Remember the Southern Residents

I run the World Wide Killer Whale Database, which can be found on the sidebar on the computer icon. I post and reblog a mixture of art and pictures. Currently, I claim no ownership of any images that I post and will source my photos and link back to their page. For any images that are mine, I will make sure to state ownership.

[derangedhyena-delphinidae]

Also, let’s make 2023 the year we get this man out of our circles and the public’s favorable eye.  https://twitter.com/d_delphinidae/status/1611660484381663232 (long, multi-video thread)

[snini-9]

Kenneth C. Balcomb (1940-2022)

With profound sadness, the Center for Whale Research announces the passing of our beloved founder and longtime leader Kenneth C. Balcomb.

Ken’s family and loved ones surrounded him in his final hours on December 15, 2022. He was 82 years old.

Ken was a pioneer and legend in the whale world. But more importantly, he was the North Star, a guiding light. Over half a century of whale research and advocacy, he lit a path for tens of thousands to follow. He was a scientist with a deep-rooted love and connection to the whales and their ocean habitat. He inspired others to appreciate both as much as he did.

Ken spent much of his career detailing and documenting the lives of the Southern Resident Orca population in the Pacific Northwest’s Salish Sea. His groundbreaking Orca Survey study determined that the Resident orcas needed more food abundance in a healthy habitat to survive. He continually heralded his message to the world: “No fish, No Blackfish.” [No Chinook salmon, No Southern Resident orcas].

The Center for Whale Research’s Southern Residents orca research began in 1976; it is the longest study of this population. Ken’s goal was always for CWR’s research to continue for 150 years, provided there were whales to study. All of us at CWR share Ken’s vision and mission to preserve and protect the magnificent Southern Resident killer whales. He often said about the critically endangered Southern Residents: “I’m not going to count them to zero, at least not quietly.” The CWR board of directors and staff are dedicated to continuing Ken Balcomb’s life’s work.

Thank you, Ken. We will carry you in our hearts forever.

Images and words courtesy of the Center for Whale Research

---v Snini’s words v---

I never got to meet Ken in person, but I did have the privilege of hearing him give a presentation during an online webinar. I remember that when he switched tabs, there was a document on in the background (I believe it was a report from NOAA) that he had written a note over saying, “Can we get a word count on this?” and during that presentation, he had expressed his frustration on the lack of salmon recovery being done by the government, saying something along the lines of, “Whales can’t eat words and if they put one salmon in the river for each word they typed, there wouldn’t be a salmon issue.” I know he, like Michael Bigg does, will continue to inspire others to continue his work. I wish I could have met him, but he will continue to be the reason I aspire to do research. I hope he rests easy and my heart goes out for his family and the Center for Whale Research.

[adhd-induced-happiness]

A Checklist Of Possible Reasons I Am Upset, To Review When I Can't Seem To Figure It Out:

did not eat

new hyperfixation and no time for it

have not done a creative in 24 hrs

Bad Sounds

clothes are touching my body

cold

people

one (1) comment is stuck in my brain like a popcorn kernel

last time I drank water was ??????

nervous nervous nervous nervous

got a Slightly Worse grade than expected

last hug was ??????

slept a full 45 minutes

lonely ............

guts are shredding (again)

have not seen sunlight in 24 hrs

stuck inside

too much screen time

Yay Overwhelm

room is disaster area

have not talked to Person in a while

bored

imposter phenomenon (again)

no current routine

how long have I been working???

Too Much Socialization

and then. and THEN. I may consider:

something is actually wrong

[personification-of-anxiety]

Ye I'm printing this and putting a checklist on my wall

[eyanin]

water doggos 🦭

[estro-boi]

On Monday night in South London, armed police trapped a black man named Chris Kaba inside a car and executed him through the windshield. He was 24 years old. Today, a protest march demanding justice for his murder was broadcast on Sky News, who reframed it as a moving tribute to the queen by thousands of grieving subjects.

Some of the lowest, most despicable shit I've ever seen from the British media and believe me when I say I've some depraved stuff in the past.

[the-100th-witch]

Chris Kaba family says officer suspension too slow after shooting

Chris Kaba's family welcomes the Met firearms officer's suspension but says there was "no urgency".

Sky News apologises for report mistaking protest for royal crowds

Sarah-Jane Mee mistook a march at Trafalgar Square for Chris Kaba, who was shot by a Met officer

START OF QUOTE: "Sarah-Jane Mee, who was anchoring the station’s coverage, said: “Look at that, look at the crowds of people winding their way down … they’ll be working their way up the Mall, and what a walk there is.

“There are thousands of people lining that route, it really is an incredible sight. They’ll work their way up the Mall, very slowly, meeting new friends along the way, talking about their journey here, their memories of the Queen, their good wishes for the new King.”

Instead the protest was for Kaba. Thousands of people, including Labour politicians Diane Abbott and Bell Ribeiro-Addy and musician Stormzy, took part, with some holding placards saying “Justice for Chris Kaba” and “Black Lives Matter”, that could be seen on the Sky footage. Other protests have taken place in the days after Kaba was killed, including outside Brixton police station.

A Sky News spokesperson apologized, as did Mee. She tweeted: “I made a mistake on air. I wrongly identified crowds in Trafalgar Sq as some of the 1000s heading to Palace when at that moment it was people turning out for Chris Kaba." END OF QUOTE

---

Just some links because I did not hear ANYTHING about this. I included the Sky News Apologises even though it's really not excusable (it fucking says in the apology article that you CAN SEE THE SIGNS ON THE FOOTAGE - either she wasn't paying attention (which I doubt or she's actually terrible at her job..) but I thought it important to some degree. Fucking horrible...

[mar64ds]

please watch this i love him

[chaifootsteps]

#:(#*i* thought it was impressive my guy

[cryptonature]

I have to assume that in the fullness of time, at least once, a mouse has used a mushroom as an umbrella.

That’s enough to keep me going.

[phantomchick]

@cryptonature​​ Man do I have good news for you!

Also! Bonus frog!

[snini-9]

J59 Confirmed Female!!

On May 26, the Center for Whale Research staff encountered J pod during a photo-ID and aerial observation survey. The whales were very social, with lots of rolling both under and at the surface. During this encounter, the team managed to capture photographs and drone video of the ventral side of the pod’s youngest member, J59. From this, the team was able to determine that J59 is a female.

Having another female is good news for the southern residents; the population’s growth is largely limited by the number of reproductively aged females. While one calf won’t save the population, we hope that J59 can grow to adulthood and contribute to future generations of southern residents.

Credit to the Center for Whale Research 

[snini-9]

April 28, 2022: Transients- Haro Strait

T049A3 and T049A6

T065B1 and T065B

T049A3 and T049A4

T065B1

T049A3

T049A4 and T049A6

T065B

T049A and T049A6

T049A and T049A5

T049A and T049A3

T049A3 and T049A5

Photo Credit to the Center for Whale Research Encounter #19 - April 28, 2022

[snini-9]

April 22, 2022: Transients- Haro Strait, Spieden Channel, New Channel

T023D3

T023D

T019, T019B, T018

T018 and T019B

T019 and T019B

T019C

T019B and T019C

T023D and T023D4

T023D and T023D3

Photo Credit to the Center for Whale Research Encounter #18 - April 22, 2022

[snini-9]

April 11, 2022: Transients-San Juan Channel

T123A

T065A2 and T065A

T065A2

T123C and T123

T065A

T123C, T065A4, T065A6

Photo Credit to the Center for Whale Research  Encounter #17 - April 11, 2022

[snini-9]

NEW K POD CALF NEW K POD CALF NEW K POD CALF N-https://www.facebook.com/CenterForWhaleResearch/posts/367596918746870

[snini-9]

April 10, 2022: J Pod- Haro Strait

J26 Mike

J37 Hy’Shqa, J59, and J49 T’ilem I’nges

J57 Phoenix and J35 Tahlequah

J38 Cookie

J59

J49 T’ilem I’nges

J59 and J37 Hy’Shqa

J46 Star

J27 Blackberry

J46 Star and J53 Kiki

J40 Suttles

Photo Credit to the Center for Whale Research Encounter #16 - April 10, 2022

[snini-9]

April 10, 2022: Transients- West of Constance Bank

T172

T117B

T049C

T030B2

T030B1 and T030B2

T030B1

T030B

Photo Credit to the Center for Whale Research  Encounter #15 - April 10, 2022

[chongoblog]

ITS APRIL 13 YOU KNOW WHAT THAT MEANS

FETCH ME NEIL

[chongoblog]

[broke-bruce-wayne]

Important Milestone

The song about how nobody likes you when you're 23 turns 23 today

[zoesupreme]

Biden announcing a Russian oil ban this morning and pushing an end to remote work while gas is already $4 a gallon

[katelyndanger]

While this is definitely going to raise gas prices, gas price is actually decoupled from demand and we have a lot of oil in reserve that we could release to lower the prices by increasing supply. Gas companies are artificially inflating the price independent of supply because they’re greedy. In reality, Russian gas only accounts for around 8% of oil imports. Biden is definitely fucking up here, but also keep in mind the greed of oil executives and US politicians who invested heavily in energy stocks immediately before the invasion.  They see this as a convenient excuse to get rich, blame Biden, and make the conflict seem worse than it actually is to increase defense spending.

Stay angry, but be angry at the right people. 

[explorerrowan]

Also don't forget, the oil companies have a vested interest in making the Democrats look as bad as possible right now, in the middle of the midterm elections. If they can make you hurt at the pump and then get you to blame Biden for it, they can con you into either not voting or voting Republican, and maybe get a Republican Senate out of it.

[maa-pix]

I find Paul Krugman’s arguments more convincing:

There are three things you need to know about gasoline prices. First, the price of crude oil — the stuff that comes out of the ground — is set in a global market, not country by country. Second, fluctuations in the price of gasoline, which is refined from crude, overwhelmingly reflect fluctuations in that global price. Third, U.S. policy has little effect on world oil prices, and virtually none at all in the short run — say, the 14 months that Biden has been in office. . . .

. . . Rising gas prices in America, then, are part of a global story that has nothing to do with the policies of the current administration. Still, can’t the United States have some impact on that global story? We are, after all, the world’s largest oil producer, accounting for about 20 percent of world output in 2020. Can’t America do something to reduce global oil prices?

Yes, in principle. Not so much in practice.

U.S. oil production did increase a lot after 2010 — a trend that, as it happens, began under the Obama administration and continued for part of Donald Trump’s term.

But this had little to do with policy; it was all about new technology, specifically fracking. Oil production then slumped in 2020, not because of policy but because prices plunged during the pandemic. Now it’s coming back, again thanks to events rather than policy. It seems safe to say that nothing either Trump did or Biden did has had any appreciable effect on U.S. oil production, let alone U.S. gasoline prices.

Of course, that’s not what Republicans would have you believe. They want the public to give Trump credit for low prices in 2020, when demand for oil was low because Covid had the world economy on its back. They want voters to blame environmental concerns, which have blocked the Keystone XL pipeline and might block drilling on public land, for high prices at the pump right now — even though it will take years before these policy changes will have any effect, and that effect will be modest even then.

From “Wonking Out: Lies, Damned Lies and Gasoline Prices”, by Paul Krugman, NYTimes, March 11, 2022

[sniperct]

 What oil companies are doing is profiteering. They make so much profit they could easily absorb any price increases (and oil prices have started to drop again but good luck hearing that being discussed and I’ll bet dollars to donuts we won’t see a huge drop in gas prices despite that)

: the act or activity of making an unreasonable profit on the sale of essential goods especially during times of emergency

On top of that, they have a vested interest in tearing down an administration and political party that has been working to enact environmental protections and address climate change.

Because letting the world burn means more profits for them, and damn the future.