After the Breach Podcast

We've mentioned him on many episodes. He's a young and fascinating whale, a social butterfly and sometimes a troublemaker. On this episode of After the Breach, Jeff and Sara are joined once again by Monika Wieland Shield of the Orca Behavior Institute to talk about T65A5 “Indy”.

This young male has been dispersed since he was five years old and we talk about his history, his family, and some of his more interesting predicaments. We always ask the question, where and with whom will Indy be next? He was invited to join this episode of the podc...

This episode of After the Breach is a special one—it was our first recording with a live audience! In celebration of the Orca Behavior Institute’s 10th Anniversary we joined Monika Wieland Shields and Michael Weiss at the Center for Whale Research’s Outreach Center with some of OBI’s biggest fans in attendance.

We talk about bad whale movies (courtesy of Michael), we learn about OBI’s history, research, and plans for the future, and of course, we take audience questions! It was a lot of fun and there were a lot of laughs!

If you...

Joining us on the latest episode of After the Breach Podcast we welcome back Dr. Cindy Elliser from PacMam Research to talk to us about a very important, non-cetacean that inhabits the Salish Sea—the harbor seal!

These pinnipeds are an important species, both as prey and as predators. We talk about PacMam’s latest paper about site fidelity, and also learn some interesting facts about these charismatic creatures. We also get into seal politics and discuss why seals get a bad rap, why this is not deserved, and how culling pinnipeds will not accomplish what some thin...

Joining us on this episode is Trevor Branch, a professor at the School of Aquatic and Fishery Sciences at the University of Washington, to discuss his paper, "Most “flight” baleen whale species are acoustically cryptic to killer whales, unlike “fight” species." The discussion details how baleen whales can be categorized as either "fight" species or "flight" species, based on their responses to killer whale attacks, their vocalizations and other behaviors. We discuss which baleen whales belong in the flight club and which fall into the flight club and why. 

He also shares with us information from another paper he...

March was an incredible month for whale sightings in the Salish Sea, with killer whales encountered on almost 90% of our tours with Maya's Legacy Whale Watching. On this episode of After the Breach Podcast, Sara and Jeff share several stories about the whales they encountered in March, including a brand new calf (T46B3A) with the T46Bs. They are part of the amazing legacy of T46, and Sara and Jeff tell her story in this episode. Also included is a discussion of the T49As and T19s and their frequent spring encounters hunting sea lions in...

Often encountered on the water, Harbor Porpoise are the smallest cetacean in the Salish Sea and can be very underappreciated. Joining Sara and Jeff to share incredible information and research about these unique mammals is Cindy Elliser, the founder and research director of Pacific Mammal Research (PacMam). 

We discuss findings about photo identification and site fidelity from her recent published research, linked below, as well as other fascinating information such as harbor porpoise breeding, feeding, wake surfing and more.  

If you are enjoying listening to our podcast, please share this with your friends, follow/subscribe, an...

Sara, Jeff and a group of After the Breach Podcast listeners just returned from the Dominican Republic where they spent a week with North Atlantic humpback whales in their winter breeding waters on the Silver Bank. The plan was to record this episode from the Silver Bank, but everyone was having so much fun (and there were some technical difficulties), so it had to be recorded after Sara and Jeff returned home to Friday Harbor, Washington.

Joining Jeff and Sara to recount some of the highlights are two members of the Maya’s Legacy Whale Watching crew, wh...

On this episode of After the Breach, Jeff is reunited with Sara after she returns from Bremer Bay, Western Australia. The two of them get down into the details of what she encountered while out on the water with Naturaliste Charters.

This time Sara spent almost two months down there and started out on the water earlier than ever before. They weren’t sure what they were going to find starting in mid-December but the whales were there waiting for them when they arrived to the Hotspot the very first time.

Aside from some amazing bi...

On Episode 37 of the podcast, co-hosts, Jeff and Sara, welcome back returning guests Monika Wieland Shields of the Orca Behavior Institute and Michael Weiss of the Center for Whale Research. With two very different populations of killer whales using the waters of the Salish Sea they wanted to delve deeper into the calf survival rates of the two populations. Are they the same? Are they different? Jeff and Sara chat with these two researchers about that.    This comes after the loss of calf L128 who was born to L90 “Ballena” this summer. The four talk about her, why this was a uniq...

Frequent guest Monika Wieland Shields, co-founder and director of the Orca Behavior Institute, joins hosts Sara and Jeff for a recap of 2024 whale sightings, trends and observations. What stood out most is that there were a lot of whales in the Salish Sea in 2024. The episode covers the sightings trends for Southern Resident killer whales, Bigg's killer whales and humpbacks. We talk about numbers from tours with Maya's Legacy Whale Watching as well as the broader numbers collected by Orca Behavior Institute. 

Monika, Sara and Jeff also share their predictions for 2025, and as usual, weave in and o...

Joining us on episode 35 of After the Breach podcast is special guest Alexandra Morton. She has been called "the Jane Goodall of Canada" because of her incredible thirty-year fight to save British Columbia's wild salmon. She joins hosts Sara and Jeff to talk about her journey from whale researcher to wild salmon activist and back to whale researcher.

The episode begins with Alexandra talking about how she got started studying orca communication in California with killer whales Corky and Orky, sharing some fascinating stories from her time with them. She then discusses her move to British Columbia...

Episode 34 brings to the podcast a long overdue and special guest, the legendary Captain Jim Maya, to tell his stories, talk about his whale watching experience on the Salish Sea dating back to 1996, and the legacy he has created. 

Captain Jim is an epic story teller, teacher, whale and wildlife enthusiast, and the ultimate connector. He has connected people around the world with whales, wildlife and sense of place found in the Salish Sea, including Jeff and Sara and many of the Maya's Legacy Whale Watching team. 

Episode 34 begins by discussing these connections and moves on...

After a fall hiatus while our co-hosts, Jeff and Sara, were busy on the water, the dynamic duo is back with Episode 33! Joining them is returning guest, Jared Towers, from Bay Cetology. Jared last visited to chat about the rescue of T51 “Roswell” and T49A2 “Jude” from Barnes Lake in Alaska on Episode 19 and he is back now to talk about more killer whale rescues that he’s been involved with.

The three of them start out talking about T46C2 “Sam” and her entrapment in a bay on Aristazabal Island in British Columbia. The then-four year old was s...

Join your hosts, Jeff Friedman and Sara Shimazu, along with returning guests Monika Wieland Shields from the Orca Behavior Institute and Michael Weiss from the Center for Whale Research as they dive back into demystifying killer whales. The topics range from T109A3A’s saga to Iberian orcas to Southern Resident killer whales being doofuses (per Michael) to T65A5 being a sexual genius (per Jeff).

The conversation winds its way down some rabbit holes but touches on more topics that people brought up as feedback from part one as well as from the minds of fo...

On Episode 31 Jeff and Sara catch up on the most recent sightings in the Salish Sea and which whales have been seen lately. It’s been a hectic few weeks and they had recorded this previously and then there was just so much more happening that they had to record it again. And it’s a good thing too — they both sit down to record after a crazy day on the water with 38 killer whales and some humpback whales too! During the episode you’ll hear Sara reference 34 whales but they actually realized there were even more after the fact!

Episode 30 of After the Breach brings to the table a conversation we often have off the air. Joining us are Michael Weiss from the Center for Whale Research and Monika Wieland Shields from Orca Behavior Institute. Throughout our discussion we try to “demystify” killer whales. Being around these amazing animals sometimes has us seeing them through a human centric filter. It’s often easy to see ourselves in them and we think this is one of the many reasons people love them. But we also feel like it’s important to recognize that they are amazing creatures because they are soci...

On Episode 29 co-hosts, Jeff and Sara, welcome Judith Scott to the show. Judith has been around the world watching whales and spends much of her year in Iceland with the killer whales of the North Atlantic. She gives an introduction to the killer whales they see regularly off of Iceland and shares some stories about those whales. These killer whales feed primarily on herring, but some of them will switch to prey on seals in the summer! The three chat about that and more. They also have her share some of her adventures in other parts of the world.<...

On Episode 28 of After the Breach co-hosts Jeff and Sara dive into Steller’s sea lion hunts, recent sightings, and some good news surrounding T109A3A.

This spring has been one that has been filled with a lot of sea lion hunts. And for many of these hunts the whales involved have been, or included, the T049As. Jeff and Sara discuss what it’s like to witness those hunts and talk about a few recent ones, including a particularly brutal one they watched on the first all-day trip of the 2024 season.

After that they...

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...

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!

Ne...

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 th...

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 freq...

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...

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 yea...

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...

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 c...

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 th...

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...

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 t...

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 s...

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...

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 Wh...

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 kil...

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, m...

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 Ar...

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 No...

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...

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...

The Silver Bank is the largest breeding ground for North Atlantic humpback whales. Gene Flipse, owner and operator of Conscious Breath Adventures, joins us to discuss and share stories from one of our favorite whale experiences, swimming with humpback whales on the Silver Bank.

The episode begins with Sara and Jeff discussing the latest sightings from our whale watching tours with Maya’s Legacy Whale Watching from Friday Harbor, Washington. There have been a lot of Bigg’s killer whales in the area over the last few weeks, including a day with 54 killer whales in 11 different groups. We’v...

Bigg’s killer whales are a thriving population we see often in the inland waters of Washington state and British Columbia. In this episode we take a closer look into what we are learning about their fascinating culture and social dynamics. Joining us is return guest, Monika Wieland Shields, co-founder and director of Orca Behavior Institute.

We discuss and highlight the differences between the two populations of orcas we see in the Salish Sea, the endangered fish-eating Southern Resident killer whales and the growing population of marine mammal-eating Bigg’s killer whales. We discuss the primary cultural diff...