After the Breach Podcast

There were a lot of whales in the Salish Sea during the month of March, including a few new calves to some familiar Bigg's killer whales. The story of the month, however, is the appearance of a mystery group of three killer whales who have become known as the T419s. Sara and Jeff are joined by frequent guest (third host?) Monika Wieland Shields from Orca Behavior Institute to chat about the recent calves, the T419s an...

We had some some incredible winter adventures during our short offseason and although not all of them were with whales they are worth sharing on this episode of After the Breach podcast. We have some cool videos to share on this episode, so check out the show notes on our website to view them. 

Sara was in Bremer Bay, Australia for her fourth year in a row to spend time with the Bremer Canyon killer whal...

Part 2: Twenty Years of Action: What We've Tried, What it Cost, and What it Changed

In this second episode of our multi-part series on Southern Resident killer whales, we take a look at the last twenty years of effort that has included new vessel regulations, salmon habitat restoration, contaminant monitoring, and the formation of a high-profile task force.

Hundreds of millions to billions of dollars have been invested since NOAA f...

There were a lot of whales here this January and the winter months are a great time to see them in the Salish Sea. On this episode we talk about our January encounters and who has been present in the Salish Sea this winter. We also discuss how this was not always the case in the Salish Sea and how the old information persists that whale presence is predominantly May - September. But with the increase in both the Bigg's killer whale...

Part 1: How We Got Here

In this first episode of our multi-part series on Southern Resident killer whales, we step back to look at the full historical arc — from the pre-capture population, through the capture era, to the endangered listing that shapes recovery efforts happening today.

This episode sets the foundation for the entire series. Before we can talk about recovery strategies and efforts, we need to understa...

Returning guest Jared Towers from Bay Cetology joins us on this episode of After the Breach Podcast to discuss a paper he co-authored in the Journal of Comparative Psychology, "Testing the Waters: Attempts by Wild Killer Whales (Orcinus orca) to Provision People (Homo sapiens)."

Before getting into the paper, we talk a bit about the recent release of the updated Bigg's killer whale identification catalog! This is the first updated ...

It's time for our annual recap of whale sightings from the past year. Frequent guest Monika Wieland Shields, co-founder and director of the Orca Behavior Institute, joins hosts Sara and Jeff for a discussion of 2025 whale sightings, observations, and trends.   

Find out how we did on our predictions from last year's recap, Episode 36. Download the new Bigg's killer whale ID guide and follow along to find out which matrilines were h...

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...

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, an...

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 cr...

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 vocalizati...

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. Al...

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...

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, Was...

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 ther...

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...

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 ...

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 Sal...