The Dolphin Pod

In this episode of The Dolphin Pod, host Justin Gregg is joined by several members of the Dolphin Communication Project (DCP) team, including Kathleen Dudzinski, Kelly Melillo-Sweeting, Manon Themelin, and graduate researchers Savanna Duda and Hayley Knapp, for a behind-the-scenes look at DCP's latest research and the people driving it forward.

The conversation explores two fascinating areas of ongoing research. Savanna discusses her master's research into calf-initiated physical contact, examining how young bottlenose dolphins interact with other members of their social groups and how these interactions vary according to age and sex. Hayley introduces her PhD research on burst-pulse vocalizations: the rapid-fire sounds dolphins produce that have traditionally been described using labels like squawks, screeches, pops, and brays. She's working to develop a more objective way of classifying these sounds and investigating how they relate to dolphin behavior and social interactions.

Along the way, the group discusses the painstaking work of coding hours of underwater video, the importance of peer review in scientific publishing, and the challenges and rewards of pursuing graduate research. They also tackle a timely question: what role should artificial intelligence play in animal behavior research? The group has some reservations, particularly when it comes to AI's ability to interpret behavior in context, its reliability, and its potential environmental costs. They argue that careful human observation remains essential to understanding what dolphins are doing and why.

The episode also looks ahead to DCP's upcoming fieldwork in Roatan, Norway, and Japan, including efforts to collect new high-resolution footage of killer whales. And for aspiring scientists, Savanna and Hayley share advice about finding your way into research, asking questions, dealing with uncertainty, and holding on to the curiosity that got you interested in science in the first place.

Thank you DiverMojo Foundation for your support of this episode - and other DCP research & education efforts!

Kathleen, Kelly, and Justin discuss how animal behavior scientists deal with the cognitive bias of anthropomorphism; the attribution of human characteristics to non-human animals. But this conversation dives much deeper than that; using Justin's new book Humanish as a jumping off point, the trio discuss AI (and how it might or might not be useful in studying animal communication), Duo the Duolingo owl, doggy eyebrows, scary shark eyes, cute dolphin faces, and so much more! Tune in for this fun and eclectic conversation!

More on Humanish: https://www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/justin-gregg/humanish/9780316577588/

Dive deep into the world of killer whale research on this episode of The Dolphin Pod! Justin Gregg, Kathleen Dudzinski, Manon Themelin, and Kelly Melillo-Sweeting take you behind the scenes of DCP's killer whale studies—from SeaWorld San Diego to the Canary Islands' Loro Parque, and soon to the coast of Gibraltar and the icy fjords of Norway. Discover how these magnificent "big dolphins" use their giant spatula-like pectoral fins surprisingly similar to their smaller cousins, hear of adorable moments of mom Morgan keeping baby Teno in line, and yes—learn about some truly unique male bonding behaviors that definitely won't make it into a children's book. With research spanning four continents and collaborations across the globe, this episode reveals how these apex predators communicate, play, and socialize in ways that are quite similar to their smaller dolphin cousins. Plus, find out why Kathleen has promised her husband she'll never get in the water with killer whales, while Manon prepares to do exactly that in December! Thank you to Loro Parque Fundación for supporting this episode. 

The Dolphin Communication Project has a new paper in review titled "Association and social networks based on proximity and inter-individual interactions in a group of managed care killer whales" and we sat down with three of the co-authors to hear what it's all about: Kathleen Dudzinski, Heather Manitzas Hill, and Manon Themelin. After combing through thousands of hours of video footage of killer whales at SeaWorld California socializing without people around, our intrepid group of scientists made a few interesting discoveries and observed a bunch of natural behaviors. And soon this team will be looking at even more underwater footage of killer whales socializing from around the world to see what else turns up. To hear more, listen to the podcast!

In this special episode of The Dolphin Pod, Kelly and Justin sit down to answer a whole batch of awesome questions from kid listeners! We tackle questions like:

Is a whale’s spine hard?

Why do whales have blowholes?

How long can whales stay underwater for?

How high can dolphins jump out of the water?

How long do dolphins live?

And tons more! Thanks to all the awesome kids who asked, including Arlo, Autumn, Ava, Bohannon, Casey, Christian, Claira, Emmy, Eva, Jahtasia, James, Lane, Lauchlin, Leo, Nate, Noah, Rhylin, Robert, Tristan.

This episode was made possible thanks to support from the DiverMojo Foundation