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Guests Kate McIntyre Clere and Mick McIntyre come on the show to discuss a difficult topic – the commercial killing of wild kangaroos and their joeys.
Kate and Mick are an Aussie filmmaking duo with Second Nature Films. Back in 2018, they released a shocking and damning expose about Australia's secretive kangaroo killings – the largest land slaughter of wildlife that happens anywhere on the planet.
In this interview, they talk about progress being made to end this inhumane industry since the release of their film, Kangaroo: A Love-Hate Story. It needs to happen soon, before the slow-breeding kangaroo is pushed to extinction. The U.S. and Europe are the two main markets for kangaroo meat and skins, although most consumers don't realize their products are made from this beloved global icon.
Calls to Action
Watch Kate and Mick's informative film, Kangaroo: A Love-Hate Story.Boycott kangaroo meat and skin products, especially prevalent as "exotic" meat and in pet foods and footwear in the United States.Support the new non-profit organization Kangaroos Alive. You can also follow @kangaroosalive to stay abreast of promising efforts to ban kangaroo products in the European Union.That’s a wrap for Season 3. Our Sentient Planet team thanks you so much for listening and supporting the podcast on Patreon. Most importantly, we are grateful for the actions you take on behalf of the humans who fight so hard to end the suffering of non-human animals. The best place to find our suggested Calls to Action is in each podcast's show notes.
We'll be back in a few weeks with a new season about how we can live in harmony with the incredible sentient beings with whom we share the Earth. It's an endless topic!
Credits
Sentient Planet is an independent production created on the traditional land of the Nisqually Tribe in the Pacific Northwest, USA. Please consider supporting our work on Patreon. Thank you!
Intro music: "The Spaces Between" by Scott Buckley.
Interstitial music: "The Divine Cosmos" by Stellardrone.
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If you've ever thought about rescuing and providing sanctuary to an animal in need, this episode is for you!
Guests Kate Tsyrklevich and Hope Hilman run Heartwood Haven, a popular microsanctuary for farmed animals in Gig Harbor, Washington, USA. Pigs and roosters are their preferred rescues. Many of the hundreds they've saved come from appalling conditions, including cockfighting busts. Unfortunately, the cruel and illicit multi-billion-dollar cockfighting industry operates underground in neighborhoods throughout the United States.
Roosters and pigs are highly sociable and charismatic non-human animals who can thankfully recover and live healthy lives when removed from abusive and traumatic situations. Microsanctuaries such as Heartwood Haven are springing up across the world to reset public misconceptions about these and other farmed animals, whose lives are just as worthy as our much-revered dogs and cats.
Calls to ActionKate and Hope have kicked off a "Valen-Swine's" fundraising campaign to raise the monies needed for a new barn for their smaller pigs. They have a significant social media following you can join @heartwoodhaven.Coming to Washington State? You can book a tour of Heartwood Haven here.Cockfighting is a felony in most states and countries. Help end it by contacting local law enforcement If you suspect this activity is occurring in your community.
CreditsSentient Planet is an independent production created on the traditional land of the Nisqually Tribe in the Pacific Northwest, USA. Please consider supporting our work on Patreon. Thank you!
Intro music: "The Spaces Between" by Scott Buckley.
Interstitial music: "Ascent" by Stellardrone.
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In British Columbia, Canada, an elusive animal has been adapting to co-exist with the world's largest remaining inland temperate rainforest since the last ice age. They're the gentle and beautiful mountain caribou, and our guest this week is perhaps their loudest defender.
David Moskowitz, renowned nature photographer, wildlife biologist and tracker, introduces us to the highly endangered mountain caribou, whose herds have plummeted to just 1,100 individuals due to the ongoing logging of their old-growth home. He helps us understand how a combination of blockades, education, Tribal rights and community forests could bring these caribou them back from the brink.
David is based in the North Cascades of Washington State, in the traditional territory of the Methow people. His photography has appeared in numerous outlets, including The New York Times, NBC, Outside Magazine, Science Magazine, Natural History Magazine, High Country News and more.
He is the author and photographer of three books: Caribou Rainforest, Wildlife of the Pacific Northwest and Wolves in the Land of Salmon. He is also co-author and photographer of Peterson’s Field Guide to North American Bird Nests.
David's next project will document the entire Columbia River Basin of North America. This massive photographic undertaking will support multiple environmental campaigns and become a book and interactive display.
Calls to Action
Take online actions and/or make a donation to save the inland temperate rainforest of British Columbia, home to the last herds of mountain caribou. Watch David's breathtaking film, Last Stand: The Vanishing Caribou Rainforest.Purchase your own copy of David's acclaimed coffee table book, Caribou Rainforest: From Heartbreak to Hope (Braided River, 2018).Credits
Sentient Planet is an independent production created on the traditional land of the Nisqually Tribe in the Pacific Northwest, USA. Please consider supporting our work on Patreon. Thank you!
David's photo: Courtesy of Sarah Rice.
Intro music: "The Spaces Between" by Scott Buckley.
Interstitial music: "The Edge of Forever" by Stellardrone.
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From grassroots to policy, we want to follow up on last week's popular podcast by introducing listeners to another amazing ambassador for the oceans – Sue Fisher, of Portland, Oregon.
Sue is interim marine policy director (international) for the Animal Welfare Institute. She's been advocating for greater protections for cetaceans through the International Whaling Commission (IWC) for the past 30 years, and she is one of the main authors of a brand new 50-year vision for the IWC. As the organization turns 75, dozens of international animal welfare groups are urging its 88 member governments to adopt the vision and accompanying recommendations for saving whales and dolphins from extinction.
Sue says there's no better time for the IWC to exert its influence and expertise to clean up the mess we humans have made in the world's oceans with plastics, pollution and over-fishing.
Calls to Action
Download the 50 Year Vision for the IWC and watch the launch event.Support the Animal Welfare Institute's incredible work by easily taking action here on dozens of campaigns for sentient, more-than-human animals.Reduce or eliminate your seafood and plastic consumption.Sentient Planet is an independent production created on the traditional land of the Nisqually Tribe in the Pacific Northwest, USA. Please consider supporting our work on Patreon. Thank you!
Intro music: "The Spaces Between" by Scott Buckley.
Interstitial music: "Gravitation (Remix)" by Stellardrone.
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Environmental artist, activist and teacher. Free-spirited surfer and voice for her beloved whales and dolphins, whom she's dubbed The Cetacean Nation. Oh, and skateboarding sensation on the famous Zephr ("Z-Boys") competition team from the mid-1970s in California. She's the one and only Peggy Oki, and we're thrilled to have her on the show in this exclusive interview.
Peggy talks about her recent encounters with sperm whales in the Caribbean. She updates us on her dogged campaigning on behalf of Tokitae (Lolita), the Southern Resident orca who's been held captive in the Miami Seaquarium for the past 51 years. (We covered Tokitake's plight and the efforts to free her in Season 1, especially in the episode Bringing Her Home: The Lummi Claim to a Captive Orca.) And she shares how the likes of Jacques Cousteau, Sir David Attenborough and Jane Goodall have inspired her life of advocacy for the ocean and the beings who call it home.
Peggy’s original artwork has been displayed in 21 one-woman exhibitions, 40 group exhibitions, and more than 80 private and commercial collections. She is the director of the Origami Whales Project – a curtain of tens of thousands of paper whales created to raise awareness about the death toll from modern commercial whaling. We talk about that, too!
Calls to Action
Here are three quick things you can do after listening:
Watch “Seaspiracy” and join the movement to transform the world's oceans back to health.Sign Peggy's petition to free Tokitae/Lolita, the captive Southern Resident orca in the Miami Seaquarium. (We covered Tokitae's plight in one of our first episodes, Bringing Her Home: The Lummi Claim to a Captive Orca.) Learn more about Peggy and her ocean campaigns on her website.Sentient Planet is an independent production created on the traditional land of the Nisqually Tribe in the Pacific Northwest, USA. Please consider supporting our work on Patreon. Thank you!
Intro music: "The Spaces Between" by Scott Buckley.
Interstitial music: "Tranquility" by Stellardrone.
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In November 2021, the United Kingdom recognized crabs, lobsters, octopus and other decapod crustaceans and cephalopod invertebrates as sentient beings. The animals were added to the UK's new Animal Welfare (Sentience) Bill, which will protect them for the first time when the bill becomes law in early 2022.
Expanding our awareness to more species is cause for hope and celebration, says Claire Bass, executive director of Humane Society International – UK. The Humane Society and other animal welfare organizations have worked on the sentience bill with the British government for several years.
In this episode, Claire, who has rescued animals since childhood, explains what the new sentience law means. We also talk about opportunities since Brexit to accelerate efforts to ban live exports and the import of fur and hunting trophies and to deepen campaigns on behalf of the 88 billion industrialized animals who suffer worldwide every year, so humans can consume meat and dairy products.
Calls to action:
Go to hsi.org to support Humane Society International's efforts to:
Recognize non-human animals as sentientBan fur and hunting trophy importsEncourage plant-based dietsAnd to learn about HSI's many other global campaigns for non-human animals.Sentient Planet is an independent production created on the traditional land of the Nisqually Tribe in the Pacific Northwest, USA. Please consider supporting our work on Patreon. Thank you!
Intro music: "The Spaces Between" by Scott Buckley.
Interstitial music: "Stardome" by Stellardrone.
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We're so happy to release the first episode of Sentient Planet – Season 3!
Today’s guest is the vegan writer, photographer and lover of all creatures – Lucas Spiegel. Lucas quit his job as an architect in North America to spend nearly two years traveling the world, working on animal sanctuaries as he explored cultures and what it would take to live a truly ethical life. One result is his recently published travel memoir, The Weight of Empathy. The book is a beautifully illustrated, thoroughly reasoned plea for kindness and mercy in the human treatment of billions of non-human animals.
In this episode, Lucas shares stories about some of the beautiful friendships he made with individual animals in Australia, Asia and Europe and what these encounters taught him.
Calls to Action
You can buy a digital version of The Weight of Empathy (Macroverse Publishing 2021), or a hard copy for US$20. Get free holiday shipping through the end of 2021 with code LOVE2021.Follow the author, Lucas Spiegel, on Instagram @earth.and.eats.Reducing or eliminating your personal meat and dairy consumption strongly contributes to a world of less suffering.Sentient Planet is an independent production created on the traditional land of the Nisqually Tribe in the Pacific Northwest, USA. Please consider supporting our work on Patreon. Thank you!
Intro music: "The Spaces Between" by Scott Buckley.
Interstitial music: "Penumbra (Remix)" by Stellardrone.
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What is sentience? If we're to ask the question directly, perhaps a good place to seek an answer is with a great teacher.
This week, it's our honor to welcome and share the Earth wisdom of the joyful Dr. Susan Murphy. Susan is a Roshi, a learned teacher in the tradition of Zen Buddhism. She is the founding and resident teacher of the Zen Open Circle in Sydney, Australia. And, as a writer, radio producer and film director, she’s considered one of the most important global voices in the Ecological Buddhism, or "Ecodharma" movement.
Roshi Susan is the author of the splendid book Minding the Earth, Mending the World: Zen and the Art of Planentary Crisis (Penguin Random House, 2014), a Zen response to the great ecological crisis of our time – climate change.
Please enjoy this open and generous sharing from Susan about sentience, our kinship relationship with non-human animals – and everything else in the cosmos – and the impossibility of separating our human existence and experience from that of the Earth.
Sentient Planet is an independent production, created on the traditional land of the Nisqually Tribe in the Pacific Northwest, USA. Please consider supporting our work on Patreon. Thank you!
Intro music: "The Spaces Between" by Scott Buckley.
Interstitial music: "Last Day on Earth" by Stellardrone.
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Jill Robinson first encountered a captive Moon Bear in 1993. The experience, which she recounts in our interview, changed her life. It also sparked the beginning of the end of the horrific bear bile industry.
Moon Bears are Asian Black Bears. They are called Moon Bears in reference to the trademark white fur crescent that appears across their necks. In multiple countries across Asia, tens of thousands of Moon Bears (and some other species) are held captive in tiny cages for decades and subjected to routine, extremely painful procedures to extract bile from their gallbladders. The bile is used in traditional Asian medicines and touted for a host of ailments, including hangovers.
As the founder and Chief Executive Officer of the animal welfare organization, Animals Asia, Jill has been especially successful in her mission to shut down bear farming in Vietnam. In partnership with the Vietnamese government, the industry has been winding down since 2017 and is now illegal. Soon, Animals Asia will break ground on a second rescue sanctuary in Vietnam and free hundreds of bears from a lifetime of unspeakable cruelty and suffering.
This follows another rescue this summer when Animals Asia transported 101 Moon Bears 750 miles across China to a sanctuary in Chengdu. It was the largest bear rescue in history and the subject of the new short film, “Moon Bear Homecoming,” narrated by American actor and activist James Cromwell.
English-born Jill is the recipient of many prestigious international awards that recognize her service on behalf of our more-than-human animal kin. She talks about the origin of bear farming and the developments to end it, as well as her victories for cats and dogs in Asia, from her home in Hong Kong.
Calls to Action:
Become a member of Animals Asia and make a donation to help fund a new rescue sanctuary for Moon Bears in Vietnam.Watch "Moon Bear Homecoming," narrated by James Cromwell, and let others know about it and how they can help.Boycott circus and zoo "entertainment".Buy only cruelty-free cosmetics and other consumer products.Go vegan a couple of days a week, or always!Sentient Planet is a small, independent production created on the traditional land of the Nisqually Tribe in the Pacific Northwest, USA. Please consider supporting our work on Patreon. Thank you!
Intro music: "The Spaces Between" by Scott Buckley.
Interstitial music: "Blinking Star" by Stellardrone.
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What a treat to introduce the Dutch nature photographer and our far-flung team member, Mark Stoop.
Mark lives in Singapore, where he works as a marketing director and indulges his passion for photographing the biodiverse animals who live around him. Birds and reptiles hold a special place in Mark's heart. Indeed, it was his beautiful photo of a curious Green Crested Lizard that drew us to him. The image has been viewed more than a million times, and that personable little lizard with the big attitude has grown into the icon of our Sentient Planet podcast!
In this lighthearted chat with Mark, you'll get a good idea of what it's like to live amongst tropical non-human animals, including monkeys, cobras and wild boar. And if you're a photography buff, you might glean something helpful from Mark's astute tips.
Calls to Action:
You can support Mark and other photographers from around the world on Unsplash, a platform that promotes their beautiful imagery for free.One of Mark's favorite animal advocacy organizations is the trailblazing Jane Goodall Institute.Intro music: "The Spaces Between" by Scott Buckley.
Interstitial music: "Nightscape" by Stellardrone.
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This bonus episode, exclusive to Sentient Planet listeners, accompanies our Season 2 episode, "Living Through Fire with Danielle Celermajer."
Dany reads "The Face," a short chapter from Summertime: Reflections on a Vanishing Future (Penguin Books Australia 2021). Her brave and unflinching account of animal sentience beseeches us to wake up and face up to the climate crisis and the torture and death it is already wreaking upon the Earth’s multitude of lifeforms.
We dedicate this reading to Katy, Dany's beloved pig, who perished in the Black Summer bushfires of 2019-20.
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This week's guest is the profound Australian author, Professor Danielle Celermajer. Dany is a philosopher, the director of the Multispecies Justice Project at the University of Sydney, and the author of Summertime: Reflections on a Vanishing Future (Penguin Books Australia 2021).
Dany started writing Summertime in situ during the peak of the Black Summer Climate Fires that decimated Australia in 2019-20. Through her book, she attempts to honor the voices and emotions of the wild and domestic animals who experienced the Great Fires - beings, she says, who are just as terrified and bewildered by the changes occurring on Earth as we humans.
In our interview, Dany bravely relives what it was like to encounter the fires, which raged for months, as she unravels and beautifully articulates some of its most valuable lessons - especially the deep love many of us feel for who and what we are losing.
She begs us to see that animals are knowing individuals. And she helps us understand that human survival hinges on choosing the more difficult of two paths - the one in which we become fully responsible to the other species who live amongst us.
Be sure to listen to the related bonus episode. Dany reads a short chapter of Summertime exclusively for Sentient Planet listeners.
Calls to Action:
Follow Dany's work by signing up for the Sydney Environment Institute's monthly newsletter.Support these Australian organizations, which are doing critical work on animal advocacy and climate change:Animals AustraliaGreenpeace AustraliaThe Green Institute.Get involved in the worldwide movement to divest from the fossil fuel industry:Go Fossil FreeClimate Council (Australia)Australia InstituteFossil Fuel AustraliaIntro music: "The Spaces Between" by Scott Buckley.
Interstitial music: "Twilight" by Stellardrone.
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On the topic of non-human animal sentience, Carl Safina is one of the most experienced observers and gifted communicators in the world.
The renowned ecologist turned bestselling author has penned 10 books about our human relationship to nature and her myriad species. For example, in Becoming Wild: How Animal Cultures Raise Families, Create Beauty, and Achieve Peace (Macmillion 2020), Carl offers a form of deep Earth journalism that brings readers up close to the rituals and activities of beings with whom we share the Earth but rarely personally encounter. His writing is breathtaking, instilling the kind of awe humans must rekindle if we are to halt further damage to our animal kin and the natural systems that support life on Earth.
In this interview, Carl shares some of the remarkable encounters he’s been privileged to experience, with elephants, sperm whales, chimpanzees and owls, as well as the beloved animals that began it all for him – seabirds. He warns us of the consequences of the mistakes we’re making, teaches us about the living beauty that persists, and calls us to moral action.
More: Carl is the first Endowed Professor for Nature and Humanity at Stony Brook University and founder of the not-for-profit Safina Center. He is the recipient of countless awards, including a 2021 Legacy Award from Defenders of Wildlife (USA) that recognizes his decades of advocating for the preservation of biodiversity. His writing about the living world has won a MacArthur “genius” prize, Pew, and Guggenheim Fellowships; book awards from Lannan, Orion, and the National Academies; and the John Burroughs, James Beard, and George Rabb medals.
Intro music: "The Spaces Between" by Scott Buckley.
Interstitial music: "Cosmic Sunrise" by Stellardrone.
Photo: The Safina Center.
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This bonus episode, exclusive to Sentient Planet listeners, accompanies our Season 2 episode "The Long Road to Liberation with Jo-Anne McArthur."
Jo talks about the award-winning photo collection, "HIDDEN: Animals in the Anthropocene," and she reads a short and ancient Buddhist prayer for the liberation of all animals, including we humans.
Photo courtesy Lisa MacIntosh/We Animals Media.
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We're honored to launch Season 2 with this guest, the acclaimed animal photojournalist, author, humane educator and founder of We Animals Media, Jo-Anne McArthur.
Perhaps no human has done more to bring the suffering of our animal kin into the light. For more than 20 years, across more than 60 countries, Jo has documented the truth of what happens to billions of animals in some of the darkest places on the planet.
In this wide-ranging conversation, she describes We Animals' unfailing focus on the industries that perpetrate and perpetuate the most suffering, especially factory farms. She talks about the resilience required to continue her confronting work, how a new genre of "animal photojournalism" is inspiring the next generation of artist-advocates, and what each of us can do to create more just conditions for the domestic and wild species with whom we share the Earth.
Be sure to look for our bonus episode! Jo recites an ancient Buddhist prayer for the liberation of all beings, including we humans.
More: Jo's courageous lifework has won her numerous awards, including Nature Photographer of the Year 2020 for her iconic image of a kangaroo and her joey against the backdrop of a burnt eucalyptus forest - survivors of the Black Summer Climate Fires that ravaged Australia.
In addition, We Animals' urgent and unprecedented new photo collection, HIDDEN: Animals in the Anthropocene, recently won Photography Book of the Year by Pictures of the Year International and the Gold Medal for Outstanding Book of the Year - Most Likely to Save the Planet by Independent Publisher. "Hidden" includes a foreword by the Academy Award-winning actor and animal rights activist, Joaquin Phoenix.
Calls to action:
We're excited to partner with Jo to give one of our listeners a signed copy of "Hidden." Follow us on Instagram or Facebook and look for instructions on how you can win.Follow and support Jo and We Animals.If you're a student or educator, discover courses and resources in humane education here. (If you're in Canada, go here.)Reduce your consumption of animal products, or transition to a fully plant-based diet!Look for animal causes you can support in your local community.Consider supporting Sentient Planet on Patreon for just a few dollars a month.Intro music: "The Spaces Between" by Scott Buckley.
Interstitial music: "Eternity" by Stellardrone.
Photo: Josee Van Wissen/We Animals Media.
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In our last episode for Season 1, Amy Souers Kober, of American Rivers, talks about the rising global movement to restore free-flowing river ecosystems, upon which so much sentient life depends.
We discuss the benefits of removing the thousands of dams that still crisscross North America. Right now, there is a groundswell of support to breach four dams on the lower Snake River to save salmon and the Southern Resident Orca from extinction. It’s a once-in-a-generation opportunity, Amy says, one that requires immediate action and funding from the Biden Administration or U.S. Congress.
Call to Action: Join growing calls to breach the lower Snake River dams here.
Intro music: "The Spaces Between," by Scott Buckley.
Interstitial music: "Between the Rings," by Stellardrone.
Thank you for listening and supporting Sentient Planet and its message. See you next season!
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How are koalas faring after the great climate fires that bore down on Australia in 2019-20? One of the best people to ask is Cate Faehrmann, Member of Parliament for the New South Wales Greens Party.
Also an environmental activist, Cate chaired a recent parliamentary inquiry into the status of koalas in New South Wales, where the population is quickly dwindling. In this episode, we get down to business to discuss exactly what the inquiry found and the failings of government to protect this iconic but fragile species from spiraling into extinction on our watch.
Calls to Action: Don't wait for government – bringing the koala back before it's too late depends on everyone who cares about animal existence on planet Earth.
Join Cate's crusade at saveourkoalas.org, where you take actions and get educated on the threats and what we must do to protect precious koala habitat. Educate others! We can solve this.Support Friends of the Koala and other dedicated volunteer organizations that care for sick and injured koalas.More on the koala coming in Season 2 of Sentient Planet!
Intro music: "The Spaces Between" by Scott Buckley.
Interstitial music: "Heart" by Daniel Birch.
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This week, we switch hemispheres and head Down Under for an out-of-the-ordinary conversation with the Australian indigenous writer, academic and traditional wood carver Tyson Yunkaporta.
Tyson reflects on the dominant global order behind our current crises and the havoc it's wreaking upon animals and all life. We're caught up in an unstoppable race, he argues. Will man-made economic systems or the planet's natural ones collapse first? And can we humans recover our rightful role as custodians of the Earth's sentient beings and all creation?
To explore even more deeply, you might want to pick up a copy of Tyson's paradigm-shifting book, "Sand Talk: How Indigenous Thinking Can Save the World," published by HarperOne, 2020.
Intro music: "The Spaces Between" by Scott Buckley.
Interstitial music: "Rendezvous with Rama" by Stellardrone.
Photo: James Henry.
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For those who can't get enough of "podfather" Ken Balcomb – and those new to his lifetime of dedication to the Southern Resident Orca (SRO) – here's the additional interview we promised.
Listen to Ken describe the staggering natural beauty that drew him to North America's Pacific Northwest, his first orca sighting 45 years ago, and what it's been like to encounter and document these amazing yet highly threatened sentient beings.
Ken also shares his thoughts on the continuing threats to the SROs existence and why removing dams and restoring river ecosystems are essential to their future, as well as our own.
To learn more, listen to our prior podcast, "Podfather: One Man's Journey to Save the Southern Resident Orca" and visit Ken's organization, the Center for Whale Research.
Call to Action: Support the growing movement to breach the four Lower Snake River dams, save the salmon and feed the orca on the Dam Sense and American Rivers websites.
Intro music: "The Spaces Between" by Scott Buckley.
Interstitial music: "Red Giant" by Stellardrone.
Photo: Susan Woodward.
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This week, we step back from the Southern Resident Orca to discover more about their watery home through the eyes of a mapmaker.
Stefan Freelan is the cartographer from Western Washington University who created the Salish Sea & Surrounding Basin map, aiding a decades-long campaign to bring an official name (and purpose) to an entire ecosystem.
To download a free copy of his beautiful (two-sided!) Salish Sea map, visit Stefan's website here.
Call to Action: If you haven't already, please consider signing the petition for Legal Rights for the Salish Sea.
Intro music: "The Spaces Between" by Scott Buckley.
Interstitial music: "Odyssey" by One Man Symphony.
Coastal audio: BBC Sounds.
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