In today’s episode of the WeWhale Pod, we speak with Alexandra Johnston, filmmaker and dolphin advocate. 

She shares her lifelong admiration for orcas and how her career has evolved towards the conservation and protection of these magnificent animals through the power of video and storytelling. Alexandra is part of the Dolphin Project team, a renowned non-profit organisation dedicated to the welfare and protection of dolphins worldwide, where they actively campaign against the captivity of cetaceans.

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In today’s episode of the WeWhale Pod, we speak with Thomas Le Coz, captain of the Sea Shepherd France vessel Walrus and campaign leader. 

Thomas shares his journey in marine conservation, his work on the bycatch campaign in northern Spain, and his involvement in Save the Iberian Orca — a joint project by WeWhale, Iberian Orca Guardians and Sea Shepherd France. 

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The podcast episode with Dr. Joe Roman, featured on the WeWhale Pod, explores his journey as a conservation biologist, focusing especially on marine ecology, whales, and their ecological importance. 

The discussion covers his unique research on whale feces—how it recycles nutrients in the ocean through the "whale pump"—and shares anecdotes from his global search for whale poop. 

The conversation also touches on his books Eat, Poop, Die and Whale, highlighting both the ecological roles of animals and the cultural history of whaling. The episode concludes with his vision for ocean conservation and how listeners can learn more about his work.

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Our guest in this WeWhale Pod episode is Dan Jarvis, Director of Welfare and Conservation with British Divers Marine Life Rescue (BDMLR). 

Dan talks about moving to Cornwall and how this influenced his interests and career.

He also explains the origins of BDMLR and how it expanded from focusing on seal rescues in its early days to also coming to the aid of stranded or entangled whales, dolphins and porpoises. The organisation is an NGO and has 2,500 trained volunteers.

Dan also shares the story of how a northern bottlenose whale turned up in the river Thames in London in 2006 and the subsequent rescue attempt that BDMLR and other organisations were involved in which gained huge media attention. 

He also talks about how welcome it is that more research is being carried out into stranded animal welfare, and his hope that we will see better legal protection for marine mammals.

Find out more about the work of British Divers Marine Life Rescue. 

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This special panel episode of The WeWhale Pod focuses on the problem of ghost gear in our waters and ways to combat it. Our guests are:

• Harry Dennis and Gavin Parker, co-founders of Waterhaul, a social enterprise based in Cornwall in the UK that recycles abandoned marine nets into high quality products
• Sophie Lewis, Interim CEO of the World Cetacean Alliance
• Tom Mustill, biologist turned filmmaker and author of How to Speak Whale: A Voyage into the Future of Animal Communications. Tom is also an Ambassador for the World Cetacean Alliance.  

The panel chats about what ghost gear is and how it affects whales and other wildlife all over the planet. Every year, hundreds of thousands of cetaceans are trapped in ghost gear — lost or discarded fishing equipment that drifts through our oceans like a deadly web.
 
The guests also discuss the process of disentanglement and how changes in the fishing industry (namely a move to plastic gear in recent decades) have contributed to the global problem of ghost gear. 

In September 2023, a humpback whale became entangled in fishing gear in Algoa Bay, South Africa, and was fighting for his life. Thankfully, after a rescue operation, he was freed and able to swim away. The ghost gear was recovered and through collaborative links with the World Cetacean Alliance, made its way to Waterhaul, which saw an opportunity to create something unique from this near-tragedy.

A limited range of sunglasses, made from this recovered ghost gear, is available to purchase. You can check them out, along with more about the rescue operation, on the Waterhaul website. 

And learn more about the World Cetacean Alliance. 

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Our guest for this episode of The WeWhale Pod is Patrick Dykstra, wildlife filmmaker and TV presenter, who has for many years travelled the globe, diving with whales and learning more about their behaviours. 

He tells us how seeing an exhibit of a blue whale at the Smithsonian Museum at the age of 16 inspired his love of whales and the ocean. And how he transited from being a corporate lawyer to becoming a wildlife filmmaker and TV presenter.

Patrick also talks about his work as a cinematographer on Blue Planet 2, and how he almost got hit by a humpback whale while filming! And he explains how his film, Patrick and the Whale, was prompted by a close encounter with a sperm whale in Dominica.

You can find out more about Patrick's work on Instagram. 

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Our guest for this episode of The WeWhale Pod is Terry Wolkowicz, Co-Founder and Educational Director of non profit organisation Sound Explorations.

Terry, who is based in New Bedford, Massachusetts, talks about the educational mission of the organisation. She also dives into one project in particular, Whales in Motion: A Musical and Sculptural Experience for the Blind and Visually Impaired.

It combines tactile sculptures and live performance by musicians to facilitate blind and visually impaired people understanding and experiencing how whales move through the water and how they forage.

Terry also chats about the work going on in her local area to help Northern Atlantic right whales migrating off the coast of Massachusetts,  and the children's book she co-wrote with colleague David McKenzie called 'Right Whale, Wrong Letter'. 

She also describes having the opportunity to help researchers to tag humpback whales and how that experience deeply changed her.

You can find out more about the work of Sound Explorations on their website, www.soundexplorations.org. 

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Our guest for this episode of The WeWhale Pod is marine mammal biologist Dr Filipa Samarra, who is also the Founder and Lead Investigator of the Icelandic Orca Project.  

Filipa shares what brought her from her native Portugal to Iceland and talks about her journey to becoming a marine biologist. 

She also describes getting hooked on orca sound communication and chats about why we're so fascinated by orca as a species. 

Find out more about WeWhale at wewhale.co and follow us on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn.

Our guest for this episode of The WeWhale Pod is Naomi Rose, senior scientist (marine mammal biology) for the Animal Welfare Institute in Washington D.C. and marine mammal protection advocate.  

Naomi talks about her path into studying marine mammals and her particular love of orcas. 

As a co-author of The Case Against Marine Mammals in Captivity report, Naomi explains that the body of science has grown over the years about whales and dolphins, along with other marine mammals, that are kept in captivity. 

She chats also about the 'Blackfish Effect', which happened following the release of the groundbreaking documentary and her memories of visiting Tokitae, the orca who was kept for 53 years at Miami Seaquarium. 

Find out more about WeWhale at wewhale.co and follow us on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn.

Our guest for this episode of The WeWhale Pod is David C. Holroyd, dolphin trainer turned animal activist. 

Manchester-born David shares the unexpected way that he became a dolphin show presenter and, soon after, a trainer in the 1970s. He also talks about the special connection he developed with two bottlenose dolphins, Herbie and Duchess, and why he has been campaigning for many years to make sure whale and dolphin shows around the world are shut down forever. 

He also explains the Atlantean mind connection with dolphins and what that feels like. 

David and his sister Tracy have written The Perfect Pair Dolphin Trilogy,  a true story and a damning exposé of the captive cetacean industry. You can buy a copy at the links below: 

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B08XKLNF3Y?ref_=dbs_p_pwh_rwt_anx_b_lnk&storeType=ebooks

https://www.theperfectpairdolphintrilogy.com/store/c1/Featured_Products.html

https://www.kobo.com/gb/en/search?query=David+C+Holroyd

Find out more about WeWhale at wewhale.co and follow us on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn.