ORCA
Shared Waters, Shared Home
By Lynda Mapes
A co-publication with The Seattle Times
Winner of Kirkus Best Indie Books of 2021 Award and National Outdoor Book Award
Cover photo by Dave Ellifrit, Center for Whale Research
THE TIME IS NOW if we want to save the orca whales. ORCA is an important new book project about our Puget Sound region, with meaning and implications that will resonate around the globe. Brought to life by the enduring partnership of two local and independent media—The Seattle Times and Mountaineers Books— and written by award-winning environmental reporter Lynda Mapes, with photos by Times photographer Steve Ringman and others. This book is be the foundation for an ambitious Braided River outreach campaign, with live multimedia events, expanded programming and community collaborations.
About ORCA: Shared Waters, Shared Home
ORCA is created in collaboration with The Seattle Times, and based on the award-winning “Hostile Waters” series of reports that Lynda Mapes, photographer Steve Ringman and others, produced for The Seattle Times in 2018 and 2019.
It was 17 days of a mother’s grief that captured attention across the Pacific Northwest and around the world.
Orca whale J35, also known as “Tahlequah,” gave birth in July of 2018 in the waters off Victoria, British Columbia. The calf died shortly after, but over the following two weeks, Tahlequah carried her dead calf across 1000 miles as she swam with her family around the San Juan Islands and coastal British Columbia. Finally, after 17 days, she released the calf and fully rejoined her pod.
This book and outreach campaign will help us examine where we are and where we might go. As Lynda asks us:
“as a region, will we, can we, make space for both humans and nature to thrive?”
“A beautifully illustrated scientific, political, and humanitarian study of the threat posed by human encroachment to an iconic species of the Pacific Northwest.”
- Kirkus Review
About the Contributors
Lynda V. Mapes (Author)
LYNDA V. MAPES is a journalist, author and close observer of the natural world. Mapes was named journalist of the year in 2019 by the Western Washington chapter of the Society for Professional Journalists and is the 2019 winner of the Best of the West award for reporting on the growth and development for her orca coverage. Lynda is the author of five books, including Elwha: A River Reborn (Mountaineers Books/The Seattle Times) and Witness Tree.
Recent successes
2022 Independent Publisher Book Awards Silver Award— West-Pacific Best Regional Nonfiction category
2022 Washington State Book Award Winner— General Nonfiction category
2021 National Outdoor Book Award Winner— Nature & the Environment category
2021 Nautilus Book Awards Silver Award— Animals/Nature category
If you would like to donate to support the expanded programming of this ambitious project, use this form OR send a check with the subject line “ORCA” to:
Braided River, 1001 SW Klickitat Way Ste 201, Seattle, WA 98134.
If you would like to make a donation through a donor advised fund, or have any other questions please contact Erika Lundahl at erikal@mountaineersbooksorg.
