Breaching Extinction (Erica Wirth)

In this episode, Erica interviews Snow McCormick and Cy Scammell co-founders of PNW Protectors, a nonprofit organization dedicated to protecting the Salish Sea and its inhabitants through education, science and empowerment. They share the inspiring story of how the got involved working to conserve and the magic that has come out of being connected to this community. They elaborate on their mission, current projects and thoughts on how best to save the SRKW's.

Award winning director and producer Josh 'Bones' Murphy, talks about his new documentary Aritifishal which focuses on the exploring the long term impact of salmon hachteries. We discuss the implications of human involvement in salmon reproduction on behavior and survivability of Salmon and SRKW's. He expresses his concern for peoples lack of faith in nature and urges removal of dams.

Hereditary Chief Gigame of the Laichkwiltach Nation, George Quocksister Jr shares his knowledge and experience in regard to Canadian fisheries. He highlights the work that needs to be done on both sides of the U.S Canadian Boarder

This week Liam and Erica talked about the progress in regard to an oil spill as a result of the vessel sinking with 2,600 gallons of off fuel near SJI. They also discussed chapters 17-19 of Listening to Whales by Alexandra Morton.

Note: We uploaded the wrong episode last week, whoops :) 

In this episode we interviewed wild life photographers and educators Gary Sutton and Tasli Shaw discussed their role in conservation through photography, education and art. They share their thoughts on the whale watch industry, environmental stressors impacting the souther residents as well as personal experiences. 

This week Erica is joined by Gloria Pancrazi producer of the Co-Extinction film to discuss the role of burnout in conservation work and the importance of self-care. 

This week we had a very special porpisode with Brian Skerry, a National Geographic photojournalist about his latest project, Secrets of the Whales. He discusses the development of his project, experiences in the field, and shares advice on conserving our world's oceans. Check out the film on Disney Plus this Earth Day! 

This week we had the honor of interviewing Tori Obermeyer, coproducer of the film Coextinction about her journey in the field, up coming film, Dolly Parton & events with the Southern Resident. 

Ellie talks to Kas Guillozet about her passions, her work with the up and coming nonprofit Promise the Pod, and the importance of water as our greatest asset.

Fist porpsiode with Madison Bashford talking about Stellar Sea Cows :) 

In this episode, environmental philosopher from the University of North Texas, Brittany Jandick talks about her masters thesis evaluating how capitalism and anthropocentrism have lead to SRKW endangerment.

Erica and Ellie talk turkeys, the possibility of killer whales holidays and Ellies family traditions. 

Kendra, Liam, and Erica finished up Being Salmon Being Human by Martine Lee Mueller, they discuss our role in major climate issues, our geostory, and  accountability in regard to these issues.

This week Erica chatted with biologist Helena Costa about her recent publication Using a consumer drone for the collection of humpback whale blow samples during the Arctic polar . Helena compares the uses of different commercial drones for the analysis of cetacean blows.

In this week's episode, Erica chatted with William Carome, researcher at the New Zeland Whale and Dolphin Trust about his recent publication A long-term shift in the summer distribution of Hector’sdolphins is correlated with an increase in cruise ship tourism. 

Sources: 

New Zeland Whale and Dolphin Trust: Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook

We are excited to be expanding the podcast to cover topics and species found throughout the Southern Resident Killer Whale Habitat. We kicked off this new project chatting with Briana Abrahms, Researcher and Assistant Professor at the University of Washington to discuss her article “Human-wildlife conflict under climate change” as well as some of her Blue Whale research. We hope you enjoy our new episodes, if there are topics you are interested in learning about send us a DM and we will try to cover them!

Resources: 

Whale Sense 

Abrams Lab

Climate change to fuel increase in human-wildlife conflict, UW biologist says

Whale and Dolphin Conservation's Rekkos Orca Fellow, Colleen Weiler discusses her role in southern resident conservation, as well as the mission of WDC. We explore the concept of the ecological whale and its role in environmental health. She encourages everyone to do their part and start somewhere!

In this weeks very exciting episode, Ellie Sawyer shares her experience being on scene at the most recent super pod event where J57 was discovered.  They discuss the birth of the new baby, excitement in the Salish Sea, and as always encourage everyone to continue pushing dam removal. Erica also share the story of the time she met Ronnie Vannucci Jr, drummer from The Killers. Peace, love, whales <3

This week Erica chatted with Kelly Biedenweg professor at Oregon State University in the Department of Fisheries and Wildlife about her publication Mixed emotions associated with orca (Orcinus orca) conservation strategies. Kelly is an interdisciplinary social scientist who evaluates conservation through the lens of psychology, anthropology, sociology, geography, political science, and other disciplines. Her study provide important insight on the role of emotions in Orca conservation. 

This week Erica chatted with Fin Whale Researcher Sacha Viquerat about his recent publication Identifying seasonal distribution patterns of fin whales across the Scotia Sea and the Antarctic Peninsula region using a novel approach combining habitat suitability models and ensemble learning methods. 

References: 

Branch, T. A., & Butterworth, D. S. (2001). Estimates of abundance south of 60°S for cetacean species sighted frequently on the 1978/79 to 1997/98 IWC/IDCR-SOWER sighting surveys. Journal of Cetacean Research and Management, 3(3), 251-270.

Viquerat, S., & Herr, H. (2017). Mid-summer abundance estimates of fin whales Balaenoptera physalus around the South Orkney Islands and Elephant Island. Endangered Species Research, 32, 515-524. https://doi.org/10.3354/esr00832

Burkhardt, E., Van Opzeeland, I., Cisewski, B., Mattmüller, R., Meister, M., Schall, E., Spiesecke, S., Thomisch, K., Zwicker, S., & Boebel, O. (2021). Seasonal and diel cycles of fin whale acoustic occurrence near Elephant Island, Antarctica. Royal Society Open Science, 8(5), 201142-201142. https://doi.org/10.1098/rsos.201142

Herr, H., Hickmott, L., Viquerat, S., & Panigada, S. (2022). First evidence for fin whale migration into the Pacific from Antarctic feeding grounds at Elephant Island. Royal Society Open Science, 9(9), 0-7. https://doi.org/10.1098/rsos.220721

In this episode Erica talks with Florida State University graduate Lindsay Hooper, about her masters thesis evaluating compliance levels of ecotourism boats in relation to NOAA's viewing guidelines. They discuss the importance of science of community involvement in sustainable ecotourism.

This episode features Jordan Lerma, field biologist at Cascadia Research Collective. Jordan shares his story and discusses how his innovative work is used to study whales.

Liam, Shelby, and Erica discuss the importance of sea stars in the Salish and sea star wasting disease. 

Video of sea star eating urchin (Disclaimer: please review wildlife viewing guidelines in your area when handling wildlife) 

Liam, Erica, and Kendra dive into chapters 7 & 8 of “Being Salmon, Being Human” by Martin Lee Mueller. They discuss the role that anthropomorphizing wildlife plays in science and human connection. They also discuss if it is possible to truly see things objectively.

This week we tell the story of Luna, a lone SRKW and discuss our thoughts on previous episodes. 

In this episode, Erica chatted with Anaïs Remili researcher and founder of Whale Scientist about her recent publication New killer whale research: North Atlantic killer whale diets revealed in unprecedented detail

In this episode Erica is joined by Megan Hockin Bennett, decade long volunteer at Orcalab. She talks about what make this institution unique, some of the most current threats Northern Residents and how this year has been different in light of covid.

This week Erica interviewed Scott Veirs founder of Beam Reach and co-founder of the Orcasound.net initiative about his new citizen science program, allowing more people to access acoustic data from the Salish Sea. 

This week Erica chatted with Donna Sandstrom, Founder/Executive Director of the Whale Trail and member of the Orca Task Force about her work and thoughts on how to help the Southern Residents.  About The Whale Trail: Where the Whales Are: Discovering Marine Mammals from Shore Along the Pacific Coast (Washington Post 2020) Humans are so loud marine safaris might soon be on land (Daily Beast 2021) About Southern Resident Orca Recovery: Nearby Vessels Interrupt Feeding of Southern Resident Killer Whales, Especially Females (Holt et al 2021) Columbia Basin salmon, Snake River dams and Southern Resident Orcas (NOAA Fisheries 2020) Southern Resident Killer Whales and Snake River Dams (NOAA Fisheries 2016) Southern Resident Orca Task Force Final Report and Recommendations (2019) Southern Resident Orca Recovery - Washington State Website Give them Space! voluntary pledge campaign for boaters to stay 1,000 yard/meters away from SRKW. My book about Springer! Orca Rescue! The true story of an orphaned orca named Springer (Kids Can Press 2021)

Shelby, Liam and Erica review Monika Wieland Shields book Endangered Orca, discuss life updates and vegetables. 

In this tenth episode, Erica and Ellie take time to check in and evaluate the goals of this podcast as well as reiterate the issues remaining with the 73 Southern Residents, emphasizing the need for accessibility, checking one’s privilege, and learning how to be empathetic.

BEWOW BEWOW BEWOW, in this weeks episode Erica ranks killer whale ecotypes with Kendra Nelson and Orca Man (Fred Denesco) they also discuss whale names and classifications. 

Sources Referenced:

Killer whale ecotypes: is there a global model?

WDC Ecotypes Page 

NOAA Images 

Handbook of Whales, Dolphins and Propoises of the World by Mark Carwardine 

This week, Shelby, Liam, and Erica dive into Chapters 3 & 4 of Endangered Orca.

In this week's episode Erica chatted with biologist Josephine Schulze about her recent publication, Humpback whale song revolutions continue to spread from the central into the eastern South Pacific.

In this weeks episode Erica chats with Jim Whitehead, new up and coming SRKW podcasters about his experience as an activist, thoughts on the emotional value of whale, and his new podcast Seaquarium's Shame. We want to give Jim a warm whalecome to the podcast community and fish him the best! 

In this week's episode, Erica chats with Ally Rice researcher at Scripps Whale Acoustic Laboratory about her most recent publication Update on frequency decline of Northeast Pacific blue whale (Balaenoptera musculus) calls. Ally discusses her study and drives into the unexplainable conundrum behind this phenomena and shares current theories for why this may be happening. Erica and Ally also touch on noise pollution and Ally shares advice on how to better care for our environment. 

This week Erica chatted Alex Haraus, an impact producer focused on saving our natural world. Alex talks about how he has used TikTok as a vessel for conserving wild places and shares some of his life experiences and philosophies. 

Our Propisode's are back!! New host Liam Docet & Shelby Nielson join Erica to discuss the latest Southern Resident news, fisheries regulations in BC, and the most recent study looking at the impacts of vessel noise.  Sources: https://youtu.be/tQ0JPLyYoJk NPR Article on Rice's Whale  Rice's Whale Study  Cavitation Effects of Vessel Distance and Sex on the Behavior of Endangered Killer Whales Artifishal Documentary Let’s Talk Science (a charitable organization that promotes Canadian youth in STEM) Whale and Dolphin Conservation (global charity) Atlas of the Future Our Sound, Our Salmon (A campaign by the Wild Fish Conservancy Northwest) A few CBC news articles: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nova-scotia/liberal-promise-open-pen-salmon-farms-bc-canada-1.5303565 https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/washington-state-fish-farms-salmon-farming-1.4560888 https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/b-c-s-open-net-salmon-farms-on-the-way-out-but-replacement-systems-may-differ-by-region-1.5799521

In this episode Ellie chats with founder of Orca Behavior Institute and author of Endangered Orca, Monika Wieland Shields. They discuss Monikas path studying whales, things she has learned over the years and what they think needs to be done on preserve the Southern Residents. 

Despite the title of this episode, we are actually focused on discussing gray whales. Additionally, Ellie and Erica answer a listeners question about motivation. Recent SRKW news was also a prominent part of the conversation. You will dolphinatley enjoy it🐬

This is the final episode of Breaching Extinction (for now). This has been an amazing journey. Thank you to everyone who's been a part of it!

This is the first episode of season 5! Erica and Madi sit down and chat about the future of the podcast and the southern residents using the full extent of their home range. If you are interested working with Breaching Extinction please send us an instagram DM or email Erica at erica@breachingextinction.com

Deborah Giles, killer whale research director for Wild Orca and professor the University of Washington discusses her experiences studying the southern residents and further explains complexities of the salmon crisis in the Salish Sea. Through work with Conservation Canines, she has contributed to cutting edge research challenging traditional research practices while furthering our understanding of cetaceans. 

In this week's episode, Erica sits down with Howard Garret and Brian Jenkins to discuss Biden's infrastructure bill, the It's About Dam Time campaign, and the Red Road to DC Initiative. Howard is a sociologist and one of the founders of Orca Network, a non-profit dedicated to raising awareness about the whales of the Pacific Northwest, and the importance of providing them healthy and safe habitats. Brian the founder of Blackfin coffee and SRKW activist. We urge everyone to continue to write our senators!

Sources: 

It's About Dam Time Infographics

It's About Dam Time Video 

Red Road to DC 

Seattle Times: Lummi Nation carvers and allies to embark on national tour to D.C., give totem pole to President Biden

Howards first Breaching Extinction Epsiode 

Brian's first Breaching Extinction Episode 

This episode features field biologist at Oceans Initiative, Sarah Colosimo. Sarah and Erica discuss the basics of souther resident killer whale population, behavior and threats as well as meaningful experiences they have had working around these animals. 

In this episode Erica, Liam and Madi discuss what credible science looks like and how to find legit sources for information. 

Resources: 

Science Council 

What Makes Science Science (NPR)

Live Science 

Understanding Science UC Berkley 

In this week's porpisode Madi, Liam and Erica talk about the history of wind farms and their current impact on cetaceans 

Sources:

Climate Change Impacting Right Whales Episode 

Blue Whale Mom Calf Pair Response to Vessel Episode 

This week Ellie and Erica has the pleasure of answering some riveting questions from Hailey Broker, one of Erica's childhood friends and law student at Lewis and Clark College. They discuss whale self expression, reproductive behaviors and orca longevity. No fun was had during the recording of this porpisode. 

In our final porpisode with Kendra, we finish the last four chapters of Listening to Whales by Alexandra Morton. We highly recommend this book to anyone interested in whales or a story about perseverance. 

Warning: For some reason, we started talking about explicit around minute 28, so if you don't want to hear that, stop lis tening then.

This week we did a special Q & A episode. If you guys like these send us more questions and we'll be happy todo another. We also launched our new campaign "How I Kelp" to share all the amazing things people in our community are doing. Please send us a video via Instagram (@breachingextinction) story post or email at media@breachingextinction.com. No matter how big or how small your effort is we want to see what everyone is doing to kelp! Don't forget to tag us and hashtag "How I Kelp" 

Video Requests: 

-Anything you are doing to help the southern residents (get creative) 

-Tell us wear you are from and how you efforts impact the SRKW's 

-We prefer you film in landscape 

-Tag us and hashtag "How I Kelp" 

We will be sending a free Breaching Extinction T-Shirt to the person or group with the best video! 

I had the privilege of interviewing Leigh Calvez nature writer and author of the book The Breath of a Whale. We discussed her experience working with whale, how whales inspires her and what we learn from them. 

In this week's porpisode Liam, Madi and Erica discuss Lolita a captive Southern Resident Killer Whale

This week we had the privilege of talking to Taylor Shedd, program coordinator for Soundwatch, an organization dedicated to understanding and bettering the relationship between whales and water vessels. He dives into the history of the organization as well as its current role in the community and research findings. 

Kendra Nelson joins Liam and Erica to dive into the book Being Salmon Being Human by Martin Lee Mueller 

In this episode Erica chats with Erica Page and Kristie Basford hosts of The Ocean Lovers podcast. If you are interested in learning more about the ocean in general check out their podcast for a variety of interesting topics! (There were some technical issues so please excuse to not so perfect audio compiling <3 ) 

In this week's episode, Erica chatted with Erin Falcone, Biologist at Marine Ecology and Telemetry Research about her most recent publication Movements and residency of fin whales (Balaenoptera physalus) in the California Current System. 

In this week's episode Madi, Liam, and Erica discuss genetic disorders that could impact the pigmentation of cetacean skin 

Sources: 

Fifty Shades of Gray: The First Leucistic Bottlenose Dolphin (Tursiops truncatus) Sighting off the Cedar Keys, Florida, Gulf of Mexico

This week Ellie and Erica answer a pod members question about killer whales in captivity, they also continue to urge everyone to march for the dams and take action! 

This week Erica chatted with Owen one of the youth leaders at Snake River Savers as well as Shiva Rajbhandari, another youth leader from Idaho about their current efforts to push for the removal of the Lower Snake River Dams

Links: 

Week of Action Description 

RSVP 

This week Erica chatted with Mumbai researcher and PhD Candidate Ketki Jog about her recent publication Marine Mammal Interactions With Fisheries: Review of Research and Management Trends Across Commercial and Small-Scale Fisheries.  Ketki discussed her research and how she used the help of local fishers to collect data. She also shared her insight on how we can be better scientists and stewards of the environment by working together and staying humble. 

This week Ellie and Erica debrief the previous episode, encourage people to march for the dams, & explore weird things that whales do. 

This week Erica chatted with Fana Scott & Alexandria Gordon students at Eckerd College and members of the EC Afro-American Society. They shared their thoughts on combating racial issues in the environmental field and provided insight for cultivating inclusivisity.  

Link to ejnet here! 

Learn more about John Francis here! 

Liam, Kendra, Erica and Shelby in spirit dive into chapters 3 & 4 of Being Salmon, Being Human. 

This week Erica chats with Howard Garret, sociologist from Orca network about how he came to foud Orca Month. Check out Orca Months Website for more info! 

https://www.orcamonth.com/events-1

Kendra, Liam, and Erica discuss chapters 3 & 4 of Listening to Whales by Alexandria Morton. 

Sources: 

https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/environment/new-state-federal-report-puts-10-27-billion-price-tag-on-lower-snake-river-dam-removal/

Erica, Kendra, and Liam dive into chapters 11 & 12 of Being Salmon Being Human by Martin Lee Mueller. They discuss the role of capitalism in environmental issues as well as how scientific exploration can occasionally lead to unintended exploitation. Tune in in two weeks for the final porpisode of this series. 

In this week's episode, Erica chats with Deborah Giles and Colleen Wieler about the expansion of protected areas for Southern Resident habitat and new renewable energies that may be placed in those areas. 

Sources: 

Washington governor, senator want answers on how to replace benefits of Lower Snake River dams

Southern resident killer whales encounter higher prey densities than northern resident killer whales during summer

In this episode Erica interviews Gloria Pancrazi, co-founder of the Coextinction film and organizer for the March for the Dams. This discuss the importance of taking action and unpack Glorias motivation behind the movement. We are again reminded that this is a group project and urge people to join the movement!

Jim Waddell, founder of Damsense share how his experience working for the US Army Corps of Engineers lead him to push for dam removal. He reminds us that we can save Orca, Salmon & Money if we remove the dams this year (2020).  He reminds us to ask Senators Jay Inslee, Pat Murray, Maria Cantwell & other local politicians to push for dam removal.

This week Erica chatted with entrepreneur and high school student Oliva Perez about her new initiative to help the Southern Residents. Oliva shows us how we can all get creative to spread positivity and help the Orcas.  

This is the first of our shorter episodes where we will answer questions and discuss a variety of topics related to cetaceans, science, and policy! Let us know what you want to learn more about! 

This week we had the opportunity to interview Dr. Frances Robertson, leader of the SRKW recovery efforts in San Juan County. She discusses her role within the country, projects she’s worked on and thoughts on how we can all contribute to helping recover the species.

Harry Potter, Jesus, and Erica discuss Chapters 5 & 6 of Being Salmon Being Human. They dive into philosophies about humans and their relationship with nature. 

We are sad to start Season 3 out on such a sad note. Unfortunately, K21 (Cappuccino) has died leaving the population of Southern Residents with only 74 individuals. 

This week Erica chatted with Emma Luck, also know as the Northern Naturalist to discuss her undergraduate piolt research project studying the ecotourism around Orcas in Norway. They also discuss Emma's current role in marine science and what she is doing to contribute to science. 

In this weeks episode Erica chats with naturalist, captain and fisherman Cole Basar about his career, fishing culture, how to be the best hypocrite and whale dreams. This episode is not recommended with minors or those who do not appreciate humor. While they do discuss serious topics, there are some jokes that may not be whale received by all audiences. 

Links for info discussed: 

Vermillion Institute   

Update: This episode was reposted at 9:52 am  

This we Erica chatted with Owen Begley-Collier and Lucy Larkin from the Snake River Savers about their upcoming protest in Seattle to remove the Lower Snake River Dams

Snake river savers social media sites:

https://instagram.com/snakeriversavers?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=

https://www.facebook.com/snakeriversavers/

https://twitter.com/riversavers?s=21&t=OkJuFQGKoTa5Mc-7NBltag

Washington resident and can’t make the rally? Take action:

https://actionnetwork.org/letters/tell-governor-inslee-and-washingtons-senators-to-save-the-southern-resident-orcas

Other states take action:

https://saveourwildsalmon.salsalabs.org/bidenadminalert2022/index.html?eType=EmailBlastContent&eId=6e82a205-3042-4886-b977-c84517bc45f6

Liam, Shelby and Erica share recent southern resident news. Please send us any questions you have. We will be doing a Q & A episode this Friday! 

Sources: 

Endangered predators and endangered prey: Seasonal diet of Southern Resident killer whales

CWR Whale Report 

In this week's episode, Erica chatted with Mari Smultea about her recent publication Blue whale (Balaenoptera musculus) mother-calf pair behavioral response to vessel in the Southern California Bight. Aquatic Mammals. 

Resources: 

Smuleta Sciences 

Mother Calf Whale Nursing and Other Behavior

Sperm Whale Ramming a Vessel in the Pacific

First Recordings of Humpback Whale Sounds, Hawaii

First Video of Wild Beluga Socio-sexual Behavior in Cook Inlet, AK

This week Erica chatted with Hannah Overbeak and Tay Shoemaker from Project Polywog about their impact-driven business model. They shared the plight of two endangered frogs as well as insight on how they are helping these species both through a frog rescue and frog breeding programs. 

This week Erica chatted Owen Begley-Collier one of the founders of Snake River Savers, an organization that works to help members of the public voice their concerns about the Southern Residents with government officials.   

This episode explains what an environmental valuation is and the role it plays in politics and management. Dr. Adam Domanski, senior economist and ECONorthwest elaborates on his experience evaluating the lower snake river dams and discussed the sociopolitical implications following his study.

This week naturalist and local feral man of Alaska, Dale Frink to talk about the time he got thrown into the water by a blue whale. Dale has requested to raise money for the Ocean Defenders Alliance click the link to donate! 

Youtube Video 

Photos  

In this week's propisode Shelby and Erica continue with the book review of Endangered Orcas by Monika Wieland Shields.

(Chapters 9 & 10) 

This week Erica chatted with the one and only Orca Man aka Fred Denisco about his obsession with the movie Free Willy and some behind-the-scenes details about the film

In this weeks episode Erica chats with Erik Neatherlan about salmon recovery efforts in Washington. He shares information about the history of salmon and its importance though out the Pacific North West. 

Correction: There are 14 species listed on the ESA in Washington

Sources: 

https://rco.wa.gov/salmon-recovery/

Erica sat down with Tori Obermeyer, Nicholas Castle, and Andrew Luba from the Coextinction film crew to talk with them about their new film and dive into the lessons learned along the way. 

In this week's episode, Erica chatted with Researcher Cathrine Lo from Oceans Initiative about her recent study titled, Measuring speed of vessels operating around endangered southern resident killer whales (Orcinus orca) in Salish Sea critical habitat.  Episode Mentions:  Orca Conservancy  Delphinus Orcastra Youtube & Etsy (Use code:BREACHINGEXTINCTION for $2 off)  

His week Erica chatted with PNW Protectors new biologist Kendra Nelson about marine toxins an their impact on the Southern Residents. Kendra shares her knowledge and her experiences working as an influencer and biologist thus far. Follow her on tiktok and instagram @intertidalkendy

Sources:

EFFECTS OF POLLUTANTS ON THE REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH OF MALE VERTEBRATE WILDLIFE - MALES UNDER THREAT

Southern Resident Killer Whales

Endocrine-disrupting Chemicals

In this weeks porpisode Erica and Ellie examine the importance of sexual dimorphism, discover that pineapples are not citrus fruit & explore the possibility of  whales hiccups. Also, Erica's roommate Lara reminds everyone of legal age to vote! 

In this weeks episode Erica chatted with Alexandra Morton about her work conserving salmon populations. She shares her experiences with the Northern Resident Killer Whales as well as her insights on what we can do to conserve salmon along the west coast of Canada and the United States.

Erica and Ellie get extra spicy recording on the eve of Friday the 13th under a full moon. They mostly discuss lemons and the grandmother effect among other whaley important topics.  

This is Part 1 of a 3 part series, showcasing the the bridge between people and science through art. In this episode, Erica chats with Rosmary Connelli of Connllie Designs about her work as a conservation artist, the importance of art, and its roll in accessible science based education. 

Latest updates on legislation

This week, we had our final week with Shelby :( we talked about the last two chapters of Endangered Orcas by Monica Wieland Shields. Major thank you to Shelby for all of her contributions and wishing her the best of luck in the future!  

In this episode, we interview leading researcher in marine mammal protection areas, Erich Hoyt.  Erich has written several books including Orca: the whale called killer & Creatures of the deep. He has helped develop the International Committee of Marine Mammal Protected Areas and the Marine Mammal Protected Area Task Force. He shares his experiences and findings and thoughts on what makes marine mammal protection areas successful.

It’s time to breach the Snake River dams, for endangered orcas and salmon, climate action, and social justice. And Biden’s Infrastructure Plan is the way to do it. Brian Jenkins from Blackfin Coffee and Gloria Pancrazi from the Coextinction film & PNW Protectors chatted with Erica about the new Infrastructure Plan and how we can use it to help the Southern Residents. 

Call to action:

Call and write to Senator Patty Murray and Maria Cantwell!

Here are some bullet points of what to include in your call or letter:

    ⁃    Biden's infrastructure Bill needs to include breaching the Snake River dams this year. 

    ⁃    This can be done by supporting and funding Mike Simpson’s plan to remove the four lower Snake River dams, but Simpson’s plan needs to be revised to breach this year.

    ⁃    This is key to saving endangered chinook salmon and southern resident orcas. 

    ⁃    Breaching the Snake River dams will create 4000-8000 long-term jobs per year. 

    ⁃    It is also an important step toward climate action and social justice.

WA. Senator Cantwell

Phone: (202) 224-3441

Fax: (202) 228-0541

Address: 915 Second Ave., Suite 3206

Seattle, WA 98174

WA Senator Murray

Phone: (425) 259-6515

Fax: (509) 624-9561

Address: 2988 Jackson Federal Building

915 2nd Ave.

Seattle, Washington 98174

#itsaboutdamtime

In this weeks porpisode Erica, Liam and Kendra dive into the first two chapters of listening to whales by Alexandria Morton. 

This week Erica chatted with Senior Research Scientist, Jason Hodin from the University of Washington Friday Harbor Labs about his work studying the metamorphosis of Sunflower Sea Stars. They also dove into the ecological importance of Sunflower, the idea of ecosystem Jenga, and the mystery of Sea Star Wasting Syndrome. 

Resources: 

On Kelp Forest Declines

The Nature Conservancy of California (partner in the captive breeding program) page on "Transforming Ocean Conservation in California"

Stars for the Sea: our online funding campaign through UW!  If your listeners might be inclined to donate or to share this link with others, all money goes straight into our captive breeding program and is handled by the official UW donation process (is tax-deductible, etc)

Sea Star Wasting Syndrome | MARINe

This this weeks episode, Erica chats with Bonny Glambeck, life long activist and founder of Clayoquot Action. She discusses her work with the foundation as well as tip for cultivating healthy and successful activism culture. 

Recommended Links: 

Salmon People

Beautiful Trouble