The Humpback comeback: Vancouver's whales come home
1/13/202646 min
Humpback whales in the Salish Sea have a complicated history. They were hunted to near extinction a century ago, with whalers turning some of the largest creatures on Earth into buckets of oil, slabs of meat, tubs of cheap margarine and fertilizer. These coastal waters were emptied of these magnificent creatures who once called them home.
But now, in an amazing turn of events, Humpback whales have started to come back. And what they’ve found is a whole new world of dangers.
On today’s episode, I’m out at sea off the coast of Vanc...
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First 90 secondsSpeaker 10:00
You know, every day on Up First, NPR's Golden Globe-nominated morning news podcast, we bring you three essential stories. At the heart of each story are questions. What really happened? What really mattered? What happens next? At NPR, we stand for your right to be curious and to follow the facts. Follow Up First wherever you get your podcasts and start your day knowing what matters and why.
Chris Morgan· Host0:22
Hi there, it's Chris. This is a very special episode for me. My time in British Columbia for this one was so inspiring and wild. I know whales are special to a lot of you as well. I've heard it directly from some of our Patreon members, who I'm really enjoying connecting with there. You can check our Patreon community out for yourself at the link in our show notes. Enjoy the show. [footsteps crunching] Excuse me.
Speaker 30:51
Yeah.
Chris Morgan· Host0:51
Are you a local?
Speaker 30:52
Yeah.
Chris Morgan· Host0:53
Do you know if there's any remains of the whaling station that used to be here last century? No?
Speaker 31:00
No. No.
Chris Morgan· Host1:00
There, there are not?
Speaker 31:01
Not, not that I'm aware of.
Chris Morgan· Host1:02
No. Okay.
Speaker 31:03
No. No, I mean, you can walk up... It's low tide, so you can go around that hillside there- Yeah ... uh, to your left. You don't have to go over that rock. Um, and you can walk around there. But as far as I know, there's nothing here.
Chris Morgan· Host1:15
I'm on Vancouver Island, on the rugged west coast of Canada, searching for a bit of history from last century. [footsteps crunching] Excuse me. Are you... Do you live here?
Speaker 41:26
Yeah.
Chris Morgan· Host1:27
Yeah.
Speaker 41:27
In Nanaimo, yeah.
Chris Morgan· Host1:28
Do you know if there is any of the