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Exploring the Discovery of a New Oceanic Orca Population with Josh McInnes

How To Protect The Ocean

Release Date: 03/25/2024

Millimeters That Matter: The Sea Level Rise Threshold Coastal Wetlands Can't Survive show art Millimeters That Matter: The Sea Level Rise Threshold Coastal Wetlands Can't Survive

How To Protect The Ocean

Sea level rise. It's a phrase everyone's supposed to be afraid of, and almost nobody can picture. A couple of millimeters a year sounds too small to matter, until you find out coastal wetlands have an exact, measured speed limit for how fast they can keep up, and the ocean is closing in on it. Marshes and mangroves have kept pace with a rising sea for thousands of years by building their own soil upward, layer by layer, as plants grow, die, and get buried in place. That strategy has a hard limit. Peer-reviewed research puts it at roughly 6.1 millimeters of sea level rise a year, the point past...

info_outline What the Coast Is Worth: How a Dollar Number Is Already Funding Its Protection show art What the Coast Is Worth: How a Dollar Number Is Already Funding Its Protection

How To Protect The Ocean

A boat's wake looks harmless right up until you watch it happen over and over. Every wake a boat throws off chips away at a shoreline that took centuries to build, and it happens on calm days, sunny days, days with no storm anywhere near. A NOAA study at Snow's Cut, North Carolina found that roughly half of all boat wake heights on that stretch of the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway exceeded the largest wind driven waves measured there, and boats moving at the slow, considerate seeming "plowing" speed threw the tallest wakes of all. Habitat pushes back, and now that push has a number attached...

info_outline Red Tide, Decoded: Why It Isn't Random, and How to Track It show art Red Tide, Decoded: Why It Isn't Random, and How to Track It

How To Protect The Ocean

No smell. No warning. Just a beach full of people who start coughing at the same time, grab their towels, and leave. That's red tide, and it feels completely random until you know what's actually happening in the water. Karenia brevis, the algae behind it, produces a toxin called brevetoxin that rides the wind and waves into the air along the shoreline, which is why people can start coughing with no visible sign anything's wrong. The 2017 to 2019 Southwest and Southeast Florida bloom cost the region an estimated $2.7 billion, mostly in tourism losses, and it wasn't a freak event. Follow the...

info_outline Nature's Kidneys: How Coastal Wetlands Stop Ocean Pollution show art Nature's Kidneys: How Coastal Wetlands Stop Ocean Pollution

How To Protect The Ocean

Green water. A smell that won't go away. Sometimes, dead fish washing up on shore. That's what too much nitrogen does to a coastline, and it's easy to hear stories like this and feel like the ocean is just losing. This episode is the opposite of that. Here's what most people don't know: a healthy stretch of marsh or mangrove can pull nitrogen straight out of the water before it ever becomes a problem. A single restored 100-acre wetland cut nearby ammonia by 62 percent and total nitrogen by 37 percent, and saved local water systems about $17,000 a year, all within three years. Then there's...

info_outline Blue Nitrogen: The Nutrient Story Coastal Wetlands Have Been Hiding show art Blue Nitrogen: The Nutrient Story Coastal Wetlands Have Been Hiding

How To Protect The Ocean

Every time this podcast talks about coastal wetlands, the conversation goes straight to carbon. Marshes, mangroves, and seagrasses pull carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere and lock it in soil for centuries, and that story has earned coastal ecosystems a real seat at the climate table. Dr. Adam Langley, a global change ecologist and professor of biology at Villanova University and a research associate at the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center, thinks there's a second story hiding in that same soil that could matter just as much, or more: nitrogen. Langley and 37 co-authors just...

info_outline Who Pays for Plastic? Inside the Law Quietly Shifting the Bill to Producers show art Who Pays for Plastic? Inside the Law Quietly Shifting the Bill to Producers

How To Protect The Ocean

For decades, the honest answer to "who pays to deal with plastic packaging once it leaves the shelf" was taxpayers, quietly, through municipal budgets that funded garbage trucks and recycling plants running at a loss, whether or not the packaging actually got recycled. That's the system extended producer responsibility (EPR) is built to replace: a legal requirement that the companies making and selling packaging fund what happens to it after a customer buys the product, not the city that collects it afterward. Seven US states have now passed packaging EPR laws. Oregon has been charging...

info_outline Inside Ocean Conservancy's Fight to Make Washing Machine Filters the Law show art Inside Ocean Conservancy's Fight to Make Washing Machine Filters the Law

How To Protect The Ocean

Ocean Conservancy's "Not Safe for Wash" campaign is built around a simple premise: the fix for washing machine microfiber pollution already exists, so the fight isn't about inventing new technology, it's about forcing a nearly two-decade-old idea into law. Its own May 2026 poll of 1,010 Americans found concern about microplastics up 32% since 2023, nearly 9 in 10 people concerned, and 81% in favor of requiring filters on new washing machines. The public isn't the obstacle. The real opponent is AHAM, the Association of Home Appliance Manufacturers, the trade group representing the companies...

info_outline Your Washing Machine Sheds Up to 18 Million Microfibers a Load show art Your Washing Machine Sheds Up to 18 Million Microfibers a Load

How To Protect The Ocean

Every wash cycle sheds plastic. Last Monday, Andrew talked with Dr. Anja Brandon of Ocean Conservancy about microfiber pollution, and one question from that conversation stuck with him: has anyone actually fixed this yet? In this solo follow-up, Andrew traces a microfiber's actual path, from the moment agitation, heat, and detergent work it loose from a shirt, through the drain, into a wastewater treatment plant, and out the other side into biosolids, farmland, rivers, and the ocean, with a growing body of research suggesting some of it ends up in human lungs and even in the human placenta....

info_outline Can Bacteria Actually Eat Plastic? show art Can Bacteria Actually Eat Plastic?

How To Protect The Ocean

Bacteria that eat plastic sounds like the fix everyone's been waiting for, and Andrew gets sent videos about it constantly. So on this solo episode, following Monday's interview with Dr. Anja Brandon of Ocean Conservancy, he goes looking for the real state of the science. The short version: it's promising, it's roughly a decade of real research deep, and it is nowhere close to running at the scale the ocean plastic crisis actually needs. The bacterium that started this whole field, Ideonella sakaiensis, was discovered breaking down PET plastic in Japan in 2016. A 2025 breakthrough from NREL,...

info_outline The 90 Percent Fix Hiding in Your Laundry Room show art The 90 Percent Fix Hiding in Your Laundry Room

How To Protect The Ocean

Every time you run a load of laundry, your washing machine sheds plastic. Not metaphorically: synthetic clothing made from polyester, nylon, and rayon releases microfibers with every wash, and depending on the study, a single load can shed anywhere from a few hundred thousand to millions of them. Most of us have never thought about it, because unlike a plastic bag on the beach, you can't see it happening. In this episode, Andrew talks with Dr. Anja Brandon, Director of Plastics Policy at Ocean Conservancy, about the plastic pollution problem hiding in plain sight behind the more familiar...

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Andrew Lewin interviews Josh McInnes from the University of British Columbia about his groundbreaking research on killer whales. They discuss Josh's work on transient orca populations and the discovery of a potential new orca population in oceanic waters. Learn about Josh's background, including his experience working on whale watching boats and delivering lectures on orcas. Dive into the reasons behind Josh pursuing a master's degree and explore the fascinating world of orca research and conservation.

Tune in for an insightful look at orcas and the exciting discoveries in marine science!

Connect with Josh on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/josh-mcinnes-69236197/

Follow a career in conservation: https://www.conservation-careers.com/online-training/ Use the code SUFB to get 33% off courses and the careers program.
 

Discovery of a Potential New Oceanic Population of Killer Whales

The podcast episode highlighted a significant observation regarding the potential discovery of a new oceanic population of killer whales. The observation dates back to 1997 when a large herd of female sperm whales was encountered 200 kilometers off the California coast. Renowned cytologist Bob Pittman observed these sperm whales being attacked by a group of 35 unknown killer whales, exhibiting cookie-cutter bite marks, indicating a unique and unidentified population.

This initial observation led to further research into these unknown killer whales. Subsequent fieldwork off the California and Oregon coasts revealed more interactions with these mysterious killer whales that did not align with the typical descriptions of resident or transient killer whale populations in the area. These findings have sparked the development of a potential new oceanic population of killer whales.

The significance of this discovery lies in shedding light on previously unknown or poorly understood killer whale populations. Understanding the presence and behavior of these new populations is crucial for conservation efforts and marine ecosystem management. By identifying and studying these unknown killer whales, researchers can gain insights into their ecological roles, interactions with other species, and potential threats they may face. This information is vital for developing targeted conservation strategies to protect these newly discovered populations and ensure the overall health of marine ecosystems.

  • The designation of protective status for orcas in the state of Oregon, in addition to federal protection, is crucial for emphasizing the need for conservation efforts at both state and federal levels. State-level protection in Oregon signifies a proactive approach towards safeguarding the orca population within state waters, complementing existing federal protections. This dual protection ensures that orcas are safeguarded against various threats, including ship strikes, vessel noise, pollution, overfishing, and habitat degradation.

  • The state-level protection in Oregon is particularly significant due to the state's unique role in providing essential habitat for orcas, such as the Columbia River Chinook salmon population, which is crucial for the Southern resident killer whales. By designating orcas as protected species within state waters, Oregon can enforce regulations and management strategies to mitigate threats and ensure the conservation of these iconic marine mammals.

  • The collaboration between state and federal authorities in protecting orcas sets a precedent for effective conservation efforts that recognize the importance of addressing threats at multiple levels. By working together, state and federal agencies can coordinate conservation measures, share resources, and implement comprehensive strategies to protect orcas and their habitats. This integrated approach enhances the effectiveness of conservation initiatives and promotes the long-term sustainability of orca populations in Oregon and beyond.

  • Overfishing: Josh mentions that overfishing is a significant threat to killer whales, especially for populations like the Southern Resident killer whales that rely heavily on Chinook salmon for their diet. Declining fish stocks due to overfishing can lead to food scarcity for killer whales, impacting their energetic and caloric intake. This highlights the importance of sustainable fishing practices and effective fisheries management to ensure an adequate food supply for killer whales.

  • Vessel Noise: Another threat discussed during the interviewis vessel noise, which can disrupt the communication and hunting behaviors of killer whales. The increasing number of boats, including whale-watching vessels, can contribute to underwater noise pollution, affecting the ability of killer whales to navigate, communicate, and locate prey. Mitigation measures such as reducing vessel speed, implementing noise-reducing technologies, and establishing marine protected areas can help minimize the impact of vessel noise on killer whales.

  • Pollution: Josh also mentions the presence of pollutants in killer whales, including new toxins from sources like wildfires. Pollution can accumulate in the blubber and bodies of killer whales, affecting their endocrine systems and overall health. Addressing pollution sources, implementing stricter regulations on chemical discharges, and promoting ecosystem health can help reduce the exposure of killer whales to harmful pollutants and ensure their well-being.

  • Hatchery Salmon Quality: The quality of hatchery salmon is highlighted as a concern for killer whales, as hatchery fish may not provide the same nutritional value as wild salmon. If hatchery salmon outcompete wild salmon, killer whales may receive fewer nutrients from their primary food source, impacting their overall health and reproductive success. Ensuring the availability of high-quality wild salmon through habitat restoration, sustainable fisheries practices, and monitoring hatchery operations can support the dietary needs of killer whales.

In conclusion, the various threats faced by killer whales, including overfishing, vessel noise, pollution, and hatchery salmon quality, underscore the need for comprehensive conservation strategies. These strategies should focus on sustainable fisheries management, reducing anthropogenic disturbances, addressing pollution sources, and promoting the health of marine ecosystems to safeguard the well-being of killer whale populations.