KPBS Midday Edition

Rad Scientist Ep. 7: Sounds of the Sea

KPBS | By Hosted by Margot Wohl

Published January 30, 2019 at 3:00 AM PST

This story was published more than 5 years ago.

Goldie Phillips is pictured aboard a research vessel on Aug. 2, 2018. She’s going to help colleagues lower microphones into the waters off the coast of San Diego and La Jolla.

When you listen to the ocean, you realize that there is a whole world of sound that our ears aren't made to hear. Goldie Phillips tells us what we can hear off the waters of San Diego, and what is threatening the rich soundscape of the Pacific Ocean.

When you listen to the ocean, you realize that there is a whole world of sound that our ears aren't made to hear.

Goldie Phillips, a postdoctoral scholar at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, studies whale calls to understand how populations of endangered species, like the Blue and Fin whales, are faring. Born in Trinidad and Tobago, Phillips always new she wanted to study the creatures in the water that surrounded her island nation.

The "R/V Robert Gordon Sproul" is pictured in this photo taken on Aug. 2, 2018. The ship is ready for researchers to come aboard and start sciencing.

After getting her Ph.D. at Duke University, Phillips came to San Diego to capture the behavior of whales by eavesdropping on their calls. She and I go fishing for sound at Scripps Pier and then we board the "Robert Gordon Sproul" ship to drop large recording devices into the waters off San Diego's coast.

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Rad Scientist Ep. 7: Sounds of the Sea

GUEST: Margot Wohl, host, Rad Scientist podcast Subscribe to the Midday Edition podcast on iTunes, Google Play or your favorite podcatcher.

Editor's note: In the episode, host Margot Wohl incorrectly refers to the Scripps Institution of Oceanography as the Scripps Institute. We regret the error.