Whales need the oceans and the oceans need the whales!

"Save the Whales" has been an environmental rallying cry for many decades - and for good reason. Whales are beautiful and majestic and an important part of the entire ocean ecosystem that so many people in the world depend on.

Whalewatching is at least a 2.4 billion dollar industry (as of 2024) with hundreds of cell-phone videos online in which you can hear the excitement and happiness of everyone on board the whalewatching boat.

Yet, whales are especially vulnerable to boat strikes and pollution and the countries that still hunt and kill them. In recent years, an unusually high number of mortality events and an elevated number of whale strandings have occurred. Whales are facing significant threats in addition to ship strikes, including warming waters due to climate change, entanglement in ghost fishing gear, marine noise pollution from fossil fuel surveying and military activities, port activities and more. And many of these threats are interwoven, compounding their impact on whales.

Our guests, Brett Hartl, Government Affairs Director of the Center for Biological Diversity and Arlo Hemphill, Greenpeace US Oceans Are Life USA Project Team Lead, will discuss the conservation, science, and politics of the world's whale species. And of course, the delight of interactions with them.

Of the 18 whale species, 14 species are classified as endangered under the United States’ Endangered Species Act. Many species, especially various species of Right Whales and river dolphins, have been in danger of extinction for decades. Even with this history, we have not been able to find a way to enable these unique species to recover.

We will discuss the pros and cons of the Whale CHARTS Act, which would amend the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA’s) near-real-time monitoring and mitigation program for large cetaceans. However, migration routes of many species of whales change. The vastness of the oceans makes research difficult.

World Whale Day is celebrated every year on the third Sunday in February and this year, it takes place on February 15.

Whales are awesome. Whether it’s their sheer size and power, their fascinating social networks, or their devotion to their families, whales are truly fascinating and are key indicators of a healthy ocean ecosystem.

Our news at the top of the show covers good and bad EPA news and pristine Boundary Waters needing continued protection.

Thursday, February 19th, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) hosts a meeting about their Restart Panel and Constellation Energy Generation’s current and planned activities for the potential restarting of the Three Mile Island nuclear reactors, which Constellation has renamed. Join the hybrid meeting to provide comments and ask questions.

This Friday, February 20th, the Ida B Wells Media Defense Network hosts a screening of the film "Scandalize My Name: Stories from the Blacklist." Register here for the event that connects McCarthyism and Trumpist repression.

The Metals Company is asking the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) for licenses to mine the deep sea, which has until now been protected from the horrible threat of commercial mining. NOAA is accepting public feedback through Feb. 23

Our music for this show is the Yes song “Don't Kill the Whale”.

Tune in on radio or internet to get more details.

And
Join us on Wednesday, February 25, 2026 at 10 a.m. EDT.

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Ken Gale, Donna Stein, Sally Gellert, and Charlie Olson/TheEnvironmentTV

When the air or water are clean, thank an environmentalist. If not, become one! Nuff Said!