The Dolphin Pod

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 Duol...

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 dolphi...

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...

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...

An interview with DCP Research Associate Manon Themelin and DCP Director Dr. Kathleen Dudzinski.  We learn how Manon got started researching dolphins and the exciting discoveries she's made. Manon's research into relationship quality (RQ) shows that the methods we apply to the study of ravens and chimpanzees works just as well for dolphins, albeit with some minor tweaks to accommodate for dolphins...

Justin interviews Jason Bruck, Assistant Professor of Biology at Stephen F. Austin State University. Jason is the head of the Bruck Integrative Biology Lab where he and his students study dolphin behavior and cognition. In this interview, Jason and Justin discuss: ·         how Jason got into the field ·         advice he offers to student hoping to study dolphins ·         his latest research on...

Dolphins are pretty strange when it comes to the way they treat strangers. Unlike most primates (including humans,) when two separate dolphin societies (including different species) share the same space, they can integrate their societies without any violence whatsoever. Find out how DCP researchers Kelly Melillo-Sweeting and Nicole Danaher-Garcia discovered that the spotted dolphins living around...

A special podcast celebrating 20 years of The Dolphin Communication Project. In this episode, Justin and Laura interview DCP royalty: Kathleen Dudzinski and Kelly Melillo-Sweeting. Hear how DCP got started after Kathleen’s humble beginnings as a movie star, and how Kelly accidentally stumbled into an 18-year career as a dolphin researcher. Also, listen as Laura asks Kathleen and Kelly a series of...

In the episode, Laura goes head-to-head with Kelly Melillo-Sweeting in a science quiz focused on a recently published article on lateral behavior in bottlenose dolphins. It’s going to be an uphill battle for poor Laura since Kelly is one of the authors of the article. Here's the article being discussed in this episode: Kaplan, JD. Goodrich, SY, Melillo-Sweeting K, Reiss, D. (2019). Behavioural lat...

In the episode, Laura and Justin transform themselves into a pair of dolphins and explore the waters of Shark Bay, Australia to figure out what happened when a mysterious heatwave wreaked havoc on the local dolphin population. Rising ocean temperatures pose a serious threaten to marine species, including dolphins. A seemingly innocent, short-term rise in ocean temperature off the west coast of Aus...

Dolphin Pod co-host Laura Teasdale thinks that she used to know more about dolphins when she was a kid. In this episode, she gets a chance to prove it! Our AI assistant DOLPH creates an 8-year-old clone of Laura for (old) Laura to go up against in a (rather challenging) dolphin science quiz! Who will win? Stay tuned to find out!

The primary article being discussed in this episode is:  Ortega-Ortiz, Christian & Wonneberger, Elena & Martínez-Serrano, Ibiza & Kono-Martínez, Tadashi & Villegas Zurita, Francisco & M. Enríquez Paredes, Luis & Llamas González, Myriam & Olivos, Aramis & Liñán-Cabello, Marco & Gerardo Verduzco-Zapata, Manuel. (2019). Consequences Potentially Related to a Meteoro...

This episode features research from Morigenos – the Slovenian Marine Mammal Society. Learn more about their work at: https://www.morigenos.org/ The primary article being discussed is:  Genov T., Centrih T., Kotnjek P., Hace A. 2019. Behavioural and temporal partitioning of dolphin social groups in the northern Adriatic Sea. Marine Biology 166: 11. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00227-018-3450-8 We also...

The Dolphin Pod is back! After a 10 year hiatus, everyone's favorite dolphin science podcast is back in action. This time around, Justin Gregg will be joined by a new co-host; the hilarious and ultra-talented actor, musician, and improviser Laura Teasdale. Justin and Laura will be discussing dolphin science topics including cool new research, dolphin news stories, and surprising and entertaining d...

In this week's episode, we will focus our Science Spotlight on ship strikes, and in our Kids' Science Quickie, we'll field questions about dolphin communication from eight year old Emie. File Download (17:58 min / 16.4 MB)

We are proud to present The Dolphin Species Song File Download (03:40 min / 5.10 MB)

In this week's episode, we will review breaking Dolphin News from around the world, focus our Science Spotlight on dolphin communication, and in our Kids' Science Quickie, we'll discuss cookie cutter sharks File Download (28:41 min / 40.35 MB)

In this week's episode, we will review breaking Dolphin News from around the world, focus our Science Spotlight on dolphin personalities, and in our Kids' Science Quickie, we'll discuss dolphin mittens File Download (33:39 min / 23.6 MB)

In this week's episode, we will review breaking Dolphin News from around the world, focus our Science Spotlight on dolphins and whales in the Middle Ages, and in our Kids' Science Quickie, we'll discuss magnetite File Download (27:03 min / 18.5 MB)

In this week's episode, we will review breaking Dolphin News from around the world, focus our Science Spotlight on Dolphin Sleep, and in our Kids' Science Quickie, we'll discuss how you can tell how old a dolphin is by looking at its teeth File Download (40:41 min / 27.9 MB)

In this week's episode, we will review breaking Dolphin News from around the world, focus our Science Spotlight Dolphin Assisted Therapy, and in our Kids' Science Quickie, we'll discuss pink dolphins File Download (42:04 min / 28.9 MB)

In this week's episode, we will review breaking Dolphin News from around the world, focus our Science Spotlight humpack whale echolocation, and in our Kids' Science Quickie, we'll discuss Pelorus Jack File Download (10:02 min / 6.01 MB)

In this week's episode, we will discuss how you can help conserve dolphin species, review breaking Dolphin News from around the world, focus our Science Spotlight on the Amazon River dolphin, and in our Kids' Science Quickie, we'll discuss colorful dolphinss File Download (12:42 min / 8.73 MB)

In this week's episode, we will discuss whale and dolphin watching with biologist Fabian Ritter, review breaking Dolphin News from around the world, focus our Science Spotlight on dolphin buoyancy, and in our Kids' Science Quickie, we'll discuss hairy dolphins File Download (15:01 min / 10.3 MB)

In this week's episode, we will talk with Dr. Kathleen Dudzinski about the upcoming conference on marine mammalogy in Cape Town, review breaking Dolphin News from around the world, focus our Science Spotlight on a behavior known as Spy Hopping, and in our Kids' Science Quickie, we'll discuss surfing dolphins. File Download (14:30 min / 19.9 MB)