Hakai Magazine Audio Edition

by Caroline Van Hemert • A mysterious population of peregrine falcons in the Far North has inspired environmental action and scientific research around the world. The original story can be found on hakaimagazine.com. Listeners, we have some important news. If you don’t get our weekly newsletter, you may not have heard that Hakai Magazine will be shutting down at the end of December. In July we found out that our long time funder is refocusing their efforts and won’t be funding us after 2024. So sad to say, this feed will be going blank at the end of this year. But we are happy to announce that our team has found a new home! In January, our senior staff will join bioGraphic, an award-winning magazine published by the California Academy of Sciences, a nonprofit research and education institution based in San Francisco. We’re absolutely delighted about this merger. Hakai Magazine and bioGraphic have so much in common: both are independent, nonprofit publications committed to telling deeply reported and rigorously accurate stories that are also beautiful to read. We hope you will come join us there! Please sign up for our newsletter and get more information by going to biographic.com/hakai-magazine.

by Christian Elliott • A unique fjord in Chilean Patagonia gives scientists a chance to unlock the reproductive secrets of cold-water corals that typically live thousands of meters below the ocean’s surface. The original story can be found on hakaimagazine.com. Listeners, we have some important news. If you don’t get our weekly newsletter, you may not have heard that Hakai Magazine will be shutting down at the end of December. In July we found out that our long time funder is refocusing their efforts and won’t be funding us after 2024. So sad to say, this feed will be going blank at the end of this year. But we are happy to announce that our team has found a new home! In January, our senior staff will join bioGraphic, an award-winning magazine published by the California Academy of Sciences, a nonprofit research and education institution based in San Francisco. We’re absolutely delighted about this merger. Hakai Magazine and bioGraphic have so much in common: both are independent, nonprofit publications committed to telling deeply reported and rigorously accurate stories that are also beautiful to read. We hope you will come join us there! Please sign up for our newsletter and get more information by going to biographic.com/hakai-magazine.

by Olive Heffernan • The birthplace of experimental marine biology is in decline. Will Ireland rally to save it? The original story can be found on hakaimagazine.com.

by Emma Marris • On the complex pleasures of harvesting shellfish with the people you love. The original story can be found on hakaimagazine.com.

by Kevin Gepford • On the Galapagos’ most developed island, researchers are tracking a growing threat to the millennia-old migration routes of giant tortoises. The original story can be found on hakaimagazine.com.

by Laura Trethewey • Decades after they were hunted to local extinction, fin whales are recovering in the Kitimat fjord system—only to be threatened by a booming LNG industry. The original story can be found on hakaimagazine.com.

by Jude Isabella • Non-native pink salmon have swarmed Norway’s rivers, prompting a relentless—and questionable—fight to beat back the invaders. The original story can be found on hakaimagazine.com.

by Kimberley Brown • How Ecuador’s growing armed struggle is affecting its traditional crabbing communities. The original story can be found on hakaimagazine.com.

by Daniel Shailer • Vaquita have long been collateral damage for Mexico’s totoaba fishers, but conservationists believe there’s a solution. The only hitch? It’s illegal. The original story can be found on hakaimagazine.com.

by Brian Payton • On the Pacific Northwest coast—and around the world—community archaeology is helping people reconcile with each other and their history. The original story can be found on hakaimagazine.com.

by Paul Hockenos • The ocean became a dumping ground for weapons after Allied forces defeated the Nazis. Now a team of robots and divers are making the Baltic Sea safer. The original story can be found on hakaimagazine.com.

by Barbara Peterson • Floatplanes are ubiquitous on the coast and indispensable for remote communities, but they don’t need to follow the same regulations and reporting as commercial airlines. How do you keep pilots and passengers safe? The original story can be found on hakaimagazine.com.

by Anne Casselman • Biologists are finding new bee species all over the Pacific Northwest—highlighting how little we know about native pollinators. The original story can be found on hakaimagazine.com.

by Ann Finkbeiner • It took a mountain of data to shake off the skeptics and rewrite the history of human migrations, but archaeologist Tom Dillehay was always interested in so much more than an argument. The original story can be found on hakaimagazine.com.

by Lisa S. Gardiner • Researchers are restoring the Caribbean’s surprising, spiky custodians, which gobble up the algae smothering coral reefs. The original story can be found on hakaimagazine.com.

by Brian Payton • More and bigger cruise ships are crowding coastal destinations. When is enough, enough? Who gets to decide? Originally published in August 2019, the story can be found on hakaimagazine.com.

by Jack Thompson • Multinational companies funded a US $4.4-million carbon offset project. Senegalese locals did much of the work—and saw almost none of the money. The original story can be found on hakaimagazine.com.

by Paige Cromley • A centuries-old traditional whale hunt in the Faroe Islands remains in the crosshairs of animal rights activists. The original story can be found on hakaimagazine.com.

by Jude Isabella • Over the past 80 years, one of the most resilient and hearty owls has practically engulfed a continent. Not everyone is pleased. The original story can be found on hakaimagazine.com.

by Larry Pynn • For decades, scientists have known that allowing the timber industry to store logs in estuaries kills marine life. Why does British Columbia still permit it? The original story can be found on hakaimagazine.com.

by Yannic Rack • Uproar over an ocean alkalinity enhancement pilot project in St. Ives Bay raises an important question: who gets to decide where climate change projects are tested? The original story can be found on hakaimagazine.com.

by Katharine Gammon • A California researcher and his team simulate stepping on round rays to learn more about how, why, and when the animals strike. The original story can be found on hakaimagazine.com.

by Sarah Gilman • A tiny Alaskan island faces a threat as deadly as an oil spill—rats. Originally published in August 2019, the story can be found on hakaimagazine.com.

by Krista Langlois • On a storied stretch of Mexico’s Baja peninsula, locals fight rich outsiders and rampant development that threaten to transform the coast and dry up aquifers. The original story can be found on hakaimagazine.com.    

by Madeline Ostrander • Amid an uptick in wildfires, scientists search for lessons on how to save old-growth from a fiery future. The original story can be found on hakaimagazine.com.

by Andrew Chapman • New research suggests that medieval Icelanders were scavenging and likely even hunting blue whales long before industrial whaling technology. The original story can be found on hakaimagazine.com.

by Stephen Strauss • Forget rubbing elbows with the rich and famous, you’re more likely to get Lyme disease on the island. Originally published in August 2016, the story, along with photos and video, can be found on hakaimagazine.com.

by Brandon Keim • Little-appreciated, semiaquatic, and cute-as-hell, muskrats can survive almost anywhere. So where are they? The original story can be found on hakaimagazine.com.

by Sasha Chapman • Our global food system discards 46 million tonnes of fish each year. Why? Originally published in July 2019, the story, along with photos and video, can be found on hakaimagazine.com.    

by Paul Greenberg • As the Great Salt Lake in Utah shrinks, locals are working to preserve its critical brine shrimp fishery—along with the other entities that flourish in the lake’s strange, saline beauty. The original story, along with photos and video, can be found on hakaimagazine.com.

by Ben Goldfarb • Millions of killer culverts lurk beneath North American roadways, strangling populations of migratory fish. Now with a nationwide project, the United States is trying to fix them. The original story can be found on hakaimagazine.com.

by Tommy Trenchard • Villagers hang onto the last patch of Sierra Leone’s Nyangai Island, knowing that their home may soon disappear. The original story, along with many photos, can be found on hakaimagazine.com.

by Trina Moyles • Active in daylight during the Arctic summer and hibernating during the long winter nights, Alaska’s little brown bats are a unique population. Can their niche lives help them avoid white-nose syndrome? The original story, along with photos, can be found on hakaimagazine.com.

by Moira Donovan • As dams come down on the Skutik River, the once-demonized alewife—a fish beloved by the Passamaquoddy—gets a second chance at life. The original story, along with photos, can be found on hakaimagazine.com.

by Brian Payton • How scientists, volunteers, and incarcerated women are finding hope and metamorphosis through supporting a struggling butterfly. The original story, along with gorgeous photos, can be found on hakaimagazine.com.

by Marina Wang • With little enforcement or legal culpability, social media helps wildlife trafficking thrive in plain sight. The original story, along with photos, can be found on hakaimagazine.com.

by Madeline Ostrander • For 35 years, a scientist and his team have been taking the pulse of 10 coastal glaciers. The diagnosis is in. Originally published in July 2019, the story, along with photos and video, can be found on hakaimagazine.com.

by Megan Gannon • In Alaska, residents are negotiating a contentious relationship with musk oxen, which were introduced to the area decades ago without local consent. This story was originally published by High Country News, a magazine about the American West’s environment and communities, and is reproduced here with permission.

by Sarah Tory • A detective’s quest reveals how one idealistic fisheries observer may have collided with criminals and desperate migrants—and paid for it with his life. Originally published in July 2019, the story, along with photos and video, can be found on hakaimagazine.com.

by Santiago Flórez • The rich fossil deposits in Colombia’s mountains could unlock a deeper understanding of ancient oceans—and the country’s paleontologists are struggling to do them justice. The original story, along with photos, can be found on hakaimagazine.com.

by Paul Greenberg • Or how modern sport fishing threatens a timeless tradition. Originally published in June 2015 the story can be found on hakaimagazine.com.

by Brendan Borrell • The Pacific coast’s only native oyster is making a comeback, but it still needs a little help from its friends. The original story, along with photos, can be found on hakaimagazine.com.

by Jeremy Miller • Diseases from land animals are killing marine mammals at an alarming rate. Can we stem the flow of feces? The original story, along with photos, can be found on hakaimagazine.com.

In May 2021 Hakai Magazine published a five-episode mini podcast called The Sound Aquatic. While our team has a break over the holidays, we’re bringing you that series. Here’s the final episode, “Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close.” By now, we know the ocean is anything but silent. Fish grunt, whales moan, reefs roar with the deafening sound of snapping shrimp, and even natural sounds like waves and rain can be heard throughout the ocean. But people have taken it to the next (decibel) level, with global shipping, oil and gas rigs and exploration, sonar, and fishing and recreational boats. Can we learn to be good neighbors and turn the noise down? On this final episode of The Sound Aquatic, we try to find out. Find show notes and a transcript at hakaimagazine.com/the-sound-aquatic.

In May 2021 Hakai Magazine published a five-episode mini podcast called The Sound Aquatic. While our team has a break over the holidays, we’re bringing you that series. Here’s the fourth episode, “Learning to Speak Whale.” “Culture” is a tricky thing to define—anthropologists still don’t totally agree what comes under its umbrella. But by any measure, it’s getting clearer and clearer that humans aren’t the only ones who have it. And below the waves you’ll find some of the most famous and mysterious nonhuman cultures of all. Find show notes and a transcript at hakaimagazine.com/the-sound-aquatic.

In May 2021 Hakai Magazine published a five-episode mini podcast called The Sound Aquatic. While our team has a break over the holidays, we’re bringing you that series. Here’s the third episode, “Plenty of Fish.” Ah, l’amour. Finding a mate is a big part of life for all animals and those beneath the waves are no exception. Of course, this search for love often involves—you guessed it—sounds. From the booming grunt of a fish trying to lure a lucky lady to his lair, to the mournful moan of a whale, sending out deep, loud sounds across ocean basins to potential mates from far, far away, this episode of The Sound Aquatic listens in on love beneath the waves. Find show notes and a transcript at hakaimagazine.com/the-sound-aquatic.

In May 2021 Hakai Magazine published a five-episode mini podcast called The Sound Aquatic. While our team has a break over the holidays, we’re bringing you that series. Here’s the second episode, “How Not to Get Lost in the Ocean.” Sound travels far underwater. And it travels fast, too—about four and a half times faster than it does through air. So it’s no wonder animals use sound to find their way around. Imagine being able to “see” your way through pitch black depths just by listening to the waves, other creatures, or even ambient noise, such as mudslides; or being able to make clicks and use their echoes to build a picture of the space around you. In this episode, we look at how marine animals from whales to fish (and even tiny fish larvae) use sound to navigate their world, using it for everything from finding a good place to call home to the next bite to eat. Find show notes and a transcript at hakaimagazine.com/the-sound-aquatic.

In May 2021 Hakai Magazine published a five-episode mini podcast called The Sound Aquatic. While our team has a break over the holidays, we’re bringing you that series. Here’s the first episode, “Can You Hear Me Now?” When Elin Kelsey and the producers of The Sound Aquatic podcast first gathered in early 2020 to create a podcast about ocean sounds, they had no idea what an amazingly unique year 2020 would be for anyone listening in on the ocean. In this episode, Elin takes a deep dive into the wonderful world of fish sounds and finds out what makes the Anthropause—as some experts are calling it—the world’s most expensive experiment. Find show notes and a transcript at hakaimagazine.com/the-sound-aquatic.

by Tyee Bridge • In Seattle, Singapore, and other waterfront cities around the world, engineers are creating life-enhancing designs to encourage marine biodiversity. Originally published in May 2019, the story, along with photos and video, can be found on hakaimagazine.com.

by Adam Robertson Charlton • As conflict rages around them, Ukrainian conservationists persevere in restoring the Danube Delta, one of Europe’s most prized ecosystems. The original story, along with photos, can be found on hakaimagazine.com.