and how orcas continue to surprise us.
  • 6:52– Discovering Bigg’s orcas who hunt on land.
  • 14:02– “This is something that maybe is brand new to these animals (Josh McInnes)”
  • 14:40– Josh McInnes on meeting rare Gerlache Orcas in Antarctica.
  • 15:01– “It’s kind of surprising that the killer whales are much more maneuverable than the penguins are.”  (Josh McInnes)
  • 19:34– “Seeing transient orcas hunt is always just a awesome” (Justine Buckmaster)
  • 21:30– “I think orcas are basically the epitome of what we are as a species and intelligence or smarter than us.” (Josh McInnes)
  • 27:09  “They’re spectacular animals and I don’t think we’re going to stop learning about them any time soon. (Josh McInnes)”
Alexandra Morton on fighting for sea-life, fighting against sea lice and the beauty of dancing, spawning salmon15 Aug 202100:52:29

Eco-warrior, Alexandra Morton, on her fight to save wild salmon, being gaslit by the Canadian government and her adventures in Green politics. She also dares people to sue her over her essential new book – Not On My Watch:  How a renegade whale biologist took on governments and industry to save wild salmon.

“The salmon farming industry is harming wild salmon, is harming whales, is causing algae blooms and really needs to be controlled.”

Skaana shares stories about oceans, eco-ethics and the environment.

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Significant Quotes:

“The salmon farming industry is harming wild salmon, is harming whales, is causing algae blooms and really needs to be controlled. I mean, at first I thought they just had to get off the wild salmon migration routes, but now I realize they just have to get out of the ocean completely, and if they want to continue, build a tank and get in it and operate from there.”(8:18)


“Doing all this damage was part of how they were making such a phenomenal amount of money. It’s really insidious.” (12:38)


“I cannot believe I have spent my whole adult life fighting salmon farms. It just seems ridiculous. But when I look at it from a global perspective I realize I’m part of a huge army across the planet that is trying to protect life on earth.” (12:55)


“When you have a corporation involved, they don’t really care how many fish there are. They just want that share price to go up. And so this is deadly, because it really is a cancer model. They need to grow, they need to grow, they need to grow, with no mind to the fact that they’re killing the very body that they’re in, which in this case is the ocean. I mean, they’re going to kill themselves off. They are killing themselves off in the process of following their business plan. It’s really deranged. It doesn’t make sense and it has to stop.”  (15:31)


“Nobody wants to buy fish that have killed off whales, never mind everything else.” (19:00)

 

“There’s nobody whose position in DFO is the health of wild salmon. There’s no director of wild salmon.” (24:48)


“We have the biggest salmon run in the world on the verge of extinction.” (29:29)


“I saw grizzly bears that no longer looked like Grizzly bears… they were emaciated.” (33:14)


“Alexandra: I have to wonder at some level in government are people saying, “Oh my God, those fish… What?!  They’re still coming back? There’s still 20 of them?! Gosh darn it.” I don’t know. I don’t think people, I don’t think some level of government wants wild salmon at all.

Mark: That just gave me chills because I found myself asking the same question about the Southern residents.

Alexandra: I bet you do. Yep..

Mark: I feel like there are people in the federal government, you are going “Damn, there’s still 74 of them…. “

Alexandra: Yeah, and they’re having babies. ” (36:07)


“The salmon actually have the whole mating thing down. They can handle that.”  (42:30)


“And for the first time last spring, I set my big net and pulled it in and looked at the fish and, oh my gosh, they were fat and sassy. They were sparkly, blues and silvers, deep jet black eyes, not the cloudy film they get when they go by the farms and it was a feeling in my heart that I just really had to sort of stand back a minute and be like, what is that feeling? It was joy. It felt like my heart was ringing.” (48:00)

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Launch of Operation Virus Hunter (2016) Photo credits: Mark Leiren-Young

Timecodes
  • 0:00– Alexandra Morton – introduction
  • 1:40– Mark’s welcome
  • 6:30– Alexandra’s new book, “Not on My Watch”
  • 8:18– “The salmon farming industry is harming wild salmon, is harming whales, is causing algae blooms and really needs to be controlled. I mean, at first I thought they just had to get off the wild salmon migration routes, but now I realize they just have to get out of the ocean completely, and if they want to continue, build a tank and get in it and operate from there.”
  • 9:37– The impact of fish farms
  • 12:38– “Doing all this damage was part of how they were making such a phenomenal amount of money. It’s really insidious.”
  • 14:33– Alexandra’s political adventure – running for the BC Green party
  • 15:31– “When you have a corporation involved, they don’t really care how many fish there are. They just want that share price to go up. And so this is deadly, because it really is a cancer model. They need to grow, they need to grow, they need to grow, with no mind to the fact that they’re killing the very body that they’re in, which in this case is the ocean. I mean, they’re going to kill themselves off. They are killing themselves off in the process of following their business plan. It’s really deranged. It doesn’t make sense and it has to stop.”
  • 19:00– “Nobody wants to buy fish that have killed off whales, never mind everything else.”
  • 22:14– Mark and Alexandra discuss their adventures with Canada’s Department of Fisheries and Oceans
  • 24:48– “There’s nobody whose position in DFO is the health of wild salmon. There’s no director of wild salmon.”
  • 29:29– “We have the biggest salmon run in the world on the verge of extinction.”
  • 33:14– “I saw grizzly bears that no longer looked like Grizzly bears… they were emaciated.”
  • 36:07– “Alexandra: I have to wonder at some level in government are people saying, “Oh my God, those fish… What?!  They’re still coming back? There’s still 20 of them?! Gosh darn it.” I don’t know. I don’t think people, I don’t think some level of government wants wild salmon at all. Mark: That just gave me chills because I found myself asking the same question about the Southern residents. Alexandra: I bet you do. Yep.. Mark: I feel like there are people in the federal government, you are going “Damn, there’s still 74 of them…. ” Alexandra: Yeah, and they’re having babies. “
  • 42:30– “The salmon actually have the whole mating thing down. They can handle that.” 
  • 42:35– Wild salmon breeding
  • 48:00– “And for the first time last spring, I set my big net and pulled it in and looked at the fish and, oh my gosh, they were fat and sassy. They were sparkly, blues and silvers, deep jet black eyes, not the cloudy film they get when they go by the farms and it was a feeling in my heart that I just really had to sort of stand back a minute and be like, what is that feeling? It was joy. It felt like my heart was ringing.”
  • 50:21– Mark’s conclusion
An Orca’s Past and Our Shared Future with Dr. Gavin Hanke at the Royal BC Museum03 Jun 202100:33:47

Gavin Hanke Curator of Vertebrate Zoology at the Royal BC Museum (@RoyalBCMuseum) on the life, death and anatomy of Rhapsody – the skeletal star of the museum’s fantastic exhibit Orcas: Our Shared Future #RBCMOrcas – which is open until 2022 before touring the world (and was written by Skaana host, Mark Leiren-Young @leirenyoung).

Rhapsody (J32). Credit: Josh McInnes

Skaana connects you to stories about oceans, eco-ethics and the environment.

Photos by Rayne Ellycrys Benu

Books on Amazon and Other Ways to Support Skaana

**Amazon links are affiliate links and support our podcast, thanks for clicking!

• The Killer Whale Who Changed the World… amzn.to/2pRNU1q 
• Orcas Everywhere… orcaseverywhere.com
• Paint the Ocean You Wish to See with Rayne Ellycrys Benu…. digital-enlightenment.net

Significant Quotes:
  • “This is a typical skeleton and it’s in beautiful shape… Rhapsody here, she was in the prime of her life… She was basically perfect.” (10:09)
  • “It’s kind of like LEGO, but with a real, with a real animal, it was, it was a lot of fun to put one together.” (12:24)
  • “Anyone thinking a museum job is nine to five and you go home and forget about it, it’s not the way museum work is. You’re always on. You’re always thinking about it and you’re not. I make the joke that these things aren’t getting any deader, but we don’t want them to degrade. We want these specimens here for thousands of years. As long as humans exists, we want these specimens available for research and study and the older they get, the more value that the valuable they become, because you can’t go back in time to collect a killer whale from 2014. This is now a time capsule. So the one neat thing about a museum is you can go back in time in a sense and handle specimens from the 1800’s. Nowhere else can you do that. No one else preserves the actual physical evidence from the past. And that’s the beauty of museum work.” (15:41)
  • “I think anyone who works at a museum also has a very supportive spouse because sometimes you come home, like, if I’ve been moving whales, I will come home smelling like whale fat..” (18:02)

 

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• https://royalbcmuseum.bc.ca/
• https://www.facebook.com/RoyalBCMuseum
• Twitter @RoyalBCMuseum
• instagram royalbcmuseum
• #RBCMOrcas

Skaana visits Rhapsody @ the Royal BC Museum Photo Credits: Rayne Ellycrys Benu

Timecodes
  • 0:00– Assembling Rhapsody’s skeleton with Gavin Hanke 
  • 1:50– Mark’s Welcome. Start of the Skaana Podcast
  • 5:37– Start of the interview. Orca anatomy.
  • 6:47– The story of Rhapsody.
  • 10:05– Explaining Rhapsody’s skeleton.
  • 10:27– “Rhapsody here, she was in the prime of her life. Her skeleton’s in beautiful shape. No deformities, as far as I can tell, she was basically perfect. Her teeth are really nice. They’re not really all that worn. Um, but yeah, the animal’s very, it doesn’t look all that complex when you’ve got it all laid out on a floor.”
  • 12:24– “It’s kind of like Lego, but with a real, with a real animal, it was, it was a lot of fun to put one together.”
  • 13:59– Care and cleaning of marine skeletons.
  • 16:15– This is now a time capsule. One neat thing about a museum is you can go back in time in a sense and handle specimens from the 1800’s. Nowhere else can you do that. No one else preserves the actual physical evidence from the past. And that’s the beauty of museum work.”
  • 16:55– What it’s like to work at the museum
  • 18:02– “I think anyone who works at a museum also has a very supportive spouse because sometimes you come home, like, if I’ve been moving whales, I will come home smelling like whale fat.”
  • 25:31– Secret treasures of the Royal BC Museum
  • 27:22– Message from Mark Leiren-Young for our Patreons. Support independent coverage of issues facing the Southern Resident Orcas at www.patreon.com/mobydoll

 

Julia Barnes on Bright Green Lies and Cars Vs. Fish18 Apr 202100:54:08

Filmmaker, Julia Barnes, on the dirty secrets of clean energy, how electric cars are running over the oceans and her new documentary Bright Green Lies – debuting online April 22 (Earth Day), 2021 https://www.brightgreenlies.com/

Skaana connects you to stories about oceans, eco-ethics and the environment.

Books on Amazon

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Information on Julia Barnes and Deep Sea Mining Trailer for Bright Green Lies

https://vimeo.com/346171480

Timecodes
  • 0:00– Hello from Julia Barnes
  • 1:01– Mark’s welcome. Start of the Skaana Podcast
  • 3:51– Start of the interview. Discussing Julia’s upcoming documentary Bright Green Lies and where the idea for the documentary came from.
  • 6:30– About false solutions that are promoted by Bright Green Environmentalism.
  • 7:51– About Biomass. The dangers of wood waste and clear cutting.
  • 10:05– Solar, wind and hydro power lies
  • 13:34– How Julia Barnes got interested in filmmaking and her connection to Rob Stewart.
  • 20:33– About being uncomfortable in a room with David Suzuki
  • 24:41– Deep sea mining for electric cars…. “They’re calling it the largest mining operation in history. That’s about to begin. There should terrify everybody.”
  • 37:39– “We should be furious that the movement has been so co-opted and it is at this point, a betrayal of the natural world.”
  • 39:15– The displacement paradox
  • 40:10– There is no such thing as green industrial energy
  • 45:26– Experiences with whales while filming Sea of Life
  • 47:09– “My advice is learn as much as you can about what’s happening and get started right away.”
  • 48:02– Message from Mark Leiren-Young for our Patreons. Support independent coverage of issues facing the Southern Resident Orcas at www.patreon.com/mobydoll
  • 52:25 – Trailer for Bright Green Lies
The King & Queen of OctoNation10 Jul 202400:27:59

Sy Montgomery (author: Soul of an Octopus) and Warren Carlyle (founder of OctoNation) on friendly octopuses, the Mayor of Octopus City, and their top octopus secrets from their new book Secrets of the Octopus that accompanies the National Geographic TV series. Second of a two-part interview about the wild world of octopuses! “We’re in the age of octopus,” Sy Montgomery.

Shownotes:

2:28  How the books Secrets of the Octopus and Soul of the Octopus informed the TV series and vice versa.

4:10 How OctoNation raised the profile of octopus photographers and vice versa.

7:02 Favourite octopus secrets – more social than anyone imagines. “They certainly are not all solitary”.

8:30 Octopolis & Octlantis and the Mayor of Octopus City.

9:02 Octopus hunting with other species.

11:15 “I’m taking my vitamins because I want to be on this planet to learn more secrets of the octopus.” Sy Montgomery.

11:25 The tiny hairy octopus aka the Chewboctopus!

12:49  Hanging out with a hippo. “I always felt that animals were my people… I’ve always felt more at home with animals than with people.” Sy Montgomery.

14:54 Meeting an octopus at age 7 – Warren.

16:00 “We’re just a blip on the radar of life compared to the octopus.” Warren Carlyle.

17:54 The first time Sy saw an octopus.

18:25 “This is someone. It’s not someTHING. It’s someONE. And they are as curious about you as you are about them.” Sy Montgomery.

21:15 Sy Montgomery on meeting Athena the octopus.

Skaana podcasts connect you to news and experts and their discussions about environments, oceans, and orcas. Warren Carlyle & Sy Montgomery. Support Our Guests

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The New Corporation writer, Joel Bakan, on Personhood, Psychopaths and Why the World Won’t be Saved by “Nice Corporations.”25 Feb 202101:02:54
Joel Bakan, co-director of The New Corporation, on his Unfortunately Necessary Sequel, why corporations aren’t our friends and the reason corporations are considered persons, but orcas aren’t. Skaana connects you to stories about oceans, eco-ethics and the environment.

 

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Song Information Timecodes
  • 0:00– Intro
  • 5:54– Where the original idea for The Corporation came from.
  • 9:15– Why The Corporation unfortunately required a sequel 10 years later.
  • 12:41– “This new movement on the part of corporations to be good, in the new film and in the book, we basically say that it’s very similar to the charm of the psychopath. You know, the first film we show that the corporation is a psychopath. One of the points in the second film is it’s found its charm.”
  • 20:57– “We can’t ignore COVID, and not only can we not ignore COVID because it is a major event. But we can’t ignore COVID because it’s a major event that ties into every single theme that we look at in this film, both in terms of the difficulties and challenges of corporate power, and the way it corrodes society and democracy.”
  • 25:35– How come corporations receive personhood and animals don’t?
  • 38:15– “What the orcas don’t have is power and dominion over the human societies that do have power and dominion. In a way they’re victims of colonialism, an imposition of a legal system.”
  • 41:09– Discussing the anthropocentric qualities of the legal system and laws.
  • 45:17– The self-governance of corporations and what that means for the environment.
  • 50:10– “Just speaking from a personal perspective, there’s really no point, in my view, in doing this kind of work if I don’t have hope. I mean, what’s the point in criticizing the world if you don’t believe that it can be changed?”
  • 1:00:42– “This Note’s for You” by Neil Young

Carl Safina on Animal Culture, Sperm Whale Society and Cetacean Communication31 Jan 202101:08:59

Carl Safina (@carlsafina) author of Becoming Wild: How Animal Cultures Raise Families, Create Beauty, and Achieve Peace talks about the culture of animals, the worlds of whale and sharing the planet -with @Skaanapod host Mark Leiren-Young (@leirenyoung).

Skaana connects you to stories about oceans, eco-ethics and the environment.

Information on Carl Safina Books on Amazon

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Music: Timecodes
  • 0:00– Intro
  • 03:40– How Carl Safina is doing and where he’s at in the world of COVID.
  • 08:27– Discussing his latest book Becoming Wild and cultures in other animal species.
  • 11:12– “There are only two animals in the world who are currently known, who are able to tell when they are meeting a complete stranger.”
  • 16:07– What exactly is culture?
  • 22:48– Discussing the complexities of Orca communication and the mystery of their “sound making”.
  • 31:06– Animals and careers? “What else do animals do besides make a living?”
  • 35:53– Carl Safina’s least favourite whale names.
  • 45:20– Discussing Tahlequah and her tour of grief. The affect she had on the world.
  • 49:00– “In law, the only living thing that cannot be legally owned…is a human being.” Discussing animals and personhood.
  • 56:47– The Safina Centre and their mission.
  • 1:04:15– “Feather, Fur & Fin” by Danny Michel

New Years wishes for humans and fishes from Erich Hoyt, Joel Bakan, Marc Bekoff, Carl Safina, Julia Barnes, Robbie Bond & Team Skaana30 Dec 202000:17:36

Skaana guests Erich Hoyt, Robbie Bond, Joel Bakan, Carl Safina, Julia Barnes, Marc Bekoff & the Skaana team share our wishes for a very new New Year in 2021.

Skaana connects you to stories about oceans, eco-ethics and the environment. Books on Amazon

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Song Information
  • 0:00– Intro
  • 2:34– Wishes for 2021 from our guests and the Skaana team
  • 12:25– A big thanks to all our Patreon supporters
  • 16:12– Info on our SOCAN license and Mark’s farewell to 2020

Orca Love, Orca Mysteries & Orcas Everywhere with Mark Leiren-Young17 Dec 202000:20:08

Skaana (Skaanapod) host Mark Leiren-Young shares stories from the audio version of his award-winning book for orca lovers of all ages – Orcas Everywhere: The Mystery and History of Killer Whales (orcaseverywhere.com). “This inviting book will be treasured by kids – a fun way to discover orcas and the sea.” Erich Hoyt, author of Orca: The Whale Called Killer. “An amazingly accessible and fun book that explores our relationship with whales over millennia.” Elizabeth May former leader of The Green Party of Canada.

Skaana connects you to stories about oceans, eco-ethics and the environment. Books on Amazon

**Amazon links are affiliate links and support our podcast, thanks for clicking!

· The Killer Whale Who Changed the World  

· Orcas Everywhere

Support Local Anxiety Timecodes
  • 0:00– Intro
  • 2:40– “Orca Love” from Orcas Everywhere
  • 8:00– Thank you and happy holidays from Skaana
  • 10:23– “Oh Christmas Tree, Eco Christmas Tree” by Local Anxiety

Daniel Pauly on the Future of Fish and Fisheries vs. The Planet29 Nov 202001:06:18

Global fisheries expert Daniel Pauly (@SeaAroundUs) on illegal fisheries, vanishing fish and the fight to save BC’s salmon with @Skaanapod host Mark Leiren-Young (@leirenyoung).

Skaana connects you to stories about oceans, eco-ethics and the environment. Image credit: Ms.Valentina Ruiz-Leotaud More Information About Daniel Pauly Books on Amazon

**Amazon links are affiliate links and support our podcast, thanks for clicking!

· The Killer Whale Who Changed the World  

· Orcas Everywhere

Music: 
  1. “Skana” – Leah Abramson https://youtu.be/CQr5BHW0k44
  2. Leah Abramson’s Website: http://www.leahabramson.com/
Timecodes
  • 0:00– Intro
  • 5:38– Defining “Shifting Baselines”
  • 9:14– “The main reason why we need to study fisheries globally is because studying them at a local level doesn’t capture the dynamics…All the fish move, they don’t know borders.”
  • 11:46– The globalization of fisheries and outsourcing to meet fish consumption.
  • 14:15– What fish should we eat? And who’s fish are we eating?
  • 20:12– The status of fish as meat and the role they play in our diets.
  • 20:25– Fish were viewed as a package of healthy meat and not wild animals capable of feeling, capable of agency.
  • 22:10– Do fish feel pain?
  • 27:34– “The implication of our treatment of animals, the mass slaughtering of whales for example, is too horrible to contemplate. And so, we have coping mechanisms and denial is one of them.”
  • 31:04– Japan and whaling.
  • 34:00– On the Aquacolypse
  • 36:08– Discussing fish stocks and biomass.
  • 38:26– Canada’s errors in managing fish populations.
  • 40:47– Bureaucracy, the DFO, and the politics of fisheries.
  • 42:10– (In Canada) fish are seen as a commodity, rather than animals that can go extinct
  • 44:35– Discussing the work of Alexandra Morton and her struggle to reveal the failures of the DFO.
  • 52:03– “I think that the DFO has a two-fold mission that should never be imposed, on an agency. They have to both promote and control the aquaculture. And you can’t do both.”
  • 54:04– Discussing FishBase and the thousands of fish that have been catalogued there.
  • 59:28– Daniel Pauly’s childhood and his journey to becoming the world’s leading ichthyologist.
  • 1:04:49– “I’s the B’y” Performed by Great Big Sea
 
Michael Moore on Canada, comedy, Capitalism: A Love Story19 Nov 202000:24:29

Michael Moore (@MMFlint) on Canada, inspiration and capitalism in this flashback interview from the start of the Obama era with Skaana (@skaanapod) host Mark Leiren-Young (@leirenyoung). 

Skaana connects you to stories about oceans, eco-ethics and the environment.

Support Michael Moore: Books on Amazon

**Amazon links are affiliate links and support our podcast, thanks for clicking!

· The Killer Whale Who Changed the World  

· Orcas Everywhere

Music: Timecodes
  • 0:00– Intro
  • 3:16– Sitting down for a slice of pizza with Michael Moore.
  • 4:48– “I’m inspired by a lot of things and I see a lot of good that’s going on.”
  • 5:51– The value of people’s work.
  • 7:00– “If I’m a citizen of a democracy, it means I’m a political activist automatically.”
  • 7:46– The power of movies and how they should be seen.
  • 10:21– What he wants Americans to do.
  • 12:09– Is he scared of haters?
  • 16:30– How he keeps his sense of humour or, since he’s American, sense of humour.
  • 17:20– His Canadian content.
  • 21:18– “Land of Greed” by Miss Emily

Orcas on Trump30 Oct 202000:02:49

In this episode, iconic orca mom, Tahlequah, talks to host Mark Leiren-Young about the upcoming US elections and what life is like for a whale in the Trump-era.

Skaana connects you to stories about oceans, eco-ethics and the environment. Check out this special video content we made to go along with the episode:

https://youtu.be/huJQXz_fj9c 

USA Voter Information: https://www.usa.gov/voting

And if you’d like to know which policies are worrying us — and Tahlequah… Books on Amazon

**Amazon links are affiliate links and support our podcast, thanks for clicking!

· The Killer Whale Who Changed the World  

· Orcas Everywhere

Timecodes
  • 0:00– Intro
  • 0:45– Interview with Tahlequah
  • 1:10– Tahlequah’s thoughts on off-shore drilling
  • 1:27– Who Tahlequah is voting for
  • 2:13– Where you can find information on how to vote
  • 2:40– One last word from Tahlequah
Wade Davis on Optimism, Decency and Saving America from Trolls16 Oct 202000:44:58

Anthropologist/author Wade Davis (@authorwadedavis) on optimism, decency, public service and saving America with Skaana (@skaanapod) host Mark Leiren-Young (@leirenyoung). Part two of our special two-part election edition of Skaana featuring National Geographic’s Explorer-in-Residence and author of Magdalena: River of Dreams.

“Whatever happens in November, it won’t mean the end of this incredible schism between the two halves of the American reality.” – Wade Davis Skaana connects you to stories about oceans, eco-ethics and the environment.

For more about Wade Davis and his work: USA Voter Information: https://www.usa.gov/voting Books on Amazon

**Amazon links are affiliate links and support our podcast, thanks for clicking!

 Music:

Wille Thrasher- “Wolves Don’t Live By the Rules”

Timecodes
  • 0:00– Intro
  • 04:29– How Wade Davis maintains hope
  • 05:08– “I’m always optimistic because I think pessimism is an indulgence.”
  • 06:22– Discussing the American military
  • 08:05– Factual divisions in America and the role of media
  • 10:17– “The end of America, the unraveling of America is no time to gloat. It’s no time for celebration. You should always remember that the military and industrial might of America literally saved civilization in the lifetime of my father.”
  • 13:26– Discussing gun control
  • 17:06– “America always swings between the wild extremes of the human heart and soul and spirit.”
  • 19:31– The evolution of how we consume news reports, and the role this plays.
  • 22:05– The fault in American democracy
  • 24:31– “40% of Americans feel so left out of what America’s become and is becoming that they simply don’t believe what is in front of them. The truth has lost all currency
  • 28:23– Discussing Trump and the environment
  • 30:14– “You know, the deeper thing that COVID has shown us is that we’re biological beings on a living planet.”
  • 34:03 – “You don’t vote your grievances, indulging your own indignations. The vote is something more serious than that. It’s a vote as to the destiny of your country.”
  • 35:56– Discussing rivers being granted personhood status and the river Magdalena
  • 40:27– “We need to change the way that we view our place on the planet. We are not apart from nature. We are a part of nature. And if COVID isn’t going to teach us that, COVID is going to teach us nothing.”
  • 42:38– “Wolves Don’t Live by the Rules” by Willie Thrasher

 

Wade Davis on Trump, Treason & COVID Chaos in America09 Oct 202000:50:46

Anthropologist/author Wade Davis @authorwadedavis talks about wading into US politics to warn about the end of the American era & the Trump virus with Skaana (@skaanapod) host Mark Leiren-Young (@leirenyoung). A special two-part election edition of Skaana featuring National Geographic’s Explorer in Residence, the real-life Indiana Jones. For links on how/where to vote visit our show notes.

“America was the land of Walt Whitman and the Grateful Dead. Abraham Lincoln couldn’t tell a lie. The current president cannot recognize the truth. If Lincoln called for charity for all and malice toward none, this dark troll of a buffoon advocates malice towards all and charity for none.” -Wade Davis

Skaana connects you to stories about oceans, eco-ethics and the environment.

For more about Wade Davis and his work: USA Voter Information: https://www.usa.gov/voting Books on Amazon

**Amazon links are affiliate links and support our podcast, thanks for clicking!

 Music: Timecodes
  • 0:00– Intro
  • 05:30– Discussing life during the pandemic
  • 07:06– “I travel in pursuit of stories. I’m a storyteller.”
  • 08:30– How the Rolling Stones article took off
  • 10:52– “Holding the mirror” to America’s face to see how far they’ve fallen
  • 13:33– “Every kingdom is born to die.”
  • 15:00– How Wade Davis’s father-in-law almost became Richard Nixon’s Vice President
  • 18:56– “COVID reminds us of a number of things. First of all, we’re living biological beings on a biological planet. Our lives were brought to a standstill by a parasite 10,000 times smaller than a grain of salt that commandeered the mechanisms of reproduction of ourselves. Forcing us to create it, not us.”
  • 20:45– Discussing the US’s WWII production records
  • 22:40– “Since 1970, China’s never been at war and America has never been at peace.”
  • 25:10– America’s income disparity
  • 28:03– I would argue that advocates for a wall are committing treason
  • 28:05– “Treason is also the acts that betrayal the very essence of your own country.”
  • 32:02– When you look at americans who deny the science… until… the fortitude to defeat it…
  • 33:10– Discussing the 2016 election
  • 36:17– That is a psychotic act… ending on chapel of the nation
  • 36:20– Americans viewing the federal government as a core problem
  • 40:00– Wade Davis’s own experience with the Canadian health care system
  • 42:10– Canadian patriotism and what sets Canada apart from the USA
  • 45:23– “Autumn in New York” by Diana Krall

Peter Wohlleben on the Secrets of Trees, Animals and Humans24 Sep 202000:41:31

Bestselling author Peter Wohlleben, talks plant rights, fruit fly dreams, scientists in denial and animals in love with Skaana (@skaanapod) host Mark Leiren-Young (@leirenyoung). The German eco-philosopher shares the secret life of trees, the hidden life of animals and the responsibilities of humans.

“We have to bring more emotions into the process and the discussions about environmental things and climate change. Because when we just discuss the numbers, it’s emotionally so far away. It doesn’t touch your heart, just your mind.”

Skaana connects you to stories about oceans, eco-ethics and the environment.

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

Skaana home….. skaana.org

Skaana on Medium…. https://medium.com/skaana

“Your Magical Week” – meditation with Rayne Benu…. digital-enlightenment.net

Facebook……….. https://www.facebook.com/skaanapod/

Twitter…………… https://twitter.com/skaanapod

The Killer Whale Who Changed the World… http://amzn.to/2pRNU1q 

Orcas Everywhere… http://www.orcaseverywhere.com

Spotify……………www.bit.ly/spotify-skaana

Support Peter Wohlleben: Books on Amazon

**Amazon links are affiliate links and support our podcast, thanks for clicking!

Music:

The Beyonce of Octopuses and The OctoKing on Why Octopuses Needed a Publicist19 Jun 202400:33:55

Sy Montgomery (Soul of an Octopus) and Warren Carlyle (founder of OctoNation) on octopuses taking over the media, the origins of OctoNation, why octopuses needed a publicist and some of the secrets of octopus from their new book Secrets of the Octopus that accompanies the National Geographic TV series. First of a two-part interview about all things octopus!

Shownotes:

0:01 Meet author Sy Montgomery.

0:13 Meet Warren Carlyle “the PR agent for the octopus.”

3:50 How Sy met Warren.

4:25 Warren’s journey from high fashion to the deep ocean.

5:32 The origins of OctoNation: “When the Beyonce of octopus people tells you to do something, you just do it.” – Warren Carlyle

6:41 Octopus used to be monsters!

10:06 “It’s the golden age for octopus appreciation. For octopus research. And I think this is a great opportunity for the ocean in general. What better ambassador can you imagine than somebody who’s got the equivalent of nine brains and eight arms.” – Sy Montgomery.

13:00 Octopuses can give themselves manicures… we kind of laid the red carpet for “My Octopus Teacher.”

14:57 The impact of OctoNation. “Appreciation for the octopus has just exploded.”

16:00 Sy: “They are not some slimy gross monster. They are super smart. They are superheroes with superpowers. And yet they are enough like us that you can be friends with an octopus.”

18:45 Sy: “We’re in the age of octopus.”

18:50 Warren: “The way that I view Sy… Sy has this insatiable desire to hang out with animals all the time… All OctoNation is is really a reflection of Sy’s light.”

23:47 The blanket octopus!

28:08 Connecting with National Geographic.

32:10 Octopus have their own hunting fish the way humans have hunting dogs!

Skaana podcasts connect you to news and experts and their discussions about environments, oceans, and orcas. Warren Carlyle & Sy Montgomery. Support Our Guests

Books and classes for sale from Team Skaana

**Amazon links are affiliate links and support our podcast, thanks for clicking!**

 

Robbie Bond on Fighting for Parks, How Kids Can Save the World and Becoming a Marvel Superhero04 Sep 202000:45:31

Real-life Marvel superhero 12-year-old Robbie Bond (@Kidsspeak4parks ) talks about founding Kids Speak For Parks, inspiring kids and adults and becoming a Marvel superhero (@Marvel) on Skaana (@skaanapod) with host Mark Leiren-Young (@leirenyoung).

“I think that kids can make even more of a difference than adults, because we’re going to be around to experience the consequences so we can be more driven to help change the world.” – Robbie Bond

Skaana connects you to stories about oceans, eco-ethics and the environment.

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

Skaana home….. skaana.org

Skaana on Medium…. https://medium.com/skaana

“Your Magical Week” – meditation with Rayne Benu…. digital-enlightenment.net

Facebook……….. https://www.facebook.com/skaanapod/

Twitter…………… https://twitter.com/skaanapod

The Killer Whale Who Changed the World… http://amzn.to/2pRNU1q 

Orcas Everywhere… http://www.orcaseverywhere.com

Spotify……………www.bit.ly/spotify-skaana

Support and Read About Robbie Bond’s Work: Article and Video Links:   Books on Amazon

**Amazon links are affiliate links and support our podcast, thanks for clicking!

 

Music:

Marc Bekoff on Animal Emotions, Rights and Personhood14 Aug 202001:12:15

Author and educator Marc Bekoff talks about animal emotions, his work with Jane Goodall and who you’re eating for dinner with Skaana (@skaanapod) host Mark Leiren-Young (@leirenyoung).

 “It’s a matter of who we eat, not what we eat. Who’s for dinner, not what’s for dinner. It’s the animals who eat the animals, who we keep in cages, who we keep in aquariums… Words matter.” Marc Bekoff

Skaana connects you to stories about oceans, eco-ethics and the environment.

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

Skaana home….. skaana.org

“Your Magical Week” – meditation with Rayne Benu…. digital-enlightenment.net

Facebook……….. https://www.facebook.com/skaanapod/

Twitter…………… https://twitter.com/skaanapod

The Killer Whale Who Changed the World… http://amzn.to/2pRNU1q 

Orcas Everywhere… http://www.orcaseverywhere.com

Spotify…………. www.bit.ly/spotify-skaana

Support Marc Bekoff Books on Amazon

**Amazon links are affiliate links and support our podcast, thanks for clicking!

Music:

 

Tahlequah: The World’s Most Famous Orca is Pregnant!01 Aug 202000:19:44

Skaana (skaanapod) host Mark Leiren-Young (leirenyoung) talks Tahlequah and expectant southern resident orcas on the Adam Stirling Show (Adam_Stirling) on CFAX radio (@cfax1070). “This was the story that captured the imagination of the entire world” – Mark Leiren-Young Skaana connects you to stories about oceans, eco-ethics and the environment. Join the Pod…… https://www.patreon.com/skaana Skaana home….. skaana.org “Your Magical Week” – meditation with Rayne Benu…. digital-enlightenment.net Facebook……….. https://www.facebook.com/skaanapod/ Twitter…………… https://twitter.com/skaanapod The Killer Whale Who Changed the World… http://amzn.to/2pRNU1q  Orcas Everywhere… http://www.orcaseverywhere.com

Photo by SR3 and NOAA’s Southwest Fisheries Science Center in 2019 and SR3 and SEA in 2020, collected under NMFS research permit 19091

Support Mark Leiren-Young Books on Amazon **Amazon links are affiliate links and support our podcast, thanks for clicking! Music: Ken Dunn – Tahlequah  https://open.spotify.com/track/01Gui0NuPXe7URsGIwkAxm?si=IxvF8tCoQiO6Y_yTTP9h3A Resources:
Ta’Kaiya Blaney on Art, Activism and the Power of Young People Speaking Out for Climate Justice10 Jun 202000:28:06

Actor and activist Ta’Kaiya Blaney (@TaKaiyaBlaney) talks about activism, art and the power and importance of young people speaking out for climate justice with Skaana (@skaanapod) host Mark Leiren-Young (@leirenyoung).

“Activism doesn’t have to just look like one thing. It can be art, it can be creative resistance, it can be social-media-based. Do what you love to protect what you love.”

Skaana connects you to stories about oceans, eco-ethics and the environment.

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

Skaana home….. skaana.org

“Your Magical Week” – meditation with Rayne Benu…. digital-enlightenment.net

Facebook……….. https://www.facebook.com/skaanapod/

Twitter…………… https://twitter.com/skaanapod

The Killer Whale Who Changed the World… http://amzn.to/2pRNU1q 

Orcas Everywhere… http://www.orcaseverywhere.com

Photo by Lëa-Kim Châteauneuf

Support Ta’Kaiya Blaney FOR MORE ON ISSUES AND ORGANIZATIONS MENTIONED Music:

Robert Bateman on Art, Inspiration, Hope and Why We All Need to Spend More Time in Nature02 Jun 202001:12:59

Artist Robert Bateman talks about art, inspiration, teaching, the importance of hope and why we all need to spend more time in nature with Skaana (@skaanapod) host Mark Leiren-Young (@leirenyoung).

“If you’ve got an eye for it, nature is everywhere.”

“One of my missions in life is to get get more kids out into nature.”

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

“Your Magical Week” – meditation with Rayne Benu…. digital-enlightenment.net

Skaana on iTunes… Skaana.ca

Facebook………..https://www.facebook.com/skaanapod/

Twitter……………https://twitter.com/leirenyoung

The Killer Whale Who Changed the World…. http://amzn.to/2pRNU1q

Orcas Everywhere… http://www.orcaseverywhere.com

Links: Support the Bateman Foundation: Support Our Guest Support Robert Bateman: Books on Amazon

**Amazon links are affiliate links and support our podcast, thanks for clicking!

Music: “Til I Am Myself Again” by Blue Rodeo

Thanatologist Kriss Kevorkian on Environmental Grief, Coping with Covid & the Importance of Laughing During a Pandemic28 Apr 202001:01:56

Thanatologist Kriss Kevorkian (@agrievingworld) talks about environmental grief, coping with covid, why we need to laugh at tragedy and much more with Skaana (@skaanapod) host Mark Leiren-Young (@leirenyoung). Kriss came up with the terms “environmental grief” and “ecological grief” and she developed these concepts by working with people working for the southern resident orcas.

“I help support people who are dealing with environmental grief or ecological grief, or just the grief that people are feeling from all the chaos in the world today.”

“If a corporation can have rights, I think Mother Nature should.”

Please join the virtual book launch for Orcas of the Salish Sea – for elementary school students – and the board book Big Whales, Small World – May 1 2020 at noon PST on Facebook Live courtesy of the National Arts Centre of Canada and #CanadaPerforms.

Skaana connects you to stories about oceans, eco-ethics and the environment.

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

Skaana home….. skaana.org

“Your Magical Week” – meditation with Rayne Benu…. digital-enlightenment.net

Facebook……….. https://www.facebook.com/skaanapod/

Twitter…………… https://twitter.com/skaanapod

The Killer Whale Who Changed the World… http://amzn.to/2pRNU1q 

Orcas Everywhere… http://www.orcaseverywhere.com


Check out our new theme song on YouTube:

Links:

Legal rights for the Salish Sea: http://legalrightsforthesalishsea.org/
The Climate Reality Project: https://www.climaterealityproject.org/ 
Global Earth Repair Foundation: https://globalearthrepairfoundation.org/

Support Kriss Kevorkian: Support the Cowboy Junkies:

Erich Hoyt on Strange Sea Creatures, Russian Whales and Cosmic Orcas09 Apr 202001:08:03

Erich Hoyt (@erichhoyt) on his fight to end Russia’s orca trade, strange sea creatures, whale watching, cosmic orcas and more with Skaana (@Skaanapod) host Mark Leiren-Young (@leirenyoung). Erich’s books include: Orca The Whale Called Killer; The Encyclopedia of Whales, Dolphins and Porpoises; Marine Protected Areas for Whales, Dolphins and Porpoises; Weird Sea Creatures and many, many more. This is our first two-part episode… in part one Erich talks about how he and the world fell in love with orcas.

“I would like to see thirty percent of the ocean designated as effective marine protected areas by 2030.”

Skaana connects you to stories about oceans, eco-ethics and the environment.

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

Skaana home….. skaana.org

Facebook……….. https://www.facebook.com/skaanapod/

Twitter…………… https://twitter.com/skaanapod

The Killer Whale Who Changed the World… http://amzn.to/2pRNU1q 

Orcas Everywhere… http://www.orcaseverywhere.com

Links: Support Erich Hoyt: Check out Chelsea Hotel: The Songs of Leonard Cohen (created by Tracey power)

 

Erich Hoyt on Protecting the Oceans, Listening to Whales and the Origins of Our Love Affair with Orcas26 Feb 202000:52:13

Erich Hoyt (@erichhoyt) – the man who wrote the book on Orcas (almost all the books) – talks about how he and the world learned about orcas, saving our oceans and more with Skaana (@Skaanpod) host Mark Leiren-Young (@leirenyoung). Erich’s books include: Orca The Whale Called Killer; The Encyclopedia of Whales, Dolphins and Porpoises; Marine Protected Areas for Whales, Dolphins and Porpoises; Weird Sea Creatures and much, much more. This is our first two-part episode… in part two Erich shares his adventures in fighting the Russian orca trade, his thoughts on how to whale-watch and stories of strange sea creatures.

Skaana connects you to stories about oceans, eco-ethics and the environment.

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

Skaana home….. skaana.org

Facebook……….. https://www.facebook.com/skaanapod/

Twitter…………… https://twitter.com/skaanapod

The Killer Whale Who Changed the World… http://amzn.to/2pRNU1q 

Orcas Everywhere… http://www.orcaseverywhere.com

Links:

Whales Through a New Lens: Forty years ago, the world’s whale researchers met in Indiana. The now legendary, but nearly forgotten, meeting changed the way scientists and the public see whales—and it all started with a few photographs. Erich Hoyt in The Hakai https://www.hakaimagazine.com/features/whales-through-new-lens/

Encyclopedia of Whales, Dolphins and Porpoises by Erich Hoyt Book Trailer https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jxw1ejd_E2Q


‘I’m always optimistic, I have to be.’ Author recalls early orca research amid book tour https://www.knkx.org/post/i-m-always-optimistic-i-have-be-author-recalls-early-orca-research-amid-book-tour


White killer whales were a legend – now they are everywhere https://www.newscientist.com/article/2105254-white-killer-whales-were-a-legend-now-they-are-everywhere/

Support Erich Hoyt: Check out Stan Rogers:

 

Skaana 2020 Vision & Skana with Leah Abramson31 Jan 202000:27:03

Skaana host Mark Leiren-Young (@leirenyoung) kicks off 2020 with a new vision and our amazing new theme song – Skana – by our special guest Leah Abramson (@abramsonsingers). Find out about her awesome album of songs for and about whales Songs For a Lost Pod.

Skaana connects you to stories about oceans, eco-ethics and the environment.

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

Skaana home….. skaana.org

“Your Magical Week” – meditation with Rayne Benu…. digital-enlightenment.net

Facebook……….. https://www.facebook.com/skaanapod/

Twitter…………… https://twitter.com/skaanapod

The Killer Whale Who Changed the World… http://amzn.to/2pRNU1q 

Orcas Everywhere… http://www.orcaseverywhere.com


Check out our new theme song on YouTube:

Links:

The voices of an orca pod helped Leah Abramson process grief for her lost family — in song: https://www.cbc.ca/arts/exhibitionists/the-voices-of-an-orca-pod-helped-leah-abramson-process-grief-for-her-lost-family-in-song-1.4805477

Inspired by the haunting calls of marine mammals, Vancouver musician Leah Abramson has found her pod: https://www.straight.com/music/887526/inspired-haunting-calls-marine-mammals-vancouver-musician-leah-abramson-has-found-her

This Video Of A Beluga Whale Trying To Play With A Sea Gull Is The Cutest Thing You’ll See Today: https://digg.com/video/this-video-of-a-beluga-whale-trying-to-play-with-a-sea-gull-is-the-cutest-thing-youll-see-today

Spy Beluga Plays with a Seagull: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t-o4jWvMtcU 

Support Leah Abramson:

 

David Suzuki on Our Past, Present & Future30 Dec 201900:59:00

 

Dr. David Suzuki (@DavidSuzuki) is Canada’s most iconic environmentalist and even in his eighties, he’s still fighting for our future. Skaana celebrates the end of the decade by recycling our premiere episode where we talked about fake facts, toxic whales and taking the heat off the planet and putting it on politicians.

“How can you make big decisions in your life if you’re not scientifically literate?”

Skaana connects you to stories about orcas, oceans, eco-ethics and the environment.

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

Skaana home….. skaana.org

Facebook……….. https://www.facebook.com/skaanapod/

Twitter…………… https://twitter.com/skaanapod

The Killer Whale Who Changed the World… http://amzn.to/2pRNU1q 

Orcas Everywhere… http://www.orcaseverywhere.com

Links Mentioned: Support Dr David Suzuki:

Home: http://www.davidsuzuki.org/

Dr. Suzuki’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/davidsuzuki?lang=en

Suzuki Foundation Twitter: https://twitter.com/DavidSuzukiFDN?lang=en

Dr. Suzuki’s Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DavidSuzuki/

Letters to my Grandchildren:  http://amzn.to/2oPTbVq

Force of Nature:  http://amzn.to/2o9XMDd

The Legacy:  http://amzn.to/2pJ8Jc6

The post David Suzuki on Our Past, Present & Future

Support Local Anxiety:

 

Getting the Poop on Orca Genetics, Species, Names and Really Old Whales With NOAA Scientists Tom Jefferson & Kim Parsons05 Jun 202400:29:37

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. Support Our Guests Books and classes for sale from Team Skaana

**Amazon links are affiliate links and support our podcast, thanks for clicking!**

 

Animal Rights Lawyer, Camille Labchuk, on Canada’s Laws to Finish Shark-Finning and Cetacean Captivity and Animal Rights and Wrongs30 Nov 201901:01:31

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

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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Facebook………..https://www.facebook.com/skaanapod/

Twitter……………https://twitter.com/leirenyoung

The Killer Whale Who Changed the World…. http://amzn.to/2pRNU1q

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.

Support Camille Labchuck Books on Amazon

**Amazon links are affiliate links and support our podcast, thanks for clicking!

Music:

Orcas on Trudeau: The Southern Residents Dish Dirt on Canada’s Federal Election16 Oct 201900:02:49
http://media.blubrry.com/skaana_orcas_and_oceans/p/traffic.libsyn.com/skaana/34_Orcas_on_Trudeau_The_Southern_Residents_Dish_Dirt_on_Canadas_Federal_Election.mp3

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The Southern Resident Orcas Talk Trudeau

The Southern Resident Orcas do not have a voice in Canada’s federal election.  We wanted to give them a chance to speak their truth.  Here it is, with a little commentary from Mark Leiren-Young.

The Liberal Party Platform

Read the official Liberal Party Platform here:  https://2019.liberal.ca/our-platform/?utm_source=2019.liberal.ca&utm_medium=platform-casgrain

The Liberals wish our friends at the Canadian Orca Rescue Society would stop carrying their adorable orca balloons at every West Coast protest and reminding voters about pipelines and bitumen. Justin Trudeau supporters also claim the prime minister was fond of dressing up as a Blackfish. Oops… that’s not in the official platform.

Officially… Team Trudeau boldly declares #whalelivesmatter.

“From coast to coast to coast, the health of Canada’s oceans matters—to the people whose livelihoods depend on them and to the marine species, including whales and commercial fishing stocks, that cannot exist without them.”

Someone in the PMO also finally read the Cohen report—or listened to the unsinkable Alexandra Morton—and are looking to “transition from open net pen salmon farming in coastal waters to closed containment systems by 2025”.

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

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Orcas Everywhere orcaseverwhere.com

A message from the producer Rayne Benu:

Decisions being made by our leaders over the next four years will change the course of history and could be the key factor in whether our Southern Residents survive and thrive.

I can’t tell you who to vote for this election.

I carry a deep sadness in my heart that none of the parties have any official policy on the Southern Residents.  I have a longing in my soul for someone to stand up and represent the species that live here on our beautiful planet, that do not have a voice.   Many people and organizations are willing to stand up and use the images of the orcas when it’s convenient for them to make a political point, or to sell an idea, but when it comes down to the fundamental truths that they live by, forget to mention the Orcas in their policies, core platforms and overall vision.

If a party had a policy or had even mentioned the SROs in their platforms, that is who I would be championing.    

With the federal election, and what’s happening down south, it’s hard not to feel discouraged by it all.  I look around and there’s a lot public mudslinging, so much it’s getting hard to see the actual people with all the mud on their faces (ok, some of that is probably just the brown-face….)

I worry a lot about how partisan we are all getting – how tribal and us vs them things can be.

I encourage you with all my heart to ask good questions of the individuals involved right now, instead of throwing more mud.

I know you have a million things to do this week,  but I want to encourage you to take a moment to try to meet or get to know something about the person you’re considering voting for in your riding.    There’s still time.

Are they someone you could talk to or bring concerns to?   Do they want to serve the people, or is running for office an ego trip?  Do their volunteers like them? Is the campaign office a positive and welcoming place to be?   How do they work with others?   Are they integral?  Honest?   Clear on their objectives?  Are they kind?

Because if you can have a conversation, there’s room to grow.  No matter which party wins the election, your representative is there for you, and we all better make sure that they care about their communities.  You are the only voice in this election that the Southern Residents have.    

Please use your voice responsibly, and consider those who can not speak and whose family, culture and future are on the line this election.

Peace out

Rayne

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The post Orcas on Trudeau: The Southern Residents Dish Dirt on Canada’s Federal Election appeared first on MLY.

Lummi & Orcas – Kurt Russo on Liberating Lolita & Saving the Southern Residents24 Jun 201900:36:40

 

The latest on the Lummi Nation’s fight to free Lolita (Tokitae), ceremonial feedings of the southern resident orcas, rights, responsibilities and reunification from Kurt Russo of the Lummi Nation Sovereignty and Treaty Protection Office. Stories of inspiring actions to save the orcas for Orca Action Month. 

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

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Links:
  1. Lummi Nation fights for return of relative https://www.indianz.com/News/2018/12/17/religion-news-service-lummi-nation-fight.asp
  2.  Rembering Lolita, an orca taken nearly 49 years ago and still in captivity at the Miami Seaquarium  https://vancouverisland.ctvnews.ca/endangered-southern-resident-orcas-seen-swimming-off-california-coast-1.4360793
  3. Orca Nework: Lolita  http://www.orcanetwork.org/Main/index.php?categories_file=Lolita 
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Law & Orcas (& Sharks) With Elizabeth May, Fin Donnelly & Josh McInnes05 May 201901:09:32

Green Party leader Elizabeth May (@ElizabethMay) on Canada’s Free Willy Bill, NDP MP Fin Donnelly (@FinDonnelly)on how we can fight for the law to end shark finning and researcher Josh McInnes on southern resident orcas going south to California. A Skaana triple-header.

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.

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Surprising Orca, Dolphin sightings in Monterey Bay:

https://goodtimes.sc/santa-cruz-news/news/orca-dolphin-sightings-monterey-bay/

  • Green Party leader Elizabeth May on the history and future of Canada’s Free Willy” bill.
  • NDP MP Fin Donnelly on how the Liberals may torpedo his anti-finning bill.
  • Researcher Josh McInnes on transient resident orcas and Gerlache orcas in action.

LINKS:

  1. Elizabeth May on the fight to end cetaceans in captivity in Canada https://ipolitics.ca/2019/04/02/free-willy-bill-sent-to-house-of-commons-for-final-vote/
  2. Fin Donnelly’s fight for an anti shark-finning bill https://ipolitics.ca/2019/04/02/donnelly-disappointed-by-liberal-stalling-on-shark-finning-bill/
  3. Southern Resident Orcas swim to California https://vancouverisland.ctvnews.ca/endangered-southern-resident-orcas-seen-swimming-off-california-coast-1.4360793
  4. Gerlache orcas in action vs. penguins https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=2265860040139488
  5. To check Canada’s DFO proposals and weigh in before May 3, 2019 http://www.pac.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/consultation/fm-gp/srkw-eprs/index-eng.html
  6. See stunning drone footage of orcas kicking salmon and chasing birds in Monterey Bay https://www.sanluisobispo.com/news/local/environment/article229802934.html#storylink=cpy
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