January 4, 2002: Open Lines | Orca Whales - Randy Eaton
Podcast: The Art Bell ArchivePublished On: Sat Feb 08 2025
Description: Art Bell speaks with Dr. Randy Eaton about a pair of orca whales stranding themselves on the Olympic Peninsula near Dungeness Bay in Washington State. Eaton, a wildlife biologist and author, explains that a female orca was found dead on a small island while a male repeatedly beached himself nearby, resisting rescue efforts. He theorizes the male is likely the female's son, as adult male orcas spend their lives helping their mothers raise young.Eaton presents his theory that whale strandings are deliberate acts of self-removal, a way to protect surviving pod members from disease or predators that might feed on a dead body in the water. He connects the deaths to PCB pollution accumulating through the marine food chain, compounded by declining salmon populations that force adult males to cannibalize their own fat reserves. The discussion also covers orcas that let out their air and sank to the bottom of capture cages in the 1970s Puget Sound captures.The second half features open lines where Art poses the provocative question of what listeners would do if they were the devil. Callers offer a range of responses, from controlling media to stealing human joy, while Art reflects on book burnings of Harry Potter in New Mexico and the psychology behind the overwhelming listener response.
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