Not a Dolphin

Ida Carlén has always been interested in marine mammals. When she discovered that an endangered population of a small cetacean lived in the Baltic Sea just off the coast of her native Sweden, she knew she had to do something. Ida now works with the European NGO Coalition Clean Baltic to help the Baltic Sea's only cetacean ─ the harbour porpoise.

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Dr. Barbara Taylor is a NOAA scientist who has been fighting for the vaquita’s survival for decades. In this episode, she talks about her role in that mission and explains why she thinks that low numbers and a lack of genetic diversity alone won’t doom the vaquita to extinction.

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Grant Abel has a lot of experience working with marine mammals, and small cetaceans in particular. He served as the Co-program Manager for Animal Care and Housing at the Vaquita Conservation, Protection and Recovery (VaquitaCPR) program. In this episode, he tells Lauren about that experience, and lessons learned.

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Dr. Lorenzo Rojas-Bracho has been working for decades to save the vaquita, the world's smallest cetacean. In this episode, he tells Lauren about the reality of his conservation work in Mexico and the unique challenges of trying to save an animal that can only be found in a tiny patch of the Gulf of California.

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This episode is the first in a mini series about the vaquita. Lauren chats with Dr. Thomas Jefferson, the founder of VIVA Vaquita, about his mission to save the endangered vaquita porpoise.

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In this episode, Lauren talks about dolphin brains, drone research, and robo dolphins with comparative biologist Dr. Jason Bruck. Jason studies cognition in bottlenose dolphins and hopes that his research will help scientists answer some of the many questions we still have about whales, porpoises and dolphins. 

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In this inaugural episode, Lauren answers the question everybody's been asking. If it's not a dolphin, what exactly is a porpoise? She is joined by marine zoologist Dr. Anna Hall, who helps her uncover that mystery.

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