Marine Mammal Science

Humpbacks started coming back to San Francisco Bay in 2016 and now scientists are concerned about the risk of ship strikes. Dr. Ashley Scarlett talks to guest Rebekah Lane about this conservation issue.

Bekah Lane is a graduate student at San Francisco State University, studying the risk of ship strikes to humpback whales in San Francisco Bay in Dr. Ellen Hines' lab. She is also a researcher in the Cetacean Field Research Team at The Marine Mammal Center in Sausalito, California 

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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