The Whalenerd‘s Podcast

Episode 130 - Special Guest Andy Rogan

This week we had guest Andy Rogan on from Ocean Alliance. Andy is the Science Manager for the Ocean Alliance SnotBot program. We chatted about new technologies in whale research, drones and of course whale snot!

Episode 129 - Whales in New York

Whale sightings have still been going strong as whales are working their way South for winter season in the Northern Hemisphere. Katlyn took a trip to New York last week to be a part of the Safina Center annual gala event. We are so grateful to them for supporting the podcast this year. While she was there she went whale watching out of Brooklyn, so we took a little time to learn more about the whales that use the New York Bight.

Episode 128 - Special Guest John Ryan

We chatted all things hydrophone this week with John Ryan from the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI). As you know, we are huge fans of the soundscape live stream and it was super fun to chat with one of the scientists who is central to the program. They recently published a paper using the hydrophone data to learn about how blue whales might be using acoustics to find large aggregations of krill in Monterey Bay.

Episode 127 - Close Encounters of the Whale Kind

We have had quite a few friendly humpback whale encounters over the past month. So we wanted to chat more about what makes an encounter "friendly" with a whale and what the experience is like. There hasn't been much science done to explain these encounters currently, but we did discuss what little information there is available.

Minisode 12 - How Sound Moves in the Ocean

Katlyn takes us through the basics of how sound moves in water. You can learn the definitions of how sound is characterized and how it's measured. Feel free to reference this episode later if you need a refresh on how this all works when we talk about whale acoustics in other episodes.

Episode 126 - Slater’s Tonga report

Slater is back from his trip to Tonga and we couldn't wait to talk about it! Hear about his experience swimming with humpbacks in a Southern Hemisphere breeding ground. 

Episode 125 - How Fin Whales Are Moving In The Southern Hemisphere

This week Katlyn did a little follow up on the fin whale story from Antarctica that we have been talking about throughout the summer. For more background you can start with Episodes 117 and 119 as a primer. 

New studies with satellite and scar pattern data are shedding light on where fin whales are going in the winter months. Are these waters safe to transit? That really is the question. 

Episode 124 - The Basics of Humpback Competitive Behaviors

Competitive behaviors are ramping up in the Northern Hemisphere! Humpback whales have started practicing and engaging in competitive behaviors while still on the feeding grounds, so Katlyn takes us through the basics of what is actually happening during these encounters. 

Episode 123 - Remembering Fran

It’s been awhile since we had the chance to catch up on summer sightings in Monterey. We also had some sad news about a well known whale in California, Fran. 

Episode 122 - Special Guest Katherina Audley

This week we chatted with Katherina Audley about humpback whales in Southern Mexico. For almost the last 10 years she has fostered an incredible community based effort to learn about and protect humpback whales and other marine life along the shores of Guererro. The Whales of Guererro Project has been a labor of love for her and the local community as they foster the next generation of people, whales, and tourism on the shorelines of the state of Guererro.