The Whalenerd‘s Podcast

Episode 138 - Killer Whales Are Winning The Internet

Killer whales are winning the summer of 2023 online. In the midst of heavy news coverage of the Iberian orcas interacting with boats making headlines - memes and tiktoks have gone viral about the events. We have covered this topic several times in the past, but with new data we decided to revisit the topic. There are up to 15 Iberian orcas interacting with boaters near the coast of Spain and Portugal. Katlyn also gives an update on her season in Alaska and her visit to the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry (OMSI) where there is a killer whale exhibit covering our history since time immemorial with these animals.

Episode 137 - Getting Caught Up / One Month in Alaska

After a longer break Katlyn is back with a recap episode from the spring trips and her first month at sea in Alaska. Listen in for a detailed recap of the two Monterey Bay trips and an overview of the Alaska route she traveled in May and June. There is also a small tribute to the late Roger Payne at the end of the episode.

Episode 136 - North Atlantic Right Whales Moms & Calves 2023

This week we checked in on the North Atlantic Right Whale breeding season. Meet the moms for this season and a little about their history!

Episode 135 - Humpback whales in Japan

There are multiple breeding areas off the Western North Pacific Ocean where humpback whales go to breed in the winter. We covered a recent paper that covers the use of Japanese waters by humpbacks in more detail.

Episode 134 - Special Guest Belén García Ovide

We were so excited to talk to Belén for this episode about her work in Iceland. Belén is a marine biologist, wildlife guide, and sailor who works in the whale watching industry and runs a non profit focused on ocean conservation and education. She has also been an integral part of establishing the first Hope Spot in Iceland.

Episode 133 - Hippos are whales

Slater is back from his safari trip to Kenya! After talking about whale sightings and safari sightings we chat about how hippos are indeed distant cousins of whales, how scientists figured that out, and what adaptations hippos and whales have to live their semi aquatic and marine lives.

Episode 132 - Humpback Movements in the Southern Hemisphere

This week Katlyn takes us through some information about humpback whale migration patterns in the Southern Hemisphere. After Slater came back from Tonga last summer we have been wanting to learn more about how the whales use Antarctica and travel between the feeding and breeding grounds. 

Katlyn also added in a little snippet of whale song from Maui this season for you to enjoy during the sightings report.

Episode 131 - ’Tis the Season for Baby Whales

Happy New Year!

Several birthing events for large whales in the North Pacific have been documented this winter. So we did a recap of the latest events in Mexico and California. We also covered a paper that gathered up reports over the past few decades of humpback whale births around the world.

Minisode 14 - Early Season Maui Update

This is our last episode of 2022. We talked through an early season update for Maui with some data from NOAA, observations on the water, and some news updates on Moon the humpback whale.

Minisode 13 - Humpbacks Have NO Rules

This week we get caught up on a few updates for everyone, including sharing some gratitude for you all. We are so grateful to everyone that listens to and supports the podcast!

Also we chat about some interesting patterns of humpback whales moving around the Eastern North Pacific using some data from Happywhale and our observations on the water.