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Amelia Macapia

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Science

Q&A: Diana Reiss decodes the dolphin Rosetta Stone

By Amelia Macapia | May 16

Although dolphins are recognized for their large brains and intricate social structures, the extent of their self-awareness was not widely acknowledged until Diana Reiss, a professor at the cognitive and comparative psychology program of The City University of New York, published her groundbreaking work. As a leading expert in dolphin communication and cognition, Reiss introduced innovative mirror self-recognition tests. By strategically marking dolphins in an area not visible to them, such as above their eyes, Reiss observed their reactions to seeing their reflections and playful investigations of marked body parts. These behaviors were traditionally associated only with humans and great apes, yet Reiss’ groundbreaking work revealed that dolphins also exhibit self-awareness.

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Science

Sounds of seagrass

By Amelia Macapia | April 29

Dr. Megan Ballard discusses listening to seagrass for studies on carbon sequestration and what we can learn about environmental change through underwater acoustics. 

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Science

Three dimensions of humpback whale communication

By Amelia Macapia | April 5

Amelia Macapia (AM): Whale songs can travel vast distances, and if they are using their songs to communicate with one another, they are not just doing so across space, but also across time. That concept flashed briefly in your documentary “Fathom.” I came across a recent quote in an article by Elizabeth Kolbert in The New Yorker, suggesting that a call “made by a humpback whale near Bermuda would take 20 min to reach a humpback whale swimming off the coast of Nova Scotia, and if the Canadian whale answered immediately, it would be 40 min before the Bermuda whale heard back.” So, are the whales receiving information from the past and present simultaneously? And how are they registering that?

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Science

Do whales think about tomorrow?

By Amelia Macapia | March 29

Editor’s Note: This interview has been edited for length and clarity. Amelia Macapia: Let’s start with whale culture. This isn’t a figure of speech but rather an observation that whales communicate. Now, maybe everyone thinks all animals communicate, but you mean something very specific. What is that?

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Science

Dr. Jan Pechenik discusses intertidal animals and changing tides

By Amelia Macapia | March 13

Humans are tampering with the selective forces acting on organisms all over the planet and accelerating the rates at which selection is occurring. Dr. Jan Pechenik, professor emeritus of marine biology at Tufts University, suspects that one group of organisms is going to outlast many others: intertidal marine animals. They endure extreme fluctuations in their environment, particularly temperature changes, better than many others.

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Science

Edie Widder on bioluminescence and seeing in the dark

By Amelia Macapia | March 6

How can a creature that can grow as tall as a four-story building be hidden from human eyes for so long? Oceanographer Edie Widder was the first person to capture video of the giant squid in its natural habitat, transporting the legendary Kraken from ancient mythology to the modern world. She invented a groundbreaking technique to lure in the squid with a deep sea “scream,” modeling the startling bioluminescent display of the Atolla jellyfish. Below, Widder joins me for a conversation on what we have to lose before the ocean is known. 

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Science

Life in STEM: Michael Moore on the right whale and declining marine populations

By Amelia Macapia | February 1

Below is an interview with Michael Moore, a senior scientist and veterinarian at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. Much of Moore’s career has been dedicated to research on the health and growth of North Atlantic right whale populations. In his book, “We Are All Whalers: The Plight of Whales and Our Responsibility,” Moore links the collapse of the species to damage from shipping and fishing trauma. Below Moore joins me for a discussion on the immediate jeopardy of the North Atlantic right whale, and how we all contribute to the right whale’s extinction risk through supply chains and consumer demand.

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