The WeWhale Pod

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 corpor

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

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

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 o

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 y

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 wo

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 focusin

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

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

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