The Lost Cultures of Whales | Shane Gero | TEDxOttawa

What is lost when we lose a whale culture? Shane Gero shares stories from thousands of hours spent in the company of sperm whales. In this hauntingly powerful talk, he details how similar their lives are to our own and how their cultures define their identity, just as ours do. Shane chronicles how their families and cultures are at risk, how our lives impact theirs, along with why preserving cultural diversity is important in our societies and the ecosystem.

Shane Gero is an assistant professor in the Marine Bioacoustics Lab at Aarhus University and the founder of The Dominica Sperm Whale Project. The DSWP has been tracking over 20 families of sperm whales in the Caribbean Sea since 2005.

Shane’s research is motivated by a desire to understand animal societies, how and why they form, and, by necessity, what happens when they fall apart. Shane is passionate about communicating his science and the whales’ stories to a wide audience. He has given dozens of public talks including those at The Canadian National Museum of Nature in Ottawa, the New England Aquarium in Boston, and the Interacting Minds Center in Denmark. His writing has appeared in the New York Times, Motherboard Magazine, and all over Wikipedia; and his research has been featured in numerous magazines including National Geographic, WIRED, National Wildlife, New Scientist; on various radio shows and podcasts, and on TV in The Nature of Things and in two BBC miniseries including Blue Planet II.

This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at https://www.ted.com/tedx My research focuses on the acoustic complexity and social behavior of cetaceans. For over a decade, I have been working on research projects all over the world on various species in tropical, temperate and arctic areas.

The experiences gained through my academic trajectory; from graduate work at Dalhousie University, to my fellowships at the Scottish Oceans Institute and Aarhus University; have granted me the analytical skills and strong publication drive learned from a leaders in the field, but also the independence to direct research, supervise graduate students, and coordinate my own field study.

The Dominica Sperm Whale Project has been tracking over 20 families of sperm whales in the Caribbean Sea since 2005. Through 1000s of hours of fieldwork, I have followed calves from birth through weaning and described the social dynamics among family members, as well as between the families in the Caribbean. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at https://www.ted.com/tedx

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