The WeWhale Pod

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 welfa...

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.  Find out more about WeWhale at wewh...

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 conv...

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 an...

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...

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 b...

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 co...

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 fasci...

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...

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 su...

Our guest for this episode of The WeWhale Pod is Billy Heaney, zoologist, wildlife presenter and filmmaker.  Billy talks about his path to becoming a zoologist, his time spent researching grey seals in Cornwall, and his film 'In Search of the Killer Whale' which captures a pretty spontaneous trip he and two friends made to see orcas in the wild in Iceland.  He also chats about his work w...

Our guest for this episode of The WeWhale Pod is Dr Vanessa Pirotta, wildlife scientist and science communicator.  Vanessa talks about how the film Free Willy inspired her (and a generation of marine scientists) to get involved in working with whales.  She also chats about the work she does with a citizen science marine programme in Australia and her fascinating research work focusing on whale sno...

Our guest for this episode of The WeWhale Pod is Finn van der Aar. She is a marine scientist, sustainability expert and bestselling author.  Finn tells us about growing up close to the ocean in Ireland, her love of surfing (including an epic experience when a bottlenose dolphin surfed alongside!) and why she thinks we connect so deeply with whales and dolphins.  She also talks to us about research...

Our guest for this episode of The WeWhale Pod is Hanne Strager, biologist, whale researcher and author of the recently published book The Killer Whale Journals: Our Love and Fear of Orcas  Hanne tells us about her early interest in animals and also how she ended up volunteering to cook on a small fishing boat in northern Norway and how that decided what the rest of her life would be about.  She al...

Our guest for this episode of The WeWhale Pod is Nadea Nabilla, Co-founder of Azura Indonesia.  The initiative focuses on converting traditional Indonesian fishing boats to being 100% solar powered, which is more sustainable, environmentally friendly and cost effective than using combustible engines.  Nadea, who first studied electronic engineering, is also a passionate advocate for our ocean, and...

Our guest for this episode of The WeWhale Pod is Jennifer Lonsdale. Jennifer is a co-founder of the Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA), an international NGO that investigates and campaigns against environmental crime and abuse. Jennifer has close to 40 years’ experience working in the field, particularly focused on and leading the organisation’s Ocean Campaign. In 2016, she was awarded an OB...

Our guest for this episode of The WeWhale Pod is Alex Lewis.  Alex is a co-founder of Fins and Fluke, a cetacean advocacy non-profit established in 2012 which particularly focuses attention on the plight of captive whales and dolphins.  Amongst the topics, Alex talks about how watching the documentary The Cove moved her to become an anti captivity activist for whales and dolphins and how social me...

Our guest for this episode of The WeWhale Pod is Femke den Haas, Indonesia Campaign Director for Ric O’Barry’s Dolphin Project. Amongst the topics, Femke talks about being fascinated by dolphins and any creatures living in the ocean whilst growing up, her work with wildlife rescue groups around the world and the important rehabilitation and rescue work for dolphins taking place in Indonesia.  You...

Our guest for this episode of The WeWhale Pod is Dr Mariano Sironi, Scientific Director of the Instituto de Conservación de Ballenas (ICB) and marine biologist.  The Instituto is a non-profit organisation headquartered in Argentina with the purpose of protecting whales and their environment through research and education.   Amongst the topics, Mariano talks about the Southern Right Whale research...

Marine biologist and science communicator Áine-lisa Shannon joins us for a chat in this episode of The WeWhale Pod.  Amongst the topics, Áine-lisa talks about how she connected with the ocean growing up in the West of Ireland and how there has definitely been a lot more public awareness of ocean sustainability and cetaceans in the last few years.  And why you'll always find her by the sea, wh...

Harry Eckman, CEO of the World Cetacean Alliance, joins us for a chat for the first episode of the WeWhale Pod.  Harry is an international animal welfare specialist with more than 20 years' experience and has been CEO Of the World Cetacean Alliance (WCA) since May 2021.  The WCA is a non-profit organisation whose vision is "a world where cetaceans are free, where oceans thrive, and where...