After the Breach Podcast

On Episode 27 of After the Breach podcast co-hosts Jeff and Sara share all about the most recent sightings from the Salish Sea. It has been a busy few weeks whale-wise and the duo felt they needed to catch up about it almost as soon as they had finished recording the previous episode! Dive in with them as they talk about the families that have been seen, a very quick sea lion hunt, and a new calf with one of their favorite families! If you are enjoying listening to our podcast, please share this with your friends, follow/subscribe, and leave us feedback/reviews! You can also find us on Instagram, Facebook and Youtube. Please send us feedback or questions at afterthebreachpodcast@gmail.com. Links from this episode: The History of Cetacean Taxonomy and Nomenclature: https://youtu.be/ZAkUE60o2o8?si=l2xtliA02mM5HWOJ Photos from this episode: T19B breach. Photo by Jeff Friedman T49As and T18s. Photo by Jeff Friedman T63, "Chainsaw," with T65 and T65Bs. Photo by Jeff Friedman T49A6, "Charlie II." Photo by Jeff Friedman

Episode 26 of After the Breach Podcast finds co-hosts, Jeff and Sara, reunited after Jeff’s trip to the Silver Bank to swim with humpback whales at the largest breeding ground in the world for North Atlantic humpback whales. Jeff shares some of the amazing highlights from his time there, including swimming with a singer and spending time viewing a particularly energetic rowdy group. Jeff and Sara will be hosting a trip to the Silver Bank next year and one spot has opened up so be sure to get in touch if you’re interested in going! Next, the two dive into recent sightings in the Salish Sea. There have been a lot of whales around recently and the duo talk about some of the families that have been around. They then share the sad news of the death of T109A3 who stranded and drowned near Zeballos on the west coast of Vancouver Island. Bay Cetology, headed by Jared Towers, is a great resource for updates on the unfolding situation as they attempt to reunite the two-year old calf of T109A3 with her extended family. At the end of the episode, the two answer some listener requests and questions. They introduce the T124A matriline and answer a listener question of have we ever seen any superpods. The definition of a superpod is when all three pods of the Southern Resident Community gather together. Every member of every matriline of every pod in the same area. The term often gets used to describe large gatherings or when most of the community is together but a true superpod is when every single whale in the SRKW community has come together. If you are enjoying listening to our podcast, please share this with your friends, follow/subscribe, and leave us feedback/reviews! You can also find us on Instagram, Facebook and Youtube. Please send us feedback or questions at afterthebreachpodcast@gmail.com. Photos from this episode: Humpback on the Silver Bank, 2024. Photo by Jeff Friedman Steller sea lion hunt. Photo by Sara Shimazu L77 with new calf L124 in 2019. Photo by Sara Shimazu Superpod in 2019. Photo by Sara Shimazu Superpod in 2019. Photo by Jeff Friedman

On Episode 25 of After the Breach Podcast, co-hosts Jeff and Sara welcome back their friend and colleague, Gary Sutton. Aside from being a captain in the Salish Sea he has also been working with OceanWise as a researcher and he joins in to talk about the research he’s a part of and some exciting upcoming projects. Before they get into that the three discuss the Northern Resident killer whales, which are a salmon-eating population similar to the Southern Resident killer whales that are a frequent topic of conversation. This population spends most of their time in the waters off northern Vancouver Island and along the central coast of British Columbia and even up into Alaska. While they are not infrequent visitors to the most northern reaches of the Salish Sea, the past few weeks have found three matrilines of Northern Resident killer whales visiting the waters of Howe Sound, where Jeff, Sara, and Gary all got to see them. Gary shares some interesting foraging observations about his visit with the A23s, A25s, and A42s, while Jeff and Sara talk about their impromptu visit with them. For Jeff this was a reconnection with a whale that changed his life and for Sara this was her first visit with this ecotype. If you are enjoying listening to our podcast, please share this with your friends, follow/subscribe, and leave us feedback/reviews! You can also find us on Instagram, Facebook and Youtube. Please send us feedback or questions at afterthebreachpodcast@gmail.com. Links from this episode: Ocean Wise Research on InstagramGary Sutton on InstagramOrcalab Photos from this episode: Northern Resident killer whales in Howe Sound, photo by Sara Shimazu Northern Resident killer whales in Howe Sound, photo by Sara Shimazu Northern Resident killer whales in Howe Sound, photo by Sara Shimazu Northern Resident killer whales in Howe Sound, photo by Sara Shimazu Northern Resident killer whales in Howe Sound, photo by Sara Shimazu Northern Resident killer whale, A61 "Surge," photo by Jeff Friedman Northern Resident killer whales in Howe Sound, photo by Jeff Friedman

Episode 24 of After the Breach is a long-awaited FAQ episode. Co-hosts, Jeff and Sara have been collecting questions from listeners and guests to Maya’s Legacy Whale Watching for a while and now they’re going to sit down and answer as many as they can. This will be the first FAQ episode but with the amount of questions received there will eventually be another one. Have you ever wondered what it's like to go whale watching in the Salish Sea? A lot of people have! Jeff and Sara start off by answering some of the most frequently asked questions surrounding going whale watching here and what that entails. What time of year is best? What time of day? What if it rains? They get to all of these and more. Afterwards they dive into some more questions regarding the whales and also themselves. If you have questions you haven’t asked then don’t worry! You can still submit them and they will keep them for future episodes. Feel free to write to Jeff and Sara through email, Instagram, or Facebook. And thank you for being a listener of After the Breach Podcast! If you are enjoying listening to our podcast, please share this with your friends, follow/subscribe, and leave us feedback/reviews! You can also find us on Instagram, Facebook and Youtube. Please send us feedback or questions at afterthebreachpodcast@gmail.com. Links from this episode: Maya's Legacy Whale Watching Photos from this episode: Special podcast guest, Sundae Steller sea lion hunt, photo by Sara Shimazu Steller sea lion hunt, photo by Sara Shimazu Steller sea lion hunt, photo by Sara Shimazu T18 spyhop, photo by Jeff Friedman

Episode 23 finds co-hosts Jeff and Sara back home in Washington State after their visit to Bremer Bay, Western Australia. Join these (more than) slightly jet-lagged whale enthusiasts as they chat once again with their friend and colleague, April Ryan, about their trip down under. This will be the last episode dedicated to their January trip though it will certainly come up once again in future episodes. In this episode they share some more stories from their time down there and talk about one of the most intense hunts they saw of thirty-some killer whales pursuing a strap-toothed beaked whale. Also mentioned is a special little whale, Chopper, who is one of a few whales in the population who has no dorsal fin. They wrap up the episode with some thoughts about the differences between whale watching culture here in the Pacific Northwest (and the United States) and in Australia. A huge shoutout goes to Naturaliste Charters. Paul and his crew down there are amazing and dedicated to what they do. They run the killer whale tours from December through April and then run out of Augusta and Dunsborough the rest of the year for the north-bound and south-bound migrations. Make sure to follow along with their seasons and if you head down to Western Australia be sure to book a tour with them! Links from this Episode Naturaliste Charters Whale WatchingBeaked Whale Pursuit (Video)Playful Whale (Reel)Social Whales (Reel) Photos from this Episode Socializing orcas. Photo by Sara Shimazu Chopper. Photo by Jeff Friedman Beaked whale predation. Photo by April Ryan

Episode 22 of After the Breach finds co-hosts, Sara and Jeff, still down in Bremer Bay, Western Australia with their friend and colleague, April Ryan. They have had so many encounters over the past two weeks and there’s so much to share! This time around the three of them share a quick highlight reel of just a few of the things that have stood out to them lately. They’ll have so much more to share once they’re back home (and rested!) but join them now to hear about what’s different for Sara from last year to this year, the patrolling whales that made a lasting impression on April, and Jeff’s memorable encounter with a juvenile who just seemed intrigued by the Go Pro camera the crew had in the water—and it wasn’t the first time for this particular whale! Enjoy these stories, plus a couple more, and get ready to hear a whole lot more in the coming weeks as the three of them return home, catch up on some sleep, and really process everything they’ve learned from the Bremer Canyon killer whales. If you are enjoying listening to our podcast, please share this with your friends, follow/subscribe, and leave us feedback/reviews! You can also find us on Instagram, Facebook and Youtube. Please send us feedback or questions at afterthebreachpodcast@gmail.com. Videos from this Episode: Photos from this Episode Bremer Canyon killer whales pursuing a beaked whale. Photo by Sara Shimazu Orca kids prey sharing. Photo by April Ryan Orcas prey sharing. Photo by Sara Shimazu. Albatross with lunch on the fly. Photo by April Ryan Orca teeth. Photo by Jeff Friedman

Episode 21 of After the Breach finds co-hosts, Jeff Friedman and Sara Shimazu, coming to you from on the road. The two are down in Bremer Bay, Western Australia for the month of January and with them is their colleague and episode guest, April Ryan, who joined them on Episode 8 “Orcas Take a Minke Whale”. The three have been out on the water nearly every day and after over a week of encounters with the orcas of the Bremer Canyon the three discuss first, second, and fourth impressions of this amazing population. Where is the Bremer Canyon and who are these whales? Jeff and Sara introduce both as they set the stage for retellings of their stories of the past few days interspersed with information on what makes these whales and their ecosystem so special. April, who is visiting for the first time, shares her first impressions of this new-to-her population. The three of them talk about the power behind these whales as they chase their prey (mainly beaked whales, but they also eat fish!), the predation events they’ve witnessed, the new calf in one of the groups, and even four previously undocumented adult whales! WITH OPEN SADDLE PATCHES! What does it mean? Well, the truth is we don’t really know but they share their speculations and thought about that and so much more. Before they sign off the episode Sara talks a bit about the research she’s doing and the interview she did with ABC Australia about the Bremer Canyon orcas. If you’d like to get out on the water with Jeff and Sara you can sign up for a tour with Maya’s Legacy Whale Watching in Friday Harbor, San Juan Island, Washington. Just make sure to let them know you listen to the podcast and would like to meet Jeff and Sara! And if you’re looking for an extra special whale trip our co-hosts will be offering another photo workshop in August 2024 and a trip to swim with humpback whales on the Silver Bank in the Dominican Republic in February 2025. There are only a few spots left between the two so definitely reach out to them if you’re interested in signing up! If you are enjoying listening to our podcast, please share this with your friends, follow/subscribe, and leave us feedback/reviews! You can also find us on Instagram, Facebook and Youtube. Please send us feedback or questions at afterthebreachpodcast@gmail.com. Links from this episode: Naturaliste Charters Whale WatchingNaturaliste Charters on InstagramGoogle Maps for Bremer Bay, AustraliaBremer Bay orcas 'healthiest on the globe' as numbers boom off Western AustraliaSara's InstagramJeff's InstagramApril's InstagramMaya's Legacy Whale Watching Photos from this episode: Open saddle patch on newly discovered whale in Bremer Canyon. Photo by Sara Shimazu New calf in Bremer Canyon. Photo by Sara Shimazu Bremer Canyon Orca, "Nibbles," surging to predation of beaked whale. Photo by Sara Shimazu Beaked whale organs after predation. Photo by April Ryan Beaked whale brain. Photo by April Ryan More surging. Photo by Jeff Friedman

On this episode of After the Breach podcast, hosts Jeff Friedman and Sara Shimazu are joined by Monika Wieland Shields from Orca Behavior Institute to recap the season in numbers. We discuss sightings data for both Southern Resident killer whales (salmon eaters) and Bigg's killer whales (marine mammal eaters), and recap some incredible stories from our latest whale sightings around the San Juan Islands. We jump right in talking about a recent November superpod with all members of the Southern Resident orca population and how sightings of superpods in the inland waters of the Salish Sea have changed over the last 20 years. We discuss in detail how the presence of Southern Residents in the Salish Sea and how they are seen more frequently from October - March than their historical peak season of April - September. We talk about how their old patterns have completely filpped and what this may mean. We also point out the confusion in the general public created by having a population we don't see as often as we used to, yet there are media stories of record numbers of killer whale sightings, due to the dramatic increase of Bigg's killer whale sightings. Our conversation transitions to the record setting number of Bigg's killer whale sightings and how each year since 2017 continues to break previous records. We talk about how much has changed in less than 10 years. Our conversation continues to some recent Bigg's sightings, including a Minke whale hunt, a steller sea lion hunt, and a once in a lifetime moment for Monika (you'll have to listen to the podcast to hear the story). We conclude with another meet the matriline, this time with the T123s: Sydney (T123), Stanley (T123A), Lucky (T123C) and Darcy (T123D). If you are enjoying listening to our podcast, please share this with your friends, follow/subscribe, and leave us feedback/reviews! You can also find us on Instagram, Facebook and Youtube. Please send us feedback or questions at afterthebreachpodcast@gmail.com. Links from this episode: Orca Behavior InstituteEndangered Orcas, The Story of the Southern Residents, by Monika Wieland ShieldsActive Pass, BCVideo: Killer Whales Beached While Hunting Seals Photos from this episode: Photo by Sara Shimazu Photo by Sara Shimazu Photo by Sara Shimazu Photo by Sara Shimazu

In mid-August two killer whales were observed to be trapped in Barnes Lake, near the small community of Coffman Cove, in Southeast Alaska. Through an amazing collaboration between residents of Coffman Cove, NOAA, scientists and others, the whales were successfully rescued and guided back to open water on September 29th. Jared Towers, director of Bay Cetology joins us to tell the story of the rescue and how he helped to guide the whales out of Barnes Lake. Our discussion begins with Jared talking about Barnes Lake, a saltwater lagoon with entrances to the north and south, and the challenges of getting in and out of the lake from open water. Jared also discusses an incident in 1994 when offshore killer whales were trapped in the same area for several weeks. He also discusses his involvement in previous killer whale rescues with T046C2 and T073B, the challenges of whale rescues and the available methods that can be used. Jared helped to identify the two Bigg's killer whales that were trapped in Barnes Lake, T051, a 42-year-old male, and T049A2, a 16-year-old male. Prior to their sighting in Barnes Lake in mid-August they had been last reported together off the west coast of Vancouver Island on July 9th. Our discussion with Jared covers the incredible collaboration that took place to rescue T051 and T049A2 and the detailed considerations and contextual knowledge behind the specific vocals he played to help guide the whales out of Barnes Lake. Jared tells the story in detail of how the first attempt failed to get the whales free through the kelp bed at the north entrance. He continues by describing how the team regrouped the following day to successfully free the two whales through the south entrance. Our discussion with Jared concludes by talking about Finwave, an online photo-identification database he helped develop to streamline identification and cataloguing sightings information, and how it is currently being used to track Bigg's killer whale data. Sara and Jeff finish the episode talking briefly about recent whale sightings around the San Juan Islands and meet the matriline with the T049As. If you are enjoying listening to our podcast, please follow/subscribe, leave us feedback/reviews and share with your friends! You can also find us on Instagram, Facebook and Youtube. Please send us feedback or questions at afterthebreachpodcast@gmail.com. Links mentioned in this episode: Bay Cetologyhttps://baycetology.org/Video of T051 and T049A2 exiting south channelCoffman Cove Residents Help Free Two Killer Whales From Barnes Lakehttps://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/feature-story/coffman-cove-residents-help-free-two-killer-whales-barnes-lake T073B plays with sailboat in Comox Harbor, 2018https://youtu.be/J1d7HuP4ECI?feature=shared Photos mentioned in this episode: Barnes Lake and Coffman Cove from Google Maps Photo by Jared Towers Photo by Jared Towers Photo by Jared Towers

The Center for Whale Research (CWR) is dedicated to the study and conservation of the critically endangered Southern Resident killer whale population and also study the thriving Bigg's killer whale population. Joining us as our guests from CWR are Research Director, Dr. Michael Weiss, and Orca Survey Lead, Dave Ellifrit. We cover a variety of topics in our discussion, filled with lots of great stories. We being talking about the census work conducted by CWR as well as behavioral observations from drones to observe social interactions, networks and prey sharing behavior. The discussion is full of fascinating stories, and we had to ask Dave to tell a few more stories, one about a legendary Bigg's killer whale hunt of a Minke whale, and a happy baby Southern Resident killer whale story. With so many great stories, we will surely have these two back on a future episode. We finish our discussion talking about how the whales are so interdependent on each other and how social effects influence population trajectory. And of course we heard a few more topics interwoven into the conversation, from whales tossing their babies around to different body shapes, fat foreheads, and funny looking whales. The episode concludes with our latest sightings, including the continuing saga of T65A5 and an update on Jack's summer camp, and our meet the matriline with the T18s. We have dates for our 2024 After the Breach Podcast Photo Workshop! Saturday August 24th and Sunday August 25th, 2024. You can sign up for both days or just one day. Email us or you can find details here. We also have dates for our 2025 week-long charter to see the humpbacks of the Silver Bank, which will be February 15-22, 2025. Stay tuned for more details. If you are enjoying listening to our podcast, please follow/subscribe, leave us feedback/reviews and share with your friends! You can also find us on Instagram, Facebook and Youtube. Please send us feedback or questions at afterthebreachpodcast@gmail.com. Links mentioned in this episode: Center for Whale Research: https://www.whaleresearch.com/ CWR New Vessel for Field Research: https://www.whaleresearch.com/post/new-vessel-will-open-up-new-opportunities-for-center-for-whale-research-fieldwork

There is often something special about September whales. Mid-August through mid-October is a favorite time to view whales in the Salish Sea, typically with an abundance of orcas, humpback whales and many days of beautiful fall lighting. Sara and Jeff begin this episode by sharing some highlights of this year's September whales, including a humpback playing with logs, humpbacks lunge feeding in krill blooms, and the many matrilines of Bigg's killer whales that have been in the area. The episode continues to highlight some of the many killer whale encounters and a recap of this year's After the Breach Podcast Photo Workshop. Over the two days of the workshop, in addition to humpback whales, we encountered a total of 48 individual Bigg's killer whales. We saw a total of 32 orcas each day in various groups. We talk about the memorable ending of day one, with a group or orcas nicknamed "Jack's summer camp," (an interesting split in matrilines we started talking about in episode 16) in epic late afternoon September lighting. We also talk about a very rare encounter with the T028As, a family that has not been documented since 2021, and the 109A2s, a family that has an 18 year old mom with 4 young kids! The episode includes a section we almost forgot, meet the matriline, where we discuss the T36s. T36 is the mom of T36A and T36B, and also the presumed mom of T99 and T137. This makes her her responsible for 19 whales, including grandkids and her first great grandkid. We have dates for our 2024 After the Breach Podcast Photo Workshop! Saturday August 24th and Sunday August 25th, 2024. You can sign up for both days or just one day. Email us or you can find details here. On this episode we also discuss a bit about our 2025 Silver Bank week-long charter, which will be February 15-22, 2025. Stay tuned for more details. If you are enjoying listening to our podcast, please follow/subscribe, leave us feedback/reviews and share with your friends! You can also find us on Instagram, Facebook and Youtube. Please send us feedback or questions at afterthebreachpodcast@gmail.com. Photos from this episode: Humpback whale, "Stitch," playing with logs. Photo by Jeff Friedman, Maya's Legacy Whale Watching Lunge feeding humpback whale. Photo by Jeff Friedman, Maya's Legacy Whale Watching Krill bloom at the surface. Photo by Jeff Friedman, Maya's Legacy Whale Watching End of day of the After the Breach Photo Workshop. Photo by Jeff Friedman, Maya's Legacy Whale Watching

We are back! Sara and Jeff found time to connect for a new episode to talk about some of the latest amazing sightings and our upcoming photo workshop & all day tours on September 23rd and 24th. We talk and tell stories throughout the episode about how many different groups of orcas have been in the area over the last few months. We share a brief update on the brothers from Episode 15 and share the latest in the ongoing saga of T65A5, Indy, who became entangled in crab gear. He freed himself and resumed his role as social butterfly of the Salish Sea. We also talk about a new calf with the 75Bs and who might be the mom. And T63, "Chainsaw" has made an unusual late summer appearance. We finish the episode with teasing some thoughts on upcoming epoxides and our offseason plans to see whales around the world. If you are enjoying listening to our podcast, please follow/subscribe, leave us feedback/reviews and share with your friends! You can also find us on Instagram, Facebook and Youtube. Please send us feedback or questions at afterthebreachpodcast@gmail.com.

On this episode of After the Breach podcast, hosts and professional guides, Jeff Friedman and Sara Shimazu, talk about a recent interesting encounter they had on May 20th with two brothers from the Bigg’s killer whale population, T125A and T128. Also joining us is returning guest, Monika Wieland Shields from the Orca Behavior Institute (OBI) who was also out on the water and provides her own observations from that day. Starting out the episode the three talk about the latest sightings in the Salish Sea. It has been a busy spring and there has been a lot happening. We’ve had some of our more famous humpback whales return, tons of Bigg’s killer whales sightings, and even J-pod returned just before the end of May! Monika shares some interesting insights courtesy of OBI. On May 20th, two killer whales were reported south of San Juan Island in the eastern Strait of Juan de Fuca. The two were quickly identified as T125A and T128. These boys belong to an interesting family of four, led by their mother T125. In 2015 the matriline was seen in the Salish Sea for the first time in 22 YEARS. They were around for a few days but then disappeared again. Since then these two brothers seem to have dispersed from their mom and have been making annual forays into the area where they’ve quickly become whale watching favorites. They usually travel fairly tight together but last month when they were seen they were traveling in the general vicinity of each other but separated over a mile from the other as they traveled north into Rosario Strait. Once there they came together briefly before separating again. T128 went into the inner San Juan Islands through Thatcher Pass while T125A continued up Rosario Strait. When Jeff and Monika caught up with T128 he was not really going anywhere and was circling on the west side of Blakely Island. What they did notice right away was that he had some pretty deep rake marks from another killer whale on his dorsal fin! Meanwhile T125A was continuing up Rosario Strait where Sara got on scene with him. He quickly turned and headed back down the strait in the direction he had come from and started vocalizing and pushing a lot of water as he came up to the surface, sometimes rolling and slapping his dorsal fin or tail lobbing. It really seemed like he was trying to be loud and obvious as to where he was. Jeff reported that T128 turned and actually went back out into Rosario Strait where he would have heard his brother and then quickly turned and went back into the inner islands. He was last seen heading west past Lopez Island ferry terminal and T125A was left still heading south in Rosario Strait. There’s a lot of room for speculation and human interpretation into what happened here, if anything. Did the two brothers have an argument and needed some time apart? Was T125A the culprit to those rake marks on his brother? There are so many questions and we can only guess as to what may have happened. We had hoped they would show up the next day but they disappeared overnight and haven’t been seen since. That is until a few days before we were going to post this episode; guess who showed up!? The brothers, reunited, and in the case of T128, all healed! Where were they the last three weeks? Did they reunite the night of the 20th or did they take some more time apart? We have an upcoming photography workshop in September! Details are available on our website www.afterthebreachpodcast.com or you can send us an email at afterthebreachpodcast@gmail.com. It’s September 23rd and 24th and we will spend each day on the water with catered lunches and a ton of information to share! If you are enjoying listening to our podcast, please follow/subscribe, leave us feedback/reviews and share with your friends! You can also find us on Instagram, Facebook and Youtube. Please send us feedback or questions at afterthebreachpodcast@gmail.com. For complete show notes, links and photos, please visit our website:...

The collaboration between whale watching companies in the Pacific Whale Watch Association (PWWA) and other groups makes whale watching in the inland waters of Washington state and British Columbia unique, resulting in some of the most responsible whale watching on the planet. Erin Gless, the executive director of the Pacific Whale Watch Association, joins us to discuss the origins of the PWWA and the special collaboration that takes place on the water to promote responsible whale watching, education, research and conservation. But first we share some of recent sightings from our whale watching tours with Maya's Legacy Whale Watching in the San Juan Islands. We've been seeing more humpbacks as they are returning to their summer feeding waters in the Salish Sea, including several encounters with Divot (BCX1057) and Zephyr (BCZ0414). On a few of those encounters the mom and daughter were traveling together. We also discuss encounters with large groups of Bigg's killer whales, highlighting a day where we watched a group of 19 killer whales traveling hard against a strong tide in the narrow part of San Juan Channel. Included in this group were iconic whales T87 (Harbeson) and T63 (Chainsaw). Photos included below. We wrap up the latest sightings from our encounter seeing a big family reunion with T65, T63, the T65As and T65Bs. Later in this episode we talk about this entire family in more detail. We turn the discussion to responsible whale watching and welcome Erin, who has been working in the whale watch community in various locations since 2008 and is currently the executive director of the Pacific Whale Watch Association. Erin talks with us about the origins of the PWWA and how it currently represents 30 companies over a large geographic range, spanning from Seattle in the south to Telegraph Cove, BC to the north, and Port Renfrew to the west. We discuss at length the unique nature of the collaboration between companies and how this differs from whale watching in many parts of the world. The discussion includes how this collaboration creates responsible whale watching practices and makes this region such a popular whale watching spot, with different groups and species of whales being documented on an almost a daily basis. We also talk about how this collaboration spans outside PWWA with other whale watching associations, ferries, commercial shipping, researchers and others. We then discuss data collection being done by PWWA operators, including sentinel actions, which are proactive steps taken on the water to protect whales and other wildlife throughout the shared waters of the Salish Sea. We wrap up our discussion with Erin by talking about how to find and choose a responsible whale watching company in other parts of the world. We conclude the episode by introducing a new segment called “Meet the Matrilines” in which we will be talking in detail about a specific family of Bigg's killer whales in each episode. This episode’s matriline is one that we often mention in our latest sightings, the T65 family tree, which include T65, her presumed son, T63, her oldest daughter T65A and her 5 kids, and her youngest daughter T65B and her 3 kids. We will be holding a photography workshop / all day whale watching & wildlife tour on Saturday, September 23rd and Sunday, September 24th. You can sign up for one day or both. We will be on the water all day(6-8 hours) and the price includes catering, photography instruction, and whale ID tips. It will be a lot of fun. If you are interested please email us at afterthebreachpodcast@gmail.com. If you are enjoying listening to our podcast, please follow/subscribe, leave us feedback/reviews and share with your friends! You can also find us on Instagram, Facebook and Youtube. Please send us feedback or questions at afterthebreachpodcast@gmail.com. For complete show notes, links and photos, please visit our website:...

Following up on our last episode where we discussed the low genetic diversity of Antarctic Type D killer whales, in this episode we chat about another recently published genetics paper that focuses on killer whale populations in the Northeast Pacific, including Southern Resident, Northern Resident, Alaskan Resident, Offshore and Bigg's killer whales. Joining us for this discussion is returning guest Monika Wieland Shields, co-founder and director of Orca Behavior Institute. But first we share some recent sighting stories because so much is happening on the water and we continue to see large groups of Bigg's killer whales in the area. Sara and Jeff ran an all day tour last weekend with Maya's Legacy Whale Watching and spent time with a group of 19 whales from several families, including the T036As, T049A1, T124As, T124C, T125A, T128, and the T065Bs, who had a new calf by her side. There are so many young whales in the Bigg's population and on this particular encounter, over 25% of the whales were under the age of 3. We discuss the contrast between the number of Bigg's v Southern Resident killer whales under the age of 10 and how this is stunning when seen visually (see image under photos). We also discuss a recent sea lion hunt right outside of Friday Harbor with the T018s with the T049As, and an interesting encounter with the T046s and T046Bs where T046 herself was not present. We then turn the conversation to the recently published paper, "Inbreeding depression explains killer whale population dynamics." Monika leads the discussion about inbreeding depression, which is defined as reduced biological fitness that results from breeding between related individuals. The primary finding of the study is that both males and females are less likely to reach age 40 if they have a higher inbreeding coefficient. The Southern Resident killer whales lack of recovery is due, in part, to their lack of genetic diversity compared to the other populations in the Northeast Pacific, which have all been increasing in population. We discussed the role of the captures for marine parks and how this created a population bottleneck. We also discuss other factors hindering Southern Resident recovery and what can be done to address the factors that are within our control. We also talk about some of the fascinating supplemental information in the paper, including updated paternity information and effective population sizes. We conclude the episode by announcing our After the Breach Photo Workshop with Sara & Jeff. We will be holding the workshop on Saturday, September 23rd and Sunday, September 24th. You can sign up for one day or both. We will have all day tours (6-8 hours) each day, including catering, photography & whale ID tips, and a lot of fun. If you are interested please email us at afterthebreachpodcast@gmail.com. If you are enjoying listening to our podcast, please follow/subscribe, leave us feedback/reviews and share with your friends! You can also find us on Instagram, Facebook and Youtube. Please send us feedback or questions at afterthebreachpodcast@gmail.com. For complete show notes, links and photos, please visit our website: https://www.afterthebreachpodcast.com/e/episode-13-inbreeding-depression-and-killer-whales Links mentioned in this episode: https://orcabehaviorinstitute.org/https://sanjuanislandwhalewatch.com/https://www.nature.com/articles/s41559-023-01995-0 Photos mentioned in this episode: T065B with new calf T065B3. Photo by Sara Shimazu T019B. Photo by Sara Shimazu

Sub-Antarctic "type D" killer whales are a very distinctive and rarely encountered ecotype of orcas found in the offshore waters of the Southern Ocean. Jared Towers, director of Bay Cetology, joins us in this episode to discuss his fascinating encounter with a group of "type D" killer whales and a recently published paper, “Type D” killer whale genomes reveal long-term small population size and low genetic diversity. Before jumping into the discussion about his adventures to find "type D" killer whales, Jared and Jeff tell a story about a humpback whale mom and fresh newborn calf, maybe only hours old, they encountered offshore of Baja this winter on their charter with Apparent Winds. Jeff forgot to tell this story in episode 11, and since Jeff and Jared were there for the encounter this winter, they wanted to share this unique experience. We then talk to Jared about his background, growing up in Alert Bay, BC, where he lives currently working with Bay Cetology as well as other organizations. After talking a bit about Bay Cetology and some of Jared's other encounters, he tells us about the challenges in finding "type D" killer whales and the conditions he had to endure in a 75 foot sail boat in the Southern Ocean. Their persistence paid off and Jared recounts the story of how they came across a group of approximately 30 very curious "type D's" as the whales checked out the boat and the line of hydrophones and GoPros being towed behind. They were able to get the first fresh tissue biopsy samples so they could see how they compare to all other Southern Hemisphere killer whales. Jared talks about the 3 individuals biopsied, a mother and 2 probable full siblings. We talk with Jared about the paper, the ecotype's low genetic diversity and the bottleneck they experienced in the past. Jared points out and discusses that in spite of their challenges, they have found a way to become wide spread and perhaps abundant compared to other inbred populations. We conclude the episode discussing recent sightings in the Salish Sea. Sara and Jeff are running tours daily with Maya's Legacy Whale Watching and highlight some recent encounters with large groups of Bigg's killer whales, including the iconic T63, Chainsaw. If you are enjoying listening to our podcast, please follow/subscribe, leave us feedback/reviews and share with your friends! You can also find us on Instagram, Facebook and Youtube. Please send us feedback or questions at afterthebreachpodcast@gmail.com. For complete show notes, links and photos, please visit our website: https://www.afterthebreachpodcast.com/e/episode-12-type-d-killer-whales Links mentioned in this episode: https://baycetology.orghttps://www.patreon.com/baycetologyhttps://www.crowdcast.io/@cetacean-sessionshttps://www.crowdcast.io/@cetacean-sessionshttps://apparentwinds.orghttps://academic.oup.com/jhered/article/114/2/94/7086686? Video & photos mentioned in this episode: Type D Killer Whale. Photo by Jared Towers T063, Chainsaw. Photo by Jeff Friedman T063, Chainsaw, with T049A1, Noah. Photo by Jeff Friedman

We are back on San Juan Island after our winter offseason. People often ask us what we do during our offseason. We go whale watching in other parts of the world! Daven joins us on this episode as we share stories of our offseason whale adventures. Between the three of us we traveled to the Canadian Arctic, Eastern Pacific off Mexico and the Sea of Cortez, the Southern Ocean off Australia, the Sliver Bank off the Dominican Republic, and Antarctica. Daven starts off the by sharing stories from his experiences in Greenland and the Canadian Arctic, highlighted by encounters with Northern bottlenose whales, Belugas, and a fleeting view of Narwhals. He also talks about spending two months in Antarctica seeing multiple species of baleen whales as well as different types of Antarctic killer whales. Our stories continue with Sara's adventures to Bremer Bay, Australia with Naturaliste Charters to see the killer whales of Bremer Canyon. These are a recently discovered population of approximately 300 orcas that are thought to be related to Antarctic type A killer whales. They primarily prey on beaked whales but also eat a varied diet that includes squid and tuna. Sara shares her stories from spending a month on the water with these whales while she collected data for the Orca Behavior Institute. Next, Jeff talks a bit about his last minute travels around the Baja Peninsula to sail one of the breeding areas for North Pacific Humpback whales. He also talks about a friendly Gray whale encounter in Magdalena Bay and a visit to the Museo de la Ballena in La Paz. Finally, Jeff and Sara discuss their return to the Sliver Bank, the largest breeding area for North Atlantic Humpback whales, 75 miles offshore of the Dominican Republic. They share highlights from snorkeling with Humpback whales while out with Conscious Breath Adventures. For even more information on what it's like to experience the Silver Bank, you can listen to Episode 7. There are several common themes throughout our discussions, including the remote locations of many of these special, wild places and the sometimes uncomfortable conditions that you have to endure to get there. But the payoff is life changing as evidenced by us choosing activities like this every offseason in the San Juan Islands. Speaking of the San Juan Islands, our season has started and we are seeing amazing wildlife and whales. If you would like to join us on a tour you can get details and book your trip with Maya's Legacy Whale Watching. If you are enjoying listening to our podcast, please follow/subscribe, leave us feedback/reviews and share with your friends! You can also find us on Instagram, Facebook and Youtube. Please send us feedback or questions at afterthebreachpodcast@gmail.com. For complete show notes, links and photos, please visit our website: https://www.afterthebreachpodcast.com/e/our-offseason-whales-around-the-world/ Photos mentioned in this episode: Photo by Daven Hafey Photo by Daven Hafey Photo by Sara Hysong-Shimazu Photo by Sara Hysong-Shimazu Photo by Sara Hysong-Shimazu Photo by Sara Hysong-Shimazu Photo by Jeff Friedman

The award-winning 2022 documentary Corky is the story of world’s longest-held captive orca, the changing public sentiment about orcas in captivity, and the rise of sea sanctuaries. Christine Caruso, the producer and director of Corky joins us to discuss the film. Corky is a member of the Northern Resident killer whale community and was captured on December 11, 1969. We intentionally published this episode on the anniversary of her capture and highly recommend the film. The film is as powerful and emotional as Blackfish, but it is the personal story of Corky. We talk briefly about the Northern Residents, their similarities and differences from the Southern Residents that we see here in the San Juan Islands. They are two distinct populations of salmon-eating orcas. Christine’s shares her background as a kindergarten teacher and tells the story of how she went from learning about Corky to making this amazing film. It was her passion for Corky that lead her to the right people and the right places at the right times. We then discuss some of the moments from the film, and Corky’s life, that stood out for each of us. Christine talks about her move from Marineland of the Pacific to SeaWorld. Her tankmate, Orky, also a Northern Resident, was being removed from their tank first. Christine talks about how Corky desperately tried to get into the sling with him, not wanting to be separated. Sara recounted Corky and Orky’s daily sunlight ceremony, how they marked where the sun would rise each morning and celebrated. You gotta see the film to really get the mysticism of this. Jeff recounted a pivotal life changing encounter with a Northern Resident, A61, and learned in the film that he is Corky’s cousin. Christine then talks about her experience of watching the audience go through Corky’s journey at the screening at the Friday Harbor Film Festival in October. The film won 2 awards at it’s first film festival, the Audience Choice awards for Tales from the Heart and On Demand Best Feature. We conclude our conversation with Christine by talking about Corky’s future and the hope that she will be retired to a sanctuary, under human care, in her home waters. As featured in the film, there is already an ideal site waiting for her. We talk about what that would be like for Corky, to be able to feel the tides, the kelp beds, and be in acoustic range of her community. See links below how people can get involved and where you can see the film. Please watch the film and share with your friends. Help us to help Corky share her story. At the end of the episode we talk about recent sightings and some previews to our upcoming episodes, including Sara’s winter adventure to Australia to spend time with the Bremer Canyon killer whales and our upcoming trip with CBA to the Silver Bank. If you are enjoying listening to our podcast, please follow/subscribe, leave us feedback/reviews and share with your friends! You can also find us on Instagram, Facebook and Youtube. Please send us feedback or questions at afterthebreachpodcast@gmail.com. For complete show notes, links and photos, please visit our website: https://www.afterthebreachpodcast.com/e/episode-10-corky/ Links mentioned in this episode: https://www.facebook.com/CorkyDocumentaryhttps://doublebaysanctuary.org/https://www.keikotheuntoldstory.com/https://www.amazon.com/Listening-Whales-What-Orcas-Taught/dp/0345442881https://orcalab.org/https://baycetology.org/https://whalesanctuaryproject.org/https://www.nonhumanrights.org/ Photos

Joining us as our guest, from Vancouver Island, is our friend Gary Sutton. Gary is a whale researcher with Ocean Wise Research and Bay Cetology. He is also a professional whale and wildlife guide. After recently returning from his field research season off northeast Vancouver Island and the central BC coast, Gary shares information about the focus of their research and tells some great stories about his time up there. The overarching goal of the research he is working on is to use photogrammetry to take photos and measure cranial fat deposits in Northern Resident killer whales and track changes over time to assess body condition and health. Gary talks about this research and what we can learn about whales using drones to take photos from above. As we do with all of our guests, we asked Gary to share some memorable encounters from his field season. Gary tells some great stories about seeing bubble-net feeding humpbacks and the first documented sighting of some famous California Bigg's killer whales in the inland waters of BC. We also discuss the latest sightings, including a new calf with the T37Bs and a rare winter Southern Resident killer whale superpod. We discuss how the Southern Residents are adapting to declines in their preferred prey availability and the changes we are seeing in their distribution and travel patterns. The episode concludes with an email from a listener in response to our discussions about humpbacks intervening in Bigg's killer whale predations on marine mammals. The email points out that hippos have been well documented to interrupt hunts on other animals as well. If you are enjoying listening to our podcast, please follow/subscribe, leave us feedback/reviews and share with your friends! You can also find us on Instagram, Facebook and Youtube. Please send us feedback or questions at afterthebreachpodcast@gmail.com. For complete show notes, links and photos, please visit our website: https://www.afterthebreachpodcast.com/e/episode-0-orca-research-stories-latest-sightings/ Links mentioned in this episode: https://www.instagram.com/gary_j27/https://www.instagram.com/oceanwiseresearch/https://baycetology.org/ Photos mentioned in this episode: New calf with T37B. Photo by Jeff Friedman

On October 7, 2022 two families of Bigg's killer whales, the T065As and T099s, successfully hunted an adult Minke whale south of the San Juan Islands in Washington state. We were able to document the hunt as well as the hours long feeding behavior afterwards. Bigg's killer whales in the Salish Sea predominately prey on harbor seals, sea lions and porpoise. This was an incredibly rare event to witness, and joining us as our guest to help tell the story of the minke takedown is friend and colleague, April Ryan. Along with Jeff and Sara, April is a captain and marine naturalist with Maya's Legacy Whale Watching in Friday Harbor. Truth be told we recorded episode 8 the night before the minke hunt. It was such a rare event that we had to reset and re-record. So the episode begins with part of the original recording where we discuss some recent sightings, including large aggregations of humpbacks. These aggregations are sometimes seen in the Salish Sea and can number between 50-100 whales. We also talk about some newly documented calves, including one Sara documented last week. After discussing the humpbacks April joins Sara and Jeff to recount the minke hunt. The minke whale was a known minke who we have seen on our tours. She was first documented in the Salish Sea in 1982, as an adult, making her approximately 50 years old. After this, we move on to answer some questions submitted by listeners about how we got here. How did we get into whale watching and find our way to San Juan Island. If you are enjoying listening to our podcast, please follow/subscribe, leave us feedback/reviews and share with your friends! You can also find us on Instagram, Facebook and Youtube. Please send us feedback or questions at afterthebreachpodcast@gmail.com. For complete show notes, photos and links, please visit our website: https://www.afterthebreachpodcast.com/e/episode-8-orcas-take-a-minke-whale/ Video from the minke hunt: Links from this episode: Rare clash between two humpbacks and group of orcas Orcas Take Down Minke Whale Tour boat stunned as orcas take down large minke whale in Juan de Fuca Strait Photos from this episode: Humpback whale "Caspian" Photo by Sara Shimazu. Humpback whale "Caspian" Photo by Sara Shimazu. TO65As and T099s hunting minke whale. Photo by April Ryan. T065As and T099s hunting minke whale. Photo by April Ryan. T065As and T099s hunting minke whale. Photo by April Ryan. T065As and T099s hunting minke whale. Photo by April Ryan.