Superpod

January 15, 2023
An ocean policy expert for the Seattle Aquarium introduces orcas and the people who study and protect them. Focusing on an orca population of three pods collectively dubbed the Southern Residents, Nickum highlights their much-studied family behaviors and relations--adding a large family tree to the backmatter and noting, for instance, how younglings abandoned by one pod will often be adopted by another, how widely ranging groups enjoy occasional "superpod" reunions, and, poignantly, chronicling a mother's refusal to stop trying to care for a newly born calf for weeks after its death. Kim Perez Valice's The Orca Scientists (2018) profiles the same group of orcas and has better photographs (taken by Andy Comins), but along with lively personal reactions to watching orcas from shore and riding out with researchers who employ drones, hydrophones, and even dogs trained to sniff out orca poop, Nickum interviews experts, among them members of the Lummi Nation, and adds observations about "transient" orcas from other lineages who exhibit differences, such as preying on seals rather than salmon. She also makes a strong plea for readers "to join the human superpod" working to preserve and support these social sea mammals against multiple threats ranging from capture for sale to marine parks to noise pollution and loss of salmon spawning grounds. Gives human superpods fresh impetus to learn more about these appealing apex predators. (maps, resource lists, source notes) (Nonfiction. 10-12)

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March 1, 2023
Grades 5-7 *Starred Review* In this heartfelt and compassionate examination of the orcas known as Southern Residents--found along the coast of the Pacific Northwest--Nickum, an unabashed orca fan and policy advocate for the Seattle Aquarium, sets the record straight regarding their reputation as "killer whales" and reveals that orcas aren't all the same. Orca groups "have unique cultures, eat different things, make different calls." Unlike other orcas, Southern Residents exclusively eat salmon, but they're not getting enough food due to environmental pollution and the decreasing salmon population. Nickum interviews members of the Lummi Nation of the Pacific Northwest as well as veterinarians, scientists, educators, and other advocates fighting to protect and save these orcas. She discusses new technologies being used to track the orcas' health, plus the plight of orcas captured to perform in marine parks and the ongoing fight to release an orca that's been in captivity for more than 50 years at the Miami Seaquarium. Sidebars provide fascinating facts, and an epilogue gives suggestions for helping these critically endangered mammals. Inspiring and compelling.

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