Shows
Skaana with Mark Leiren-Young | Oceans, Eco-Ethics & The EnvironmentShane Gero - Speaking to Sperm Whales and the Power of Storytelling
Sperm whale expert Shane Gero on his whale family in Dominica, the power of storytelling and the culture, codas and language of sperm whales. Also… why all science is political. “Science is inherently political… until the sperm whales are able to speak for themselves, someone has to be their advocate… conservation is inherently a human behavioural change.”
Made in Canada, eh 🍁
Shownotes:
2:40 On his whale family and two decades of working with sperm whales.
4:30 On falling for whales.
6:30 What we know… Like… “They have the biggest brain to ever exist.” And studyin...2025-06-051h 05
So You Want to Be a Marine Biologist112. Shane Gero: Sperm Whales, the Importance of Culture, Decoding Animal Language, and Project CETI: Using AI in ScienceSend us a textShane Gero is a marine biologist who studies whales. Growing up in Canada, Nature captivated him at an early age, and a childhood love for orcas grew into a career studying their cousins, the sperm whale.In this episode, Shane shares his path to working with the whales in Dominica, how scientists are using groundbreaking AI techniques to decode whale speech, and why this research is so vitally important. We chat about how listeners can become involved in whale research– no career change required. Shane also has one of the most ma...2025-06-041h 02
To The Best Of Our KnowledgeListening to WhalesWhat can we learn from whales – and whales from us? Technology like AI is fueling new scientific breakthroughs in whale communication that can help us better understand the natural world. And, there’s an international effort to give whales a voice by granting them personhood.Special thanks to Ocean Alliance and whale.org for some of the whale recordings heard on this episode.Original Air Date: August 24, 2024Interviews In This Hour: Translating whale, with the help of AI — Searching for a whale alphabet — Giving a voice to the whale ancestors — Roger Payne touches a...2025-03-2952 min
Explore: A Canadian Geographic podcastExploring the depths of sperm whale communicationIn this episode of Explore, we dive deep with Canadian whale biologist Shane Gero, who shares his journey from a landlocked childhood in Ottawa to becoming a leading researcher in whale communication and conservation. Gero discusses how his early fascination with whales began, his fieldwork in Dominica and the intricate social structures of sperm whales. The conversation then delves into Project CETI, which aims to decode the complex language of sperm whales using machine learning while exploring the cultural identity expressed through the whales’ unique codas (a series of clicks). In this conversation, Gero emphasizes the complex cognition of th...2025-03-0447 min
Bioneers: Revolution From the Heart of NatureDeep Listening: Whale Culture, Interspecies Communication, and Knowing Your PlaceDr. Shane Gero, a visionary marine biologist, is angling to crack the code of sperm whale communication. His mind-bending research is transforming what we thought we knew about these ancient leviathans. It’s calling on us to embrace the reality that perhaps we’ve long suspected: Sperm whales are living meaningful, intelligent and complex lives whose cultures suggest that whales are people too. What can whale culture teach us, and can deep listening help us learn to coexist respectfully in kinship with these guardians of the deep?FeaturingShane Gero, Ph.D., is a Canadian whale...2025-02-1230 min
Brains On! Science podcast for kidsAre whales communicating with their clicks and songs?Baleen whales sing. Toothed whales click. But how and why do they make these musical sounds?Join Molly and co-host Tyler as they dive into the wonderful world of whale sounds. First, they run into Anna Goldfield on her way to audition for a whale choir. She teaches them about the voice boxes of baleen whales. Then, biologist Shane Gero talks about sperm whale communication, and how humans are only just beginning to understand the complexity of the sounds they make. All that, plus a whale of a mystery sound!Subscribe to Smarty Pass f...2024-12-1733 min
Bioneers: Revolution From the Heart of NatureDeep Listening: Whale Culture, Interspecies Communication, and Knowing Your Place | Shane GeroDr. Shane Gero, a visionary marine biologist, is angling to crack the code of sperm whale communication. His mind-bending research is transforming what we thought we knew about these ancient leviathans. It’s calling on us to embrace the reality that perhaps we’ve long suspected: Sperm whales are living meaningful, intelligent and complex lives whose cultures suggest that whales are people too. What can whale culture teach us, and can deep listening help us learn to coexist respectfully in kinship with these guardians of the deep?FeaturingShane Gero...2024-10-1629 min
Ocean Science RadioCetacean Opps - Cracking the Sperm Whale AlphabetComplex compositions made up of groans, moans, sighs, roars, and high-pitched squeals that can last for hours - The songs of whales are both beautiful and haunting. Humans have had a particular fascination with the sounds of cetaceans and the possible meanings behind it since Roger Payne, a marine biologist, first noticed the complex sonic arrangement of humpback whale sounds during a research expedition to Bermuda in 1967 But what if we could translate what they were saying? Really understand what the different clicks and codas actually mean?
On this episode we're going to chat with the Cetacean Translation Initiative, also...2024-08-2947 min
To The Best Of Our KnowledgeListening to WhalesWhat can we learn from whales – and whales from us? Technology like AI is fueling new scientific breakthroughs in whale communication that can help us better understand the natural world. And, there’s an international effort to give whales a voice by granting them personhood.Special thanks to Ocean Alliance and whale.org for some of the whale recordings heard on this episode.Original Air Date: August 24, 2024Interviews In This Hour: Translating whale, with the help of AI — Searching for a whale alphabet — Giving a voice to the whale ancestors — Roger Payne touches a...2024-08-2452 min
On the MediaDo Sperm Whales Talk to Each Other?This week, we turn away from the media for a moment, to a realm thousands of feet beneath the ocean’s surface – where sperm whales swim. These behemoths spend most of their lives in complete darkness, surfacing only for a few minutes at a time. They have the largest brains of virtually any other creature on earth, and they grow to be the size of one school bus, even two – and weigh as much as ten of them. But despite leading wildly different lives, scientists say they may communicate with each other – much like we do. In May, scie...2024-06-2627 min
The Answers Are Out There PodcastEffective Science Storytelling: Part 2 of the Dominica Whale Project with Shane GeroThis episode picks up Sean's conversation with Shane Gero from last week. In addition to sperm whales, the two discuss new ways to teach and communicate science, using storytelling as a conservation tool, and how every single job can be done with purpose.Learn More About Shane Gero and the Dominica Whale ProjectTedEd Video on Whale Talk:How Advanced is Whale Talk? with Shane Gero and David GruberShane Gero: https://www.shanegero.comThe Sperm Whale Project: https://www...2024-06-1927 min
Weekends with Ben O’Hara-ByrneWhy do we have so much trouble breathing properly? How do you fix it?Why Calgary’s massive water main break is a warning for other cities (1:48)Guest: Tricia Stadnyk, Canada Research Chair Tier II (Hydrologic Modelling) Professor, Schulich School of Engineering (Civil) & Faculty of Arts (Geography)D-Day - A man returns to France to find the place where his dad fought for Canada, 80 years ago (15:45)Guest: Don Levers, author, Our Fathers' FootstepsWhat’s behind hockey’s success in the Sunshine State? (32:45)Guest: David Dwork, reporter for the Florida Panthers, The Hockey NewsWes...2024-06-071h 40
The Answers Are Out There PodcastA New Caribbean Wildlife Sanctuary: Dominica Whale Project with Shane Gero, Part 1Shane Gero is a marine biologist and renowned expert in the acoustic complexity and social behaviors of marine mammals, such as whales, dolphins, and porpoises. He is a Scientist-in-Residence at the Department of Biology at Carleton University in Canada. Importantly, he is also an activist and staunch advocate for providing meaningful sanctuary for these species in the world oceans. His most recent work in the Caribbean Ocean, centered around Dominica, included thousands of hours of field work and has played a role in finally establishing what will soon be the largest marine sanctuary ever created in the Ca...2024-06-0445 min
Just Chill with Oliver GeorgeJust Chill with Oliver George #105 - Dr. Shane GeroJoin Oliver as he chills with accomplished marine biologist and whale expert Dr. Shane Gero! Since founding The Dominica Sperm Whale Project almost 20 years ago, Shane has spent thousands of hours studying these magnificent creatures. He is a scientist-in-residence at Ottawa's Carleton University and is also the biology lead for Project CETI. Shane's passionate research analyzing the languages, cultures and societies of sperm whales has not gone unnoticed. In addition to becoming a National Geographic Explorer, Shane was also heavily featured in the award-winning, James Cameron-produced docuseries titled 'Secrets of the Whales'!
The fun, fascinating facts start...2024-02-282h 10
Urpeko Bonbarda#124 - Hagin usteldun Gabonak (Shane McGowan gogoan)urpekoBONBARDA #124Zuzeu Podcastek aurkezten du: Urpeko Bonbarda, Anartz Bilbao gidari duen musika saioa.Shane McGowanek 66 urte beteko lituzke Eguberri egunez, azaroaren 30ean zendu ez balitz. Londresen jaio eta irlandar diasporari buruzko kantuak folk harrotasunez eta punk izpirituz jo zituen gizonak merezi zuen Urpeko Bonbarda bat.Hasi eta buka, Gabon ahaireak izan ditugu saioan. Shane McGowanek Nick Cave australiarrarekin grabatutako “What a Wonderful World” entzun dugu aurrena, Louis Armstrong jazz tronpeta joleak ezagutzera eman eta makina bat berrirakurketa izan dituena. Eta Kherau bilbotar folk taldeak eman dio bukaera saioari, akaso The Poguesen kant...2023-12-2552 min
Bioneers: Revolution From the Heart of NatureDeep Listening: Whale Culture, Interspecies Communication, and Knowing Your Place | Shane GeroDr. Shane Gero, a visionary marine biologist, is angling to crack the code of sperm whale communication. His mind-bending research is transforming what we thought we knew about these ancient leviathans. It’s calling on us to embrace the reality that perhaps we’ve long suspected: Sperm whales are living meaningful, intelligent and complex lives whose cultures suggest that whales are people too. What can whale culture teach us, and can deep listening help us learn to coexist respectfully in kinship with these guardians of the deep? FeaturingShane Gero, Ph.D., is a Canadian whale...2023-09-2529 min
AI Unraveled: Latest AI News & Trends, ChatGPT, Gemini, DeepSeek, Gen AI, LLMs, AI Ethics & BiasAI Bridges Communication Between Humans and Animals | The 'Reversal Curse' in LLMs | DeepMind on Language ModelingAI Bridges Communication Between Humans and Animals | The 'Reversal Curse' in LLMs | DeepMind on Language ModelingVideo: https://youtu.be/T5469eJ1Wx0In today's episode, we'll cover AI revolutionizing our understanding of animal communication, translating languages and decoding animal vocalizations, how neural networks aid conservation efforts and assess animal emotions, the challenges of understanding meaning and validating conclusions in animal communication, flaws in logical generalization capabilities of AI models, the effectiveness of large language models in data compression, and a recommendation for the book "AI Unraveled" by Etienne Noumen.So, imagine this...2023-09-2424 min
Fantastische Wissenschaftlichkeit – Der PodcastFW#25: virtuelle Achterbahnen, Wal-Sprache, SemantleKapitelchen & Tracklist
0:00:00 blood girl – day 4000 of having the flu CC BY-NC
0:02:29 iCloud Highlights 2021
0:08:52 KMVP – Nobody's Down with Sexist Movies CC BY-ND
0:11:34 Träumen Roboter von Theodizee?
0:16:53 kitty – ♡ SECOND LIFE ♡ CC BY-SA
0:21:00 Virtuelle Achterbahnen
0:34:11 yorda – touch CC BY
0:38:21 Wal-Sprache
1:11:26 Zeitkapsel Schnürung
1:12:16 Motion Sickness of Time Travel – Alcyone CC BY-NC-SA
1:15:35 Audiorätsel
1:29:31 hissquiet – Despotism CC BY-NC-SA
1:31:59 Let's Pause: Semantle
1:54:24 Zeitkapsel Öffnung
1:57:28 Collate – Medicine CC BY-NC-ND
Shownotes
three.js VR Examples, insb. vr / rollercoaster
Wale:
www.projectceti.org: Cetacean Translation Initiative
www.thespermwhaleproject.org
Workshop "Decoding Comm...2022-06-191h 59
Big Deep - An Ocean PodcastWhale 2.0: Shane Gero on decoding the language and culture of sperm whales (Part Two)Part Two of our conversation with Behaviour Ecologist, Shane Gero, on his research efforts to decode the sophisticated language and culture of one of the deepest divers in the ocean - sperm whales.Support the show2020-01-0719 minBig Deep - An Ocean PodcastWhale 2.0: Shane Gero on decoding the language and culture of sperm whales (Part One)Part One of our conversation with Behaviour Ecologist, Shane Gero, on his research efforts to decode the sophisticated language and culture of one of the deepest divers in the ocean - sperm whales.Support the show2019-12-3116 min