The Podcast Aquatic

When most people think about wildlife and nature documentaries, there are places that naturally spring to mind: the Great Barrier Reef, the Amazon Rainforest, the African Serengeti. What most people don't think about is the stream in their backyard or the river they drive over every day. But Jeremy Monroe isn't "most people." He's the founder and director of Freshwaters Illustrated, a documentary...

There’s no point in arguing that the arrival of a baby animal at an aquarium or zoo isn’t cause for celebration. Many, MANY new generations of animals have been born at the Tennessee Aquarium in our 34-year history, but few have been as much a thrill as the arrival of a tiny, chipmunk-sized bundle of furry joy to the Lemur Forest exhibit in April. This infant Red-collared Brown Lemur is a first in...

From the shadow play of Plato's allegories and the trials of Beowulf to paintings adorning the walls of caverns in Lascaux, France, mankind has long been fascinated (if also a little unnerved) by the idea of caves. These subterranean landscapes may seem as lifeless as they are lightless, but in reality, they represent unique biomes — ones inhabited by a far larger and more diverse collection of sp...

Since opening its doors in 1992, the Aquarium has shone a bright spotlight on the world's 300+ species of turtles. In the decades since, our experts have had much success hatching and raising new generations of turtles, including some critically endangered species on the brink of extinction in the wild. In this episode, two of our lead herpetology experts talk about what it takes to raise these ba...

In life, there are many ways that your legacy can outlive you, but one of the most common — if no less flattering — is to have someone, or something, named in your honor. In this episode, we’ll meet the scientific namesake of the Laurel Dace, a hard-luck minnow found in just a pair of streams on a ridge about an hour’s drive north of the Aquarium. Fifty years before the Laurel Dace would earn the...

When you consider how many species and places that have been the focus of films and series by the legendary documentarians of BBC's Natural History Unit, it's frankly astonishing it took them so long to tackle the subject of Asia. The world's largest continent is home to an almost incomprehensible variety of ecosystems and wildlife, from massive bears in its polar north to sharks and coral reefs o...

Being a new parent is hard. Infants are small, fragile and, in most respects, completely incapable of caring for themselves. Raising them is a difficult — sometimes impossible-feeling — task. But fish babies? Take that challenge and multiply it. Everything is harder. The food? Probably too big. The lights? Too bright (or too dim). The eggs? Nearly microscopic. In this episode, two of the Aquarium&...

More than 13,000 residents live at the Tennessee Aquarium, and because of the dedicated work of our caretaking and veterinary teams, many of them have far exceeded their species’ median life expectancy in human care. Just like with people, advanced age brings on a host of changes to how animals experience the world around them, and this necessitates adjusting how we care for them. In this episode,...

From leaping lemurs and 1,000+ species of orchids and hedgehog- and poison dart frog-likes, Madagascar is home to a splendiferous collection of life, the vast majority of which can be found there and nowhere else on Earth. In this episode, we chat all things Malagasy with primatologist Dr. Tim Eppley, from his opinion on the "Is it cute or terrifying?" debate about the Aye-Aye to the tit...

In the zoo and aquarium world, creating true-to-wild habitats is critically important, but simply building these miniature worlds for our residents isn’t good enough. After all, even the most beautiful home would start to feel stifling if every day inside was the same and nothing ever changed. To keep the animals’ lives interesting and stimulating, our caretakers place immense priority on dreaming...

Excitement continues to mount on our campus as we anticipate the March 7 opening of our all-new Scuttlebutt Reef gallery. In the previous episode of the show, we took a top-level view of this exciting collection of habitats. This week, we’re zeroing in on what could be described as the gallery’s “centerpiece”: a massive, 6,000-gallon living reef exhibit. This bustling aquatic community was designe...

Although the Aquarium is constantly changing up animals inthe exhibits or building new habitats, it’s not often that we get to celebrate the opening of a brand-new gallery. With a building like ours, space is at a premium, so when we add something big, something old often has to leave to makeroom for the new and exciting addition. In a little over two weeks, the Aquarium will cut the ribbonon Scut...

Whether you’re shoveling your way out of lake effect snow or get goosebumps and uncontrollable shivers whenever the thermometer dips below 50, winter can be a tough time of year. That’s especially true for wildlife, which can’t just keep nudging up the thermostat whenever they feel a bit of a chill. So what tactics do animals employ to make it through this tough time of year when food resources ar...

Before the advent of photography and — obviously — videography, naturalists had no choice but to rely on their artistic skills if they wanted to preserve a visual record of their work. Whether an impromptu sketch or a laboriously detailed drawing or painting, scientific illustrations were a vital means of sharing scientific research and observations with the public. They were also, in many cases,...

While exploring the galleries of the River Journey and OceanJourney buildings, artwork might not be what you’re focusing on during a visit to the Tennessee Aquarium, but maybe you should take a beat to give it some love. Stylized depictions of our living collection are all over campus courtesy of a pair of extremely talented and industrious graphic designers. In this episode — the first of a two-p...

For many people, a visit to a national park is like making a pilgrimage, a chance to commune with nature in a setting of remarkable beauty and peace. The United States is a big country, though, and even with more than 430 designated national parks, every region didn't get an equal share of the spoils. Although spectacular examples exist, such as the Great Smoky Mountains, Acadia and Everglades...

For many species, the arrival of humans to the neighborhood is usually a portent of bad things to come. The alterations we make to our environment often wreak havoc on the other animals that share those wild spaces with us. No matter how you slice it, ours is the dominant species on the planet when it comes to shaping the world around us to suit our wants and desires. But that power also can be wi...

At the Aquarium, a LOT of work is done by full-time team members, from seeing to the needs of the animals and keeping the lights on to hosting special events and ... yes, podcasting. During their visit, however, many guests benefit in innumerable ways from the dedicated efforts of hundreds of volunteers. From prepping diet for sharks and watering tropical orchids to hosting underwater educational...

As the last kitten-a-day page falls from the calendar, we're taking a moment to look back on the first full year of The Podcast Aquatic and celebrate the many high points for the show. Of all the topics we've covered this year, though, host Casey is most proud of our (admittedly fairly recent) discussion about how the Aquarium takes pains to ensure it is as accessible to as broad an audien...

While we recover from our 50-episode-long first season and get ready to swim into season two in 2026, we're revisiting some of our favorite episodes since our launch back in 2024. This oldie, but certainly a goodie, focuses in on the fascinating and important work being done by our horticulture team. Episode cast Casey Phillips, senior communications specialist/host Austin Prater, senior horti...

Hard to believe we're 50 episodes deep into The Podcast Aquatic! Listen in as we celebrate this milestone by turning the tables on erstwhile host/wannabe expert Casey Phillips to put him in the hot seat for once! Episodes we mention that you should check out: Doing Science at Aquariums and Zoos: https://open.spotify.com/episode/7vbVj21Z9P0griqYMoQ05c?si=DamyzMn1QaGcNwTCNqfkAQ Everybody Loves R...

In the English language, there are few words that convey a sense of finality quite like "extinction." The notion that a species could completely disappear from the planet forever — down to literally the last individual — is incredibly sobering. But how "final" is extinction? How can scientists be sure that an animal has, in fact, completely disappeared forever? As sampling and...

Why are lemurs such messy eaters? Why would a penguin refuse to eat a delicious capelin? If a snake hasn't eaten in three months, should I be concerned? If you think it's tough to feed your clan, consider the challenge of satiating more than 13,000 animals, all of which have different needs and preferences. On the eve of the most glutton-y holiday of all, this Thanksgiving-special episode...

When you were a student — assuming you aren't still one — did you ever imagine that your teacher lived at your school? Sometimes, educators can give so much of their time and energy (and occasionally their money) to their craft that it can certainly seem like a school is where they call home. In reality, many teachers feel hamstrung at having to adapt their methods to their classroom facilitie...

All her life, Dr. Rae Wynn-Grant was focused on one career ambition: to host a nature series like those that had so stoked her passion for animals early in life. Decades later, Dr. Rae was an author and host to a hit podcast with a long list of academic achievements to her name. She was content and had come to terms with the thought that she might not be destined to grace the silver screen. And th...