The Whalenerd‘s Podcast

Minisode 8 - Secrets of the Whales Pt. 2

Secrets of the whales airs today! Here is a little teaser from us. Feel free to listen before you watch, but be warned there are one or two small spoilers in there. Let us know what you think of the series! Happy Earth Day.

Minisode 7 - Secrets of the Whales Interview

This is a special minisode! A little different than our normal routine. We were able to have a zoom call interview with Brian Skerry (photographer and story teller) and Raphaelle Thibaut (composer) from Secrets of the Whales. This 4 part series airs on Disney + on April 22, but is also a recently released book and next month’s National Geographic Magazine cover story. We are so grateful for the opportunity to sit down with Brian and Raphaelle and briefly talk to them about the series. There are a few spoilers in there! So fair warning. We also have previewed the entire series and can’t wait to share more with you all soon! 

Episode 74 - Sperm Whales and Manatees!

In this episode we talked about a marine mammals species that we don’t talk about very often, manatees. We gave a brief overview of all manatee species and then focused primarily on the Florida manatee, a sub species of West Indian manatee. They have been in the new recently due to a large number of animals dying this winter in Florida in particular. We also talked about some updates with our hosts and a follow up on the sperm whale article we talked about last episode.

Episode 73 - Turning Emotions into Assets

This week the main topics we talked about were focused on understanding human emotions while creating effective science communication strategies, conservation campaigns and understanding the opinions that influence policies and regulations. Human emotions plays a big role in the receptiveness of conservation messaging and policies. We discussed how important it is to consider this dimension when crafting our science communication. Southern Resident killer whales and their food web were a case study that we talked about. We also covered a few news topics including sperm whale cultural transmission of hunting evasion techniques and North Atlantic right whale calves.

Episode 72 - Soundscapes in the Ocean

In this episode we had some ocean news including an article on cuttlefish intelligence, dolphins in the Potomac River and an update on the North Atlantic right whales. Adam is officially back on the water, so we get to hear about ocean adventures from all four hosts! We also discussed a recent paper on vessel behavior and humpback whales in Maui Nui, a summary paper on soundscape in the ocean and a recent paper on diet in Southern resident killer whales. Thanks for listening!

Episode 71 - The Anthropause

In this Episode we discussed several articles talking about the research and observations that are coming out of the “andropause” that humanity has done during the COVID-19 crisis. Humans have shifted where they are in the environment during this time of isolation and crisis. What will we learn from this in regards to the environment?  We also talked about our sightings and Slater is back on the water! There was some exciting/bittersweet news from the Pacific Northwest also - L pod welcomed a new calf recently.  

Episode 70 - Clones, Fossils, Aliens Oh My!

In this episode, we covered a few news items about cloning efforts with endangered weasels and whale fossils, because they were fun and new developments in science. We gave a recap of Whale Tales virtual event day 1. A lot of the talks were about whale songs, including a mind-blowing one from Roger Payne. More to come from Whale Tales in future episodes. We also had some updates on the status of North Atlantic Right Whale protections and an unfortunate update about one of the mom calf pairs from this season. 

Episode 69 - What Do Whale Watchers Want? Virtual Events and Whale News

In this episode we covered a report that came out last fall about what whale watchers looked for in a whale watch tour operator, and their contributions to the local economy surrounding Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary. We also had an update about the killer whales that have been attacking boats in the Canary Islands and a Gray Whale UME update. 

We also discussed the new mask mandate from the US Coast Guard for all vessels. There are also some virtual events coming up based in Maui this month through Pacific Whale Foundation that you can check out! And yes, for those of you who have been waiting for an update - Eric found a badger! Finally! We closed out the episode with a few book recommendations.

Episode 68 - Senate Hearings and Scientific Papers

In this episode, we unpacked a few more scientific papers as a follow-up to our conversations about the southern resident's killer whales. We also talked about the Senate hearings in Washington state that took place this past week about salmon habitat restoration and the commercial whale watching license program. We shared our thoughts on this frustrating situation. After this episode, we will be moving on from covering the situation in the Salish Sea so heavily and go back to covering it from a new standpoint. That way we can back to more of our regularly scheduled topics on our episodes. If you are looking for ways to get involved with things going on in the Salish Sea for Southern Resident Killer Whales, we are happy to direct you to organizations that are doing work up there. 

Episode 67 - Update from San Juan Islands

In this episode we checked in with our friends Sara and Jeff from Maya's Legacy on San Juan Island. We talked to them about what whale watching has been like since COVID started. Sharing a border with Canada, reductions in travel, and shelter in place orders have made life complicated and interesting for the boat based ecotourism operations in the Salish Sea. On top of all of that, there is a whole new set of regulations coming in to play for viewing Southern resident killer whales. There is a lot of misinformation out there about what this means for whale watching in the Pacific Northwest, so we hope this episode clarifies a few things for folks. You can indeed still see plenty of whales, including killer whales, in the Salish Sea on a whale watch tour despite the changes in regulations. One of the best thoughts to come from our discussion in regard to whale watching, the plight of the Southern residents, and salmon stocks was: we all want more fish - fisherman and whale watchers should really be pooling resources to move the needle on government regulations together. We had a few announcements for upcoming online events too!