As January draws to a close, our favorite stories this week included a stirring critical essay, a paean to the world’s greatest boxed meal, a rethinking of psychedelics’ impact on the planet, a profile of a craftsperson at his peak, and an eye-opener about how humpback whales use air in some unexpected ways. 1. Corky […]
Whales
Posted inEditor's Pick
In Alaska, A Mystery Over Disappearing Whales
“Sam Ellis his colleagues have shown that killer whales with living grandmothers are more likely to survive than those without.”
Posted inEditor's Pick
Humans Are Overzealous Whale Morticians
“We hastily dispose of dead whales, ignoring the ecological significance of their carcasses.”
Posted inNonfiction
Bones, Bones: How to Articulate a Whale
“I have sat inside her rib cage. And yet I know nothing about her.”
Posted inEditor's Pick
The Race to Free Washington’s Last Orca in Captivity
“A southern resident’s violent capture off Whidbey Island was the original sin of a now-defunct local industry. Decades later, a Lummi-led effort to bring her home is on the verge of an improbable breakthrough.”
Posted inArts & Culture, Nonfiction, Quotes
A Whale Hunt on Facebook
Anti-whaling activists target an Arctic subsistence hunter after a whale hunt gets media coverage.
Posted inNonfiction, Reading List
Whale Tales: A Reading List
These four stories demonstrate humans’ multi-faceted relationship with whales–where politics, the environment and the economy intermingle with love, terror and cruelty.