“They’re curious animals just like us. I’ve worked with several different populations at this point, and I’ve seen it in all of them.” ~ Sara Shimazu
A family trip to the Pacific Northwest and the Salish Sea piqued my curiosity about orca whales — and that led, inevitably, to my curiosity about the orcas’ own curiosity.
Lucky for me, I found my way to Sara Shimazu & Jeff Friedman, orca fans, whale watch captains, and co-hosts of After the Breach Podcast.
We had fun with the connection between curiosity and play; interpreting investigative behavior; modeling, fads and “salmon hats”; mediating our own curiosity to protect and honor these remarkable creatures; and why orcas never cease to amaze…
They always leave you with a lot of fulfillment and answers — and even more questions…. Once you see them, you realize there’s so much more going on than we understand.
Jeff Friedman
Listen to Ep. 270: Orcas: A Whale of a Curiosity, with Sara Shimazu & Jeff Friedman
Want to hear more from Sara and Jeff? Listen to After the Breach Podcast – and don’t miss their gorgeous Instagram accounts @afterthebreach @hysazu and @orcawild.
Check out the Orca Behavior Institute. OBI’s primary goal is to collect long-term data sets documenting changes in whale behavior in the Salish Sea to help inform the protection of Bigg’s killer whales and the recovery of Southern Resident killer whales.
Here are the stories about the whales in the Iberian Peninsula, those salmon hats and why orcas may know more than we realize.
My family and I really enjoyed our time with Maya’s Legacy Whale Watching, based on San Juan Island. If you do stop by, tell them Lynn said “Hi!” 😉
If this conversation got your head swimming, check out these C2BC Classics: Animal Curiosity at the Zoo; Curiosity in Apes, with Sofia Forss; and Curiosity Promotes Biodiversity, with Carolin Sommer-Trembo.
Theme music by Sean Balick; “Discovery Harbor” by Cloud Harbor, via Blue Dot Sessions.
You can subscribe to Choose to Be Curious on Apple Podcasts and Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.
