The Podcast Aquatic

For our first Earth Day special on The Podcast Aquatic, we're focusing in on the important work being done by the Tennessee Aquarium Conservation Institute (TNACI), not only to raise freshwater fish but also freshwater scientists . As a nexus for a great deal of conservation science in the Southeast, TNACI is carrying forward long-term species restoration efforts while also attracting new generati...

Smack dab in the middle of Tennessee in Hohenwald is a population that would probably surprise must residents of the Volunteer State: a dozen African and Asian Elephants. This year, The Elephant Sanctuary in Tennessee is celebrating 30 years of serving as a sprawling "retirement community" for elephants that lived most of their life in human care. In this episode, we chat with the sanctuary's educ...

April is National Frog Month, and what better way to celebrate these boisterous, shape-shifting amphibians than hearing from the experts who care for them here at the Aquarium? In this episode, our ambassador animal coordinator and senior herpetologist wax poetic about frog calls, explain why our poison dart frogs actually aren't poisonous and talk about the incredible survival strategies that all...

Whether you think of them as the horizontally compressed cousins of sharks or "majestic underwater flap-flaps," there's no denying that stingrays are some of nature's most interesting aquatic animals. This listener-request special episode features a panel of aquarists whose job it is to care for the many species of stingrays that live at the Aquarium. We chat about the different types of rays that...

Few people are as well-versed in documenting the underwater world as giant-screen filmmaker Jonathan Bird. The charismatic producer and host of award-winning web series, Jonathan Bird's Blue World, he's plumbed the depths of sites all over the world, from diving alongside Whale Sharks in the Galapagos and dodging Barracuda in Portugal to navigating flooded caves in Mexico. In 2023, Bird paid a vis...

All over the world, otherwise inoffensive plants and animals are wreaking havoc on ecosystems just by ... well, existing. Often (if not usually) through no fault of their own, invasive species upend the natural order by reproducing with wild abandon, outcompeting or preying on native species and disrupting entire economies dependent on healthy fisheries and eco-tourism. In this episode, three Aqua...

Comedian Jim Gaffigan may have famously described them as "rocks with snot in them," but mussels (along with oysters, clams and other bivalve molluscs) are incredible — and incredibly important — animals. Freshwater mussels' filtration of water as they feed helps to ensure the health of our rivers, lakes and streams. Their reproductive strategies are awe-inspiringly cunning, not to mention a littl...

When it comes to displays of aerial prowess, few pilots can match the razor-sharp skills of the Navy and Marine Corps selectees for the Blue Angels. The Navy's storied Flight Demonstration Squadron has been going strong for 79 years, and Capt. Greg "Boss" Wooldridge was the team's flight leader and commanding officer for an unprecedented three terms. Wooldridge is also one of the executive produce...

Millions (tens of millions, even) of families in the U.S. have pets, and all the love and comfort they give us comes with a heaping helping of responsibility for their care and well being. Fortunately, there are more than 125,000 veterinarians around the country that can lend a practiced hand to ensuring our four-legged, winged, scaly and finned companions lives are healthy and happy. Imagine how...

The Aquarium requires the work of a lot of people to function. Some might not surprise you — animal care specialists, veterinarians, housekeeping, plumbers — but did you know our team also includes a pair of horticulturists? It's thanks to the tireless efforts of these plant experts that our exhibits mimic, as closely as possible, the natural environments our residents would call home in the w...

Whether it's just a pop across the border into Tijuana, a cruise along the Rhine, backpacking through Nepal or visiting relatives in Uganda, there's nothing quite like the full-body culture shock of international travel. In this episode, three Aquarium adventurers share life-altering experiences from their international sojourns. We'll chat about the joy of watching cheetahs learning t...

With all the talk about lab coats, beakers, bunsen burners and such, science can seem awfully intimidating, but these days, the barrier to participation in science is lower than ever. In this episode of the podcast, Aquarium Educator II Stephanie Soto talks about how you — yes, YOU — can help a brother or sister researcher out through citizen science projects. This egalitarian approach to academic...

Even among other imperiled aquatic species, the Laurel Dace probably gets winces of sympathy. This little fish is the quintessential hard-luck story. In the last ten years, its numbers have dramatically dwindled thanks to a take-your-pick collection of challenges: invasive species, dirt choking its streams, a plague of cyst-causing grubs and (most recently) catastrophic drought. To say this little...

Did you realize the Tennessee Aquarium is home to the largest collection of freshwater turtles at a public institution in North America? Yessiree, we're really fond of our chelonians (read: tortoises and turtles) here, so we invited our resident herp expert to help us shellebrate these amazing reptiles. (And no, we can't promise those are the last puns you'll encounter during this slig...

With Halloween just around the corner, many of our minds are drawn to all things spooktacular. To many people, the spookiest of spooks — and the source of the most common animal-centric phobias — are snakes and spiders. But do these creepy, slithery, jittery critters deserve their bad reputation or are they just the victims of bad PR? In this episode, two Aquarium experts and resident spider- and...

Did you realize it's legal to keep lemurs as pets in Tennessee (and several other American states)? Yeah, we were shocked, too. Trust us, though, you don't want to go down that path for a lot of reasons. In this week's episode, we've brought in one of our lemur caretakers to explain why these prosimians are like furry little fireworks displays. They're beautiful and fun to watc...

Every day, Aquarium educators present programs to the public, both on site and at schools or other facilities, accompanied by assistants of the furry, scaly or feathered variety. The animals who take part in these outreach presentations are known as "ambassador animals," and Tanisha La Guardia is in charge of caring for them. Before she became a lover of snakes and lizards of all sorts,...

For more than 50 years, the Endangered Species Act has provided the mechanisms to protect imperiled species in the United States. But like most legislation, understanding how it actually works can be a pretty daunting task. No worries! We've got just the scientists for that. In this episode, our vice president of conservation science and education and resident aquatic conservation biologist sw...

The Tennessee Aquarium's home in Chattanooga sits in the heart of some of the oldest mountains on Earth (the Appalachians), but what was life like in our neck of the woods, say, 5 million years ago? How about 65 million? In honor of the latest film now playing at the Tennessee Aquarium IMAX 3D Theater, T. REX 3D, we've called up paleontologist and mammalogist Dr. Steven "Wally" W...

To many residents of the United States, the thought of eating an insect is probably enough to turn them off the idea of food entirely, but for cultures around the world, entomophagy is not only common; it's just common sense. In light of this summer's headline-grabbing 13-year cicada brood emergence, we've called on the Aquarium's resident entomologist — who has eaten insects befor...

They may be a lot more fun to visit than a lab, and their employees may not walk around in white coats, but aquariums and zoos are important contributors to scientific research. The combination of ready control of environmental conditions and the opportunity to observe animals without interruptions caused by inclement weather or other factors make them an ideal place for studies to be conducted. I...

Did you realize the Southeastern United States is home to more species of aquatic life than anywhere else in the temperate world? A lot of people, even those who live here, don't realize they live in the midst of an underwater rainforest that rivals celebrated ecosystems like the Amazon Rainforest and Great Barrier Reef. In 2023, the Aquarium decided to shine a light on the abundance in its ow...

Next year is the 50th anniversary of the movie Jaws , which means Hollywood has been hard at work painting sharks as villains of the deep for half a century. In honor of Shark Week, we're celebrating the launch of The Podcast Aquatic by gathering together a trio of resident shark experts to set the story straight and explain why these marine predators are really just the victims of exceptional...

Suit up, check your tank, cinch up your dive belt and prepare to plunge into interesting discussions with experts from one of the world's largest and most-popular freshwater aquariums.