Category Archives: Podcast

MMS 88: Altruism in Whales

In this week’s episode, we have Bob Pitman who will tell us about some unbelievable displays of altruism, or what seem to be altruistic behaviors, in whales.  You will not want to miss hearing these fascinating stories.

Bio:

Bob Pitman spent almost 40 years conducting whale survey cruises for NOAA Fisheries in all oceans of the world. He has authored over 100 papers on marine bird and mammal biology but has tended to focus on killer whale ecology during the last 15 yrs. Now retired, he is continuing to write papers and wants to see the few remaining cetacean species he hasn’t seen yet. He now lives in Newport, Oregon, with his wife Lisa Ballance who is currently the director of the Marine Mammal Institute, Oregon State University.

 

 

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MMS 87: The U.S. whale that no one knows about- but probably the most critically endangered whale in our oceans

Dr Scarlett Smash talks to guest Dr Peter Corkeron about the newly named Gulf of Mexico whale or Rice’s whale. This species was just discovered, but it possibly numbers less than 50 individual animals –  making it one of the most threatened species in the US.

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MMS 86: How Weddell Seals Navigate Under Ice In Antarctica

On this week’s podcast Dr. Lee Fuiman helps us answer the question how do Weddell seals navigate underwater, and on the  ice, in Antarctica.

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MMS 85: Taking Conservation into our own hands

Dr. Ashley Scarlett talks to guest Dr. Giovanni Bearzi in a two-part interview about dolphin conservation in the Mediterranean Sea. In this second episode, they talk about Marine Protected Areas and fishing in the Mediterranean and, importantly, what we can do to help conservation efforts.

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MMS 84: Pioneer of Mediterranean Cetacean Research

Dr. Ashley Scarlett talks to guest Dr. Giovanni Bearzi in a two-part interview about dolphin conservation in the Mediterranean Sea. In this first episode, they talk about the history of cetacean research in the Mediterranean.

Giovanni Bearzi one of our champions of Marine Mammal Science. He is a Marine Conservation biologist and One of Europe’s most scientific scientists and also a staunch unyielding advocate for conservation

Born in Venice, Italy, he has been conducting research on Mediterranean dolphins since 1986. In 2001, Giovanni was named a Pew Fellow in Marine Conservation. He has authored about 150 scientific contributions, action plans for cetaceans, and other work intended to promote their protection and reduce human impact on marine ecosystems.

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MMS 83: Women in STEM

In this week’s episode the guest is Dr. Mari Smultea, who tells her story about being a successful female entrepreneur in the field of marine mammal science and technology, and how she paved her way through a traditionally male-dominated field.

Her company Smultea Sciences, LLC is a pioneering female-owned and run marine science and technology enterprise that will hopefully be the model for many more.

Dr. Mari Smultea Bio
Dr. Mari Smultea has over 30 years of experience studying the effects of human-related activities on marine mammal and sea turtle ecology and behavior, but also other marine and terrestrial animals, particularly endangered species. In 2000, she founded and continues to manage her woman-owned environmental consulting business, Smultea Sciences, LLC. She and her over 90% female staff currently focus on permitting, and mitigation and monitoring of marine mammals, particularly relative to offshore wind exploration in the US Atlantic and Pacific.

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MMS 82: Science and the International Whale Commission

This week’s guest is Dr. Iain Staniland, who talks to Ashley Scarlett about his previous seal research before becoming the International Whaling Commission’s new Head of Science. They also talk about some of the IWC’s Scientific Committee activities this year and their new initiatives

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MMS 81: The perils of pollution on marine mammals

In this week’s episode, Dr. Ashley Scarlett talks to Dr. Jean-Pierre Deforges about the accumulation of ocean pollution and the health effects they have on marine mammals.

About Dr. Jean-Pierre Deforges:

Jean-Pierre Desforges, Post-Doctorial Research Fellow at McGill University in Montreal Canada. He did his Masters at the University of Victoria (Canada) working on beluga whales in the Beaufort Sea and got his Ph.D. at Aarhus University (Denmark) working on a wide variety of marine mammal species in the Arctic and North Atlantic (ringed seal, harp seals, hooded seal, polar bear, killer whale, bottlenose dolphin, beluga whale).

The main focus of his research has been marine mammal toxicology studying how environmental pollution accumulates in marine mammals and what effect it may have on their health and fitness.

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MMS 80: Why energy budget models are cool

Guest Cara Gallagher teaches us about an agent-based energy budget model she developed for harbor #porpoises to investigate seasonality in the vulnerability of their populations to underwater noise.

Cara Gallagher an ecological modeller who is finishing up her PhD at Aarhus University

 

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MMS 79: Dolphins and porpoises of Hong Kong – unravelling their mysteries and understanding “Common Ground” conservation

This week’s episode is the last of 3 episodes with Dr. Thomas Jefferson. In this episode, Ashley and Tom talk about how his research on the Finless Porpoises came about and the ground-breaking research on the habitats and ranges of the cetacean species in Hong Kong.

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