We’ve arrived at an odd inflection point that has arisen now that National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) is on the DOGE chopping block.
How to communicate with a threatened agency?
Superpods!
This week a “super pod” of dolphins was captured (on video) in Monterey Bay. Large aggregations of dolphins occur and are occasionally witnessed when they are in coastal waters amongst vessel traffic.
World Whale Day 2025!
it appears that there were a number of these tetrapods who were not entirely enthused by the reliable forces of gravity, so back 55-64 million years ago they began migrating back into the water. These became the cetaceans…
Fish (and whale) ears 4
Marine animal bodies are close to the density of water, so unlike airborne sound that bounces off the bodies of terrestrial animals, water-borne sound can pass right through – opening up the question; do marine animals have ways of hearing through their bodies?
Fish Ears 3 – Acoustical Daylight
Needlefish at night – photo Umeed Mistry Our last newsletter was an overview of the phenomenology of the sound perception of fishes in the context of lab-produced auditory threshold testing – revealing that measuring the acoustical sensitivities of fishes in…
Fish Ears 2 – Fishes hear where they are…
Fishes can “hear” their surroundings though their bodies – sensing where they are. Are they “aware” of this? Perhaps no more than we are “aware” of seeing through our eyes.
Fish Ears 1 – What do fishes really hear?
Most of the auditory threshold research on fishes has assumed that they use sound much as mammals do. We found this assumption to be somewhat out in the weeds…
Diving into the World of Orcas with Todd Thimios
A close encounter with a pod of wild orcas is a dream for many divers. As the ocean’s apex predator, orcas are equally as graceful as they are powerful.
What comes next?
s I’ve previously indicated, I’ve been sparing my nerves by not reacting seriously until I “see the whites of their eyes,” – and I have to take in with amusement some of the conflicts and narratives that are being revealed.