Today we share a conversation with Reginald (Reg) and Margaret Bloom, who may have been the earliest professional wild animal collectors for European and American zoos. They began their career with animals in the 1940s and 50s in East Africa, specifically Kenya, Uganda, and Tanganyika, catching, collecting and transporting mammals, birds, and reptiles back to zoos in Europe and America.  He had an instinctive empathy for the needs of wild animals and birds brought into human care and one might say that these were the earliest roots for positive animal welfare.  Their contributions to the zoological world are legendary!

Dr. Taylor’s veterinary work flourished in Europe and globally over the span of 50 years.  He was blessed with superior intellect, superb observational and diagnostic skills, and endless academic curiosity but he also enjoyed a side career as a television presenter of studio-based animal programs.  David was extremely concerned with promoting and practicing high quality care, for zoo animals and stranded animals.  His views and practices took hold and helped to shape an area of the zoological field that is today known as “animal welfare.”

Dr. Herman was an American marine biologist who was best known for his research into sensory perception, communication, and echolocation of bottlenose dolphins. He founded the Kewalo Basin Marine Mammal Laboratory in Honolulu, Hawaii, in 1970. And, in 1993, together with Dr. Adam Pack, he founded The Dolphin Institute, which is a non-profit corporation dedicated to dolphins and whales through education, research, and conservation.  In our discussion he details how he became a scientist, accidentally and the story of how his dolphins were stolen.

Dr. Ronald Schusterman was a scientific pioneer in early marine mammal research.  He founded the Long marine lab in Santa Cruz, California where he studied sensory physiology and cognition of California sea lions, harbor seals, and elephant seals and conducted experiments to understand how they perceive and think about the world.  Early in his career, he helped too disprove a theory that sea lions used echolocation like dolphins and bats.

Dr. Scheffers contributions to science and the natural world of marine and terrestrial mammals covered more than five generations beginning in 1932.  He was perhaps one of the worlds first naturalists and conservationist, a scientist, a photographer and a prolific author with more than 29 books to he is name and 284 scientific publications to his credit, all of which he conveyed with the hand written word.  His early insights and discoveries formed some of the building blocks todays methodologies.     

Dr. Reynolds was a world-renowned marine mammal scientist and conservationist who worked with many species of marine animals but the largest portion of his work was devoted to the Sirenia, specifically manatees.

Over the course of his career, Dr. Reynolds had a tremendous impact on students, private individuals and organizations at local, national, and international levels.

World-renowned marine mammal acoustician and ecologist, Bill Evans shares a few stories and thoughts from his diverse career that spanned 5 decades.

Today I share some excerpts from a video interview that I conducted with Dr. Jeanette Thomas in 2014.

Dr. Thomas’s tenure in the biological sciences spanned more than four decades across several continents. She was one of the first women scientists conducting field research and was one of the world’s early leaders in marine mammal communication, behavior and education.