marine biology

Can whales help us understand aliens? On this episode, Neil deGrasse Tyson and comic co-host Chuck Nice take a journey to understand the language of whales with marine biologist, Dr. Ellen Garland, and marine ecologist, Dr. Michelle Fournet.

NOTE: StarTalk+ Patrons can watch or listen to this entire episode commercial-free.

Thanks to our Patrons blufor, Timothy Dalby, Mick Mowchenko, Bobby Penney, Jason, Brian Wright, human_h, Michael Hewitt, Zach Hicks, and Hschrull1 for supporting us this week.

Photo Credit: Mother_and_baby_sperm_whale.jpg: Gabriel Barathieuderivative work: Tomer T, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Will changing your sunscreen save coral reefs? What even IS a coral? Where do they grow and what do they eat and why are they so pretty? Is it reefs or reeves? The wonderful and charming coral biologist and cnidariologist Shayle Matsuda of the Hawaii Institute of Marine Biology/UH Mānoa takes time out of his busy schedule during a coral spawning event to chat about how magical and beautiful coral can be and why reef health is important. Also: whether or not "Finding Nemo" got coral right, making transitions during grad school, and how to pursue your ambitions while being bravely authentic. He'll quickly become you favorite cnidariologist.

Follow Shayle Matsuda on Twitter @wrong_whale

Donations went to paepaeoheeia.org and pointfoundation.org

Shayle's blog post about coral spawning

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Sound editing by Jarrett Sleeper of MindJam Media & Steven Ray Morris

Theme song by Nick Thorburn

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Hagfish: these floppy hot dogs of the deep sea deserve our undying respect. Tim Winegard is a professional hagfishologist (YES IT'S A WORD) at Chapman University, and he dishes on the world's slimiest treasures. Prepare to hear about swift escapes, spellbinding clots of slime, patchy backstories, aphrodisiacs, outlasting extinction events, why you don't always need a spine, eating your way out of a dead whale, and -- like a slippery messiah -- turning water to slime. Also Alie confronts her fear of m*cus.

Comparative Biomaterials Lab at Chapman University: https://sites.chapman.edu/fudge/

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This week's donation went to the Wildlife Research Station: https://www.algonquinwrs.ca

More links at alieward.com/ologies/hagfishology

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Follow twitter.com/ologies or instagram.com/ologies

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Sound editing by Jarrett Sleeper of MindJam Media & Steven Ray Morris

Theme song by Nick Thorburn

Support the show: http://Patreon.com/ologies

Are plastic straws really that bad? What's the oldest message in a bottle? Any scuba vs. snorkel strategies? Does sunscreen kill coral? Can we reverse ocean warming in our lifetime? In a conversation with ocean and policy expert Dr. Ayana Johnson, Alie struggles with finding a balance between the wonders and the bummers. For the first 15-20 minutes, learn weird ocean trivia, why we love the sea, and facts about the ocean's depths and beauty. Then, we get to the sad stuff: ocean health, climate change, acidification, pollution, policy and what we can all do.

If you've been feeling helpless, this episode gives you all the tools you need to understand and help our friend, the World Ocean.

Also: some great information about whale pee.

Dr. Johnson's OceanCollectiv.co

Dr. Johnson's  website, Twitter and Instagram

More episode sources and links 

Become a patron of Ologies for as little as a buck a month

OlogiesMerch.com has hats, shirts, pins, totes!

Follow @Ologies on Twitter and Instagram

Follow @AlieWard on Twitter and Instagram

Sound editing by Steven Ray Morris

Theme song by Nick Thorburn