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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.
Links from this episode:
Photos mentioned in this episode:
T19s in winter lighting. Photo by Jeff Friedman
By Jeff Friedman and Sara Shimazu5
5656 ratings
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.
Links from this episode:
Photos mentioned in this episode:
T19s in winter lighting. Photo by Jeff Friedman

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