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 talk about the many groups whales that have been around recently and share some topi ..read more

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 Instagr ..read more

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. The ..read more

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 Vancouv ..read more

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 ..read more

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 m ..read more

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 a ..read more

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 h ..read more

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 d ..read more

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 Afte ..read more