The Dolphin Pod

A special podcast celebrating 20 years of The Dolphin Communication Project. In this episode, Justin and Laura interview DCP royalty: Kathleen Dudzinski and Kelly Melillo-Sweeting. Hear how DCP got started after Kathleen's humble beginnings as a movie star, and how Kelly accidentally stumbled into an 18-year career as a dolphin researcher. Also, listen as Laura asks Kathleen and Kelly a series of awkward questions she had been meaning to ask her Tinder dates.  Hey Parents! In this episode, we make references to dating apps and adult relationships. Mostly general dating stuff – nothing explicit. It's all very kid friendly. But just giving you the heads up! 

In the episode, Laura goes head-to-head with Kelly Melillo-Sweeting in a science quiz focused on a recently published article on lateral behavior in bottlenose dolphins. It's going to be an uphill battle for poor Laura since Kelly is one of the authors of the article. Here's the article being discussed in this episode: Kaplan, JD. Goodrich, SY, Melillo-Sweeting K, Reiss, D. (2019). Behavioural laterality in foraging bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus). Royal Society Open Science. 6: 190929. http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rsos.190929.

In the episode, Laura and Justin transform themselves into a pair of dolphins and explore the waters of Shark Bay, Australia to figure out what happened when a mysterious heatwave wreaked havoc on the local dolphin population. Rising ocean temperatures pose a serious threaten to marine species, including dolphins. A seemingly innocent, short-term rise in ocean temperature off the west coast of Australia had devastating and long-term consequences for a number of plant and animal species in Shark Bay. The local population of Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphins saw a drop in their population numbers, as well as low birth rates after the heatwave. Eight years later, the population is slowly recovering. The article being discussed in this episode is: Sonja Wild, Michael Krützen, Robert W. Rankin, William J.E. Hoppitt, Livia Gerber, Simon J. Allen. Long-term decline in survival and reproduction of dolphins following a marine heatwave. Current Biology, 2019; 29 (7): R239 DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2019.02.047 Here's a link to more info about the article article: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0960982219302179

Dolphin Pod co-host Laura Teasdale thinks that she used to know more about dolphins when she was a kid. In this episode, she gets a chance to prove it! Our AI assistant DOLPH creates an 8-year-old clone of Laura for (old) Laura to go up against in a (rather challenging) dolphin science quiz! Who will win? Stay tuned to find out!

The primary article being discussed in this episode is:  Ortega-Ortiz, Christian & Wonneberger, Elena & Martínez-Serrano, Ibiza & Kono-Martínez, Tadashi & Villegas Zurita, Francisco & M. Enríquez Paredes, Luis & Llamas González, Myriam & Olivos, Aramis & Liñán-Cabello, Marco & Gerardo Verduzco-Zapata, Manuel. (2019). Consequences Potentially Related to a Meteorological Event on a Resident Group of Bottlenose Dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) from the Mexican Pacific. Aquatic Mammals. 45. 99-105. 10.1578/AM.45.1.2019.99 The research articles mentioned in the podcast involving how hurricanes affect dolphins are as follows:  Fearnbach, Holly & W. Durban, J & Parsons, K & Claridge, Diane. (2012). Photographic mark-recapture analysis of local dynamics within an open population of dolphins. Ecological applications : a publication of the Ecological Society of America. 22. 1689-700. 10.2307/41722883 Miller, Lance & Mackey, Angela & Hoffland, Tim & Solangi, Moby & Kuczaj, Stan. (2010). Potential effects of a major hurricane on Atlantic bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus) reproduction in the Mississippi Sound. Marine Mammal Science. 26. 707 - 715. 10.1111/j.1748-7692.2010.00371.x More research from Christian Ortega-Ortiz at https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Christian_Ortega-Ortiz This research originated from the University of Colima in Mexico: https://www.ucol.mx/ Get in touch with The Dolphin Pod via social media at https://twitter.com/dolphincommu or https://facebook.com/dolphincommunicationproject/ 

This episode features research from Morigenos – the Slovenian Marine Mammal Society. Learn more about their work at: https://www.morigenos.org/ The primary article being discussed is:  Genov T., Centrih T., Kotnjek P., Hace A. 2019. Behavioural and temporal partitioning of dolphin social groups in the northern Adriatic Sea. Marine Biology 166: 11. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00227-018-3450-8 We also discuss the following article:  Genov T., Jepson P.D., Barber J.L., Hace A., Gaspari S., Centrih T., Lesjak J., Kotnjek P. 2019. Linking organochlorine contaminants with demographic parameters in free-ranging common bottlenose dolphins from the northern Adriatic Sea. Science of the Total Environment 657: 200-212. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2018.12.025 More info on the biopsy darts used to take samples from wild dolphins: http://www.kaosa.org.br/publications/23_Fruet_et_al_2016_Biopsy_darting.pdf These darts are quite small and cause minimal discomfort to the dolphin: "Tips measured 25mm in length and 8mm in diameter and had a cylindrical punch fitted with three internal barbs (to hold a sample in place) attached to modified darts. A cylindrical foam stopper caused the bolt to rebound after impact and limited the penetration depth to 20mm." For more information on the other bottlenose dolphin groups mentioned, visit website for the following research groups:  https://www.sarasotadolphin.org/ http://www.sharkbaydolphins.org/ https://www.doc.govt.nz/nature/native-animals/marine-mammals/dolphins/bottlenose-dolphin/doubtful-sound-bottlenose-dolphins/ Slovenian language (Slovene) tips were taken from here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Phrlqxje9eE And this is how you write the Slovene phrase “kje si!” which means something like “what's up”. Here's an actual Slovenian Eurovision singer (Anika Horvat) singing the words kje si. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9mF9C1zFNw8 Our pronunciation is not too far off, eh? This episode features Slovenian folk music from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E54IhTh5OhY More info about the beautiful Slovenian village of Piran here: https://www.lonelyplanet.com/slovenia/karst-and-coast/piran The image used for this episode was taken from a post found on the Twitter account of Tilen Genov, lead author of the scientific article being discussed: https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Dusxl8OWkAAsG3c.jpg This episode was made possible through generous donations from supporters of the Dolphin Communication Project. We rely on public support to produce The Dolphin Pod. Please consider contributing to our GoFundMe campaign to help make future episodes possible: https://gofundme.com/the-dolphin-pod What did you think of this episode? Get in touch with us via social media at https://twitter.com/dolphincommu or https://facebook.com/dolphincommunicationproject/ and let us know! 

The Dolphin Pod is back! After a 10 year hiatus, everyone's favorite dolphin science podcast is back in action. This time around, Justin Gregg will be joined by a new co-host; the hilarious and ultra-talented actor, musician, and improviser Laura Teasdale. Justin and Laura will be discussing dolphin science topics including cool new research, dolphin news stories, and surprising and entertaining dolphin facts and trivia. New full-length episodes are scheduled for early 2019. In the meantime, you can support the relaunch of the show by heading over to our fundraiser at https://gofundme.com/the-dolphin-pod.

In this week's episode, we will focus our Science Spotlight on ship strikes, and in our Kids' Science Quickie, we'll field questions about dolphin communication from eight year old Emie. File Download (17:58 min / 16.4 MB)

We are proud to present The Dolphin Species Song File Download (03:40 min / 5.10 MB)

In this week's episode, we will review breaking Dolphin News from around the world, focus our Science Spotlight on dolphin communication, and in our Kids' Science Quickie, we'll discuss cookie cutter sharks File Download (28:41 min / 40.35 MB)

In this week's episode, we will review breaking Dolphin News from around the world, focus our Science Spotlight on dolphin personalities, and in our Kids' Science Quickie, we'll discuss dolphin mittens File Download (33:39 min / 23.6 MB)

In this week's episode, we will review breaking Dolphin News from around the world, focus our Science Spotlight on dolphins and whales in the Middle Ages, and in our Kids' Science Quickie, we'll discuss magnetite File Download (27:03 min / 18.5 MB)

In this week's episode, we will review breaking Dolphin News from around the world, focus our Science Spotlight on Dolphin Sleep, and in our Kids' Science Quickie, we'll discuss how you can tell how old a dolphin is by looking at its teeth File Download (40:41 min / 27.9 MB)

In this week's episode, we will review breaking Dolphin News from around the world, focus our Science Spotlight Dolphin Assisted Therapy, and in our Kids' Science Quickie, we'll discuss pink dolphins File Download (42:04 min / 28.9 MB)

In this week's episode, we will review breaking Dolphin News from around the world, focus our Science Spotlight humpack whale echolocation, and in our Kids' Science Quickie, we'll discuss Pelorus Jack File Download (10:02 min / 6.01 MB)

In this week's episode, we will discuss how you can help conserve dolphin species, review breaking Dolphin News from around the world, focus our Science Spotlight on the Amazon River dolphin, and in our Kids' Science Quickie, we'll discuss colorful dolphinss File Download (12:42 min / 8.73 MB)

In this week's episode, we will discuss whale and dolphin watching with biologist Fabian Ritter, review breaking Dolphin News from around the world, focus our Science Spotlight on dolphin buoyancy, and in our Kids' Science Quickie, we'll discuss hairy dolphins File Download (15:01 min / 10.3 MB)

In this week's episode, we will talk with Dr. Kathleen Dudzinski about the upcoming conference on marine mammalogy in Cape Town, review breaking Dolphin News from around the world, focus our Science Spotlight on a behavior known as Spy Hopping, and in our Kids' Science Quickie, we'll discuss surfing dolphins. File Download (14:30 min / 19.9 MB)

This is our first episode for the new and improved version of The Dolphin Pod. In this week's episode, we will unveil the new dolphin pod format, review breaking Dolphin News from around the world, focus our Science Spotlight on the top 5 myths about dolphins, and in our new Kids' Science Quickie, introduce you to a blind teenager who uses echolocation like a dolphin in order to navigate his surroundings. File Download (12:23 min / 8.7 MB)

Hello dolphin pod listeners. You may have noticed that episodes have not been released all that frequently in recent months. It's not because we here at the dolphin pod have lost interest – quite the contrary. We have been working on a brand new look and feel to the dolphin pod, together with an upgrade to our recording equipment. We are also hammering out plans for a new sponsorship scheme so that we can bring you improved dolphin science information and news on a more regular basis. So stay tuned as we roll out the new changes! If you have any ideas or suggestions for improvements to the podcast, please drop us a line at www.thedolphinpod.com File Download (1:29 min / 1.4 MB)

Learn all about dolphin vocalizations and dolphin sounds in this week's episode, featuring real audio recorded this summer from wild dolphins at our research field site at Mikura Island in Japan. Transcript :: Read a transcript of this episode DCP's 2007 Research :: Read about DCP's 2007 research from Mikura Island in Japan File Download (8:05 min / 7.4 MB)

You may recall from The Dolphin Pod episode titled “Herman's Dolphin Prodigies” that dolphins have proven themselves to be capable of understanding the human pointing gesture. Dr. Louis Herman and his research team have shown that dolphins, when given a pointing arm and finger gesture to indicate an object, understand that this gesture is a cue to the location of an object. This might sound like a very boring, elementary skill, but the ability to follow a pointing gesture is very rare in the animal kingdom. Even super smart animals like chimpanzees have a very hard time with pointing comprehension. Learn all about why dolphins understand pointing in this week's episode. Transcript :: Read a transcript of this week's episode File Download (6:17 min / 5.8 MB)

Dolphins have been observed creating and playing with intricate bubble rings. Learn all about bubble ring play in dolphins in this week's episode. Transcript :: Read a transcript of this episode Bubble Rings :: More about bubble rings Beluga Blows Bubble Ring :: Watch a beluga whale blow a bubble ring and then catch it More Beluga Bubble rings :: A beluga whale blows a spectacular bubble ring File Download (4:13 min / 3.9 MB)

In just a few days, the Dolphin Communication Project will begin our research on Mikura Island in Japan for our summer 2007 field season. The tiny, dormant volcanic island of Mikura lies 200 km south of Tokyo in the Pacific Ocean. The island is home to 300 human beings and about 180 Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphins. Learn more about our research on Mikura in this week's episode. Transcript :: Read a transcript of this episode Field Reports :: Follow along with this year's summer field reports File Download (4:25 min / 4.1 MB)

Today is Earth Day 2007. According to the Earth Day Network Web site, the focus of this year's Earth Day is “A Call for Action on Climate Change”. Climate change is a topic that is in the news a lot lately, but one rarely finds a connection between climate change and dolphins. However, there is one species of cetacean that is on the front lines of this battle against climate change: the narwhal. You might remember from a previous episode of The Dolphin Pod that we discussed a hypothesis that the narwhal's tusk may function as a kind of barometer – sensitive to changes in the atmosphere. But, this time it's not the narwhal's tusk that is helping researchers learn more about climate change, it's the narwhals themselves. Scientists are using narwhals tagged with satellite transmitters and instruments that sample water temperatures to learn more about remote regions of the Atlantic Ocean. Narwhals have been recruited as oceanographers and climate change specialists. Transcript :: Read a transcript of this week's episode with web links Narwhals Aid Climate Change Study article :: Read an article from Discovery News on narwhal oceanographers File Download (4:34 min / 4.2 MB)

This week's episode of The Dolphin Pod is not actually about dolphins, but this little gem was simply too precious to ignore. Learn all about some very special poop-sniffing dogs that are helping researchers to learn more about endangered whales in this week's episode. Transcript :: Read a transcript of this week's episode with web links The scent of a whale :: Read an article from the Boston Globe about whale-scat sniffing dogs Faecal sampling using detection dogs to study reproduction and health in North Atlantic right whales (Eubalaena glacialis) :: Read a scientific article about scat-sniffing dogs File Download (4:59 min / 4.6 MB)

Scientists think that dolphin's teeth aren't just for grabbing – a hypothesis that is gaining considerable support suggests that dolphin teeth might be used as an antenna. Not an antenna for picking up radio or television signals (dolphins probably aren't too bothered if they miss an episode or two of Survivor), but for detecting sonar signals. Learn more about the strange properties of dolphin teeth in this week's episode. Transcript :: Read a transcript of this episode with web links Scientific article about dolphin 'antenna teeth' :: A recently published article going into great detail about the acoustic properties of dolphin teeth, and how they could potentially act as an antenna File Download (5:25 min / 5 MB)

In today's episode, we will shed light on the ancient history of the word ‘dolphin'. Transcript :: Read a transcript of this episode File Download (8:47 min / 8.1 MB)

This week's episode reveals how dolphins manage to spend their entire lives in an aquatic environment (an almost zero gravity environment) without ever getting seasick or dizzy. It's all thanks to some important evolutionary changes to their vestibular sense – one of the most important, and often overlooked, of the senses. Learn all about the vestibular sense in this week's episode. Transcript of this episode :: Read a transcript of this week's episode with web links The vestibular sense :: A fantastic website with a detailed overview of the vestibular sense File Download (9:18 min / 8.5 MB)

If you are a regular listener to the Dolphin Pod, then you'll be aware of the power and versatility of a dolphin's echolocation system. If you are inclined to be jealous of the sensory systems of other animals, you could do worse than to envy dolphin biosonar. It is pretty cool stuff. At least, you can rest assured that humans outshine dolphins when it comes to vision, right? Not so fast my simian friend – while it is true that humans and other primates do have well-developed visual systems, our dolphin friends are not far behind. This episode will provide you with a detailed look at dolphins' sense of vision by focusing (get it, focusing?) on the structure of the eyeball. It is a head-to-head battle between the human and the dolphin eyeball to see who will earn the title of ‘coolest eyeball ever'! Transcript of this episode :: Read a transcript of this episode with weblinks Eye anatomy :: Read more about the anatomy of the human eye File Download (0:00 min / 9.8 MB)

This week's episode features a personal essay about my experiences of swimming with Fungie – the famous solitary dolphin who has been living near the town of Dingle on the west coast of Ireland. Stay tuned for future episodes about lone, sociable dolphins and the whale and dolphin watching industry featured this month on The Dolphin Pod. This week's episode features music from the Irish traditional group Cran. Transcript of this episode :: Read a transcript of this week's episode with web links Fungie :: Learn more about Fungie the Dingle Dolphin irishdolphins.com :: Visit the Irish Dolphins website Whale and dolphin watching in Ireland :: Learn more about whales and dolphins in Ireland from the Irish Whale and Dolphin Group website Cran music :: Check out the Irish music featured in the week's episode from Cran File Download (11:10 min / 10.2 MB)

The narwhal is perhaps one of the most easily recognizable of all cetaceans thanks to their distinctive long tusks. Learn more about the narwhal's tusks and what it is used for in this week's episode. Transcript of this episode :: Read a transcript of this week's episode with web links Narwhal info :: Learn more about the narwhal's tusk Mr. Narhwal :: Explore the world of Mr. Narhwal and Buddy the Elf File Download (0:00 min / 7.5 MB)

2007 is a year with major significance for dolphin enthusiasts as it has been officially declared the Year of the Dolphin! You might have heard about this in the news. But what on earth is the Year of the Dolphin all about, and who has the authority to declare such things? Learn all about the Year of the Dolphin in this week's podcast. Transcript of this episode :: Read a transcript of this week's episode with weblinks Year of the Dolphin website :: The official website of the Year of the Dolphin Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society :: The official website of the Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society - co-sponsor of the Year of the Dolphin Adopt a dolphin :: Adopt a dolphin through the Dolphin Communication Project File Download (8:41 min / 8 MB)

The dolphin blogosphere has been expanding in recent weeks. A brand new podcast has just been released by the Act for Dolphins campaign. This podcast focuses on the campaign to stop the slaughter of wild dolphins in Japanese waters. To subscribe to the podcast, visit actfordolphins.podomatic.com In addition, scientist David Lusseau has created a new blog highlighting conservations efforts focused on a small endangered group of bottlenose dolphins in Doubtful Sound New Zealand. To learn more about the threat of whalewatching and vessel traffic for this population, visit www.fiordlandbottlenosedolphins.blogspot.com For links to these new blogs and podcasts, visit thedolphinpod.com Transcript of this episode :: A transcript of this episode with weblinks Act for Dolphins podcast :: Subscribe to the new Act for Dolphins podcast David Lusseau's blog :: Read David Lusseau's blog about endangered bottlenose dolphins in Doubtful Sound New Zealand. File Download (0:53 min / 0.8 MB)

A special holiday greeting from The Dolphin Pod. File Download (2:19 min / 2.1 MB)

In this week's episode, we will discuss the baiji; a very special dolphin that has recently made its way into the news for all of the wrong reasons. Transcipt of this episode :: Read a transcript of this week's episode with weblinks The Baiji.org Foundation :: Learnmore about hte Baiji at the website of the Baiji.org foundation File Download (7:33 min / 6.9 MB)

Researchers at the Dolphin Communication Project get a lot of questions from the public about dolphin behavior, but one question above all the others has given us the biggest kick. And, sparked a rather interesting answer. The question, posed to us once by a young dolphin enthusiast, was ‘How do dolphins get married?' Not ‘do dolphins get married' mind you, but ‘how do they get married'. Learn the answer to this question in this week's episode. Transcipt of this episode :: Read a transcript of this week's episode Ann Weaver's research :: Read Ann Weaver's story about dolphin social relationships Interview with Ann Weaver :: Read the Dolphin Pod's interview with Ann Weaver Leszek Karczmarski's research :: Learn more about Leszek Karczmarski's research with spinner dolphins in Hawaii Woman marries dolphin :: Oh boy - the only case of a dolphin marriage currently on the books..... Shark Bay dolphins :: Learn more about the dolphins of Shark Bay File Download (7:11 min / 6.6 MB)