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 catalog since 2019 and hosts Sara and Jeff talk with Jared about the release.

We move into the discussion about Jared's paper, which made international media when it was published earlier this year. What does it mean to provision people? What populations of killer whales are doing this? Why might they be doing this, what are possible motivations? What types of prey are they sharing? We discuss these questions and more with Jared, and we all share some examples of this from of our own experiences on the water with killer whales. 

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And if you’d like to join Jeff and Sara on a whale watching tour in 2026, please check out to Maya’s Legacy Whale Watching to book! 

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And remember, stay safe out there.

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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 here more and less in 2025 than the previous year.

The episode covers the sightings trends for Bigg's killer whales, Northern and Southern Resident killer whales, and humpbacks. We talk about numbers from tours with Maya's Legacy Whale Watching as well as the broader numbers collected by Orca Behavior Institute. 

Monika, Sara and Jeff also share their predictions for 2026, and as usual, weave in and out of other whale topics along the way.

If you are enjoying listening to our podcast, please share this with your friends, follow/subscribe, and leave us feedback/reviews wherever you listen to podcasts!

And if you’d like to join Jeff and Sara on a whale watching tour over the holiday season or in 2026, please check out to Maya’s Legacy Whale Watching to book! 

You can also find us on Instagram, Facebook and Youtube. Please send us feedback or questions at [email protected].

And remember, stay safe out there.

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T19s in winter lighting. Photo by Jeff Friedman

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 always ask the question, where and with whom will Indy be next? He was invited to join this episode of the podcast to tell his story but we did not receive a reply. 

After our discussion about Indy, we chat about some of the latest summer sightings here in the Salish Sea!

If you are enjoying listening to our podcast, please share this with your friends, follow/subscribe, and leave us feedback/reviews wherever you listen to podcasts! And if you’d like to join Jeff and Sara on a whale watching tour, please reach out to Maya’s Legacy Whale Watching to book! 

You can also find us on Instagram, Facebook and Youtube. Please send us feedback or questions at [email protected]. And remember, stay safe out there.

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Photos:

T65A5 Indy in 2014. Photo by Sara Hysong Shimazu

T65A5 Indy Sept 2025. Photo by April Ryan, Maya's Legacy Whale Watching.

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, and of course, we take audience questions! It was a lot of fun and there were a lot of laughs!

If you are enjoying listening to our podcast, please share this with your friends, follow/subscribe, and leave us feedback/reviews wherever you listen to podcasts! And if you’d like to join Jeff and Sara on a whale watching tour, please reach out to Maya’s Legacy Whale Watching to book! 

You can also find us on Instagram, Facebook and Youtube. Please send us feedback or questions at [email protected]. And remember, stay safe out there.

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 creatures. We also get into seal politics and discuss why seals get a bad rap, why this is not deserved, and how culling pinnipeds will not accomplish what some think it might (and could be devastating to Bigg’s killer whales).

If you are enjoying listening to our podcast, please share this with your friends, follow/subscribe, and leave us feedback/reviews wherever you listen to podcasts! And if you’d like to join Jeff and Sara on a whale watching tour, please reach out to Maya’s Legacy Whale Watching to book! 

You can also find us on Instagram, Facebook and Youtube. Please send us feedback or questions at [email protected]. And remember, stay safe out there.

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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 vocalizations and other behaviors. We discuss which baleen whales belong in the flight club and which fall into the flight club and why. 

He also shares with us information from another paper he authored on a related topic that unravels the mystery of the missing blue whale calves. 

If you are enjoying listening to our podcast, please share this with your friends, follow/subscribe, and leave us feedback/reviews wherever you listen to podcasts! And if you’d like to join Jeff and Sara on a whale watching tour, please reach out to Maya’s Legacy Whale Watching to book! 

You can also find us on Instagram, Facebook and Youtube. Please send us feedback or questions at [email protected]. And remember, stay safe out there.

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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. Also included is a discussion of the T49As and T19s and their frequent spring encounters hunting sea lions in the San Juan Islands. The episode also includes other killer whales encountered throughout the month.

If you are enjoying listening to our podcast, please share this with your friends, follow/subscribe, and leave us feedback/reviews wherever you listen to podcasts! And if you’d like to join Jeff and Sara on a whale watching tour, please reach out to Maya’s Legacy Whale Watching to book! 

You can also find us on Instagram, Facebook and Youtube. Please send us feedback or questions at [email protected]. And remember, stay safe out there.

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Photos & videos from this episode:

T46B3A. Photo by Sara Shimazu

T46B3A. Photo by Sara Shimazu

T46B3A. Photo by Sara Shimazu

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 other fascinating information such as harbor porpoise breeding, feeding, wake surfing and more.  

If you are enjoying listening to our podcast, please share this with your friends, follow/subscribe, and leave us feedback/reviews wherever you listen to podcasts! And if you’d like to join Jeff and Sara on a whale watching tour, please reach out to Maya’s Legacy Whale Watching to book! 

You can also find us on Instagram, Facebook and Youtube. Please send us feedback or questions at [email protected]. And remember, stay safe out there.

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All photos by Cindy Elliser, Pacific Mammal Research

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, Washington.

Joining Jeff and Sara to recount some of the highlights are two members of the Maya’s Legacy Whale Watching crew, who also joined the charter to the Silver Bank. Alex McIntire and Mikayla Riley both had their first in-water experience with whales and have a chance to share the memories of their first swim—and also all of the other memorable encounters they had that week.

It was an incredible week that had a lot of in water encounters with moms and young calves, including TW and her calf ("Floppy Disco"). Jeff also swam with TW on the Silver Bank in 2023. The entire group also had a rare and coveted encounter with dancers, which are acrobatic, curious humpbacks. Check out some of the videos on the Episode 39 page or on our YouTube channel.

A huge shout out to the amazing team at Conscious Breath Adventures—Gene, Cat, and Jeff—and to the hardworking crew of the Sea Hunter. They all make the live aboard and humpback encounters a life changing experience. And special thanks to the amazing humpback whale TW and her 2025 calf. We are wishing them an easy and successful migration north this spring.

If you are enjoying listening to our podcast, please share this with your friends, follow/subscribe, and leave us feedback/reviews wherever you listen to podcasts! And if you’d like to join Jeff and Sara on a trip then reach out to Maya’s Legacy Whale Watching to book! 

You can also find us on Instagram, Facebook and Youtube. Please send us feedback or questions at [email protected]. And remember, stay safe out there.

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Photos & Videos from this episode:

Humpback whale TW, named for the marking on her left pec fin.

This was the start of humpback whale Mojo's dancing over several minutes. She continued dancing on and off for about an hour. 

Humpback whale TW and her 2025 calf, Floppy Disco, who approached several times to get a closer look.

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 there waiting for them when they arrived to the Hotspot the very first time.

Aside from some amazing bird sightings Sara saw a brand new calf, many different groups of killer whales, and talks a little bit about the data she’s collecting and what they might use it for in the future.

Sara and Jeff are now out on the Silver Bank with the North Atlantic humpback whales so stay tuned for a recap from the Silver Bank on the next episode!

For more information and stories about the Bremer Canyon killer whales, you can listen to some of our previous episodes: episode 21, episode 22, and episode 23.

If you are enjoying listening to our podcast, please share this with your friends, follow/subscribe, and leave us feedback/reviews wherever you listen to podcasts! And if you’d like to join Jeff and Sara on a trip then reach out to Maya’s Legacy Whale Watching to book! 

You can also find us on Instagram, Facebook and Youtube. Please send us feedback or questions at [email protected].

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Photos by Sara Shimazu