Talking Sperm Whales
Shane Gero - Speaking Sperm Whale, the Power of Storytelling and Why All Science is Political
Which animal has the biggest brain on the planet? It ain’t us…
Sperm whales.
And Canadian scientist Shane Gero has spent the last few decades getting to know these whales and what they’re thinking about.
I was just going through old emails and found an exchange with Shane from 2020 where we first started emailing about lining up a conversation. And I’d been following his work for years before that. How could I not? He’s the whale scientist who did a TedX Talk about the lost culture of whales!
By the time Shane and I finally Zoomed last Fall, I felt like I had a hundred questions for him – and he was kind enough to let me ask a lot of them.
We talked about sperm whale culture and society and human culture and society – and why all science is political.
He also talks whale – sort of – demonstrating their clicks and their codas.
Since sperm whales are one of the biggest animals on earth – and have the biggest brain – this is one of our biggest episodes in a while. And I hope you’ll enjoy this conversation as much as I did and that, like me, this episode will leave you wondering how long it’ll be before I actually get to interview a whale.
And here’s Skaana on Patreon.
And just in time for the 50th anniversary of Jaws…
For more information on Sharks Forever or any of books visit Orca Publishing or your fave bookstore!