Hello and welcome to series inquiries only this is episode three hundred and seventy five what a number I'm Thomas Smith and today's

episode is a delight I'll be speaking with Dr. Heidi Pearson a marine biologist whose paper whales in the

carbon cycle caught our eye here but in addition to that this conversation covers so much more for one

I asked her about the whale attacks you might have heard about I'd only seen peripherally that whales were

attacking perhaps some rich people's yachts or something so I asked her about that but then we got to

talking about animal intelligence and evolution and brain size of different animals really

fascinating stuff before getting to the paper itself talking about the carbon cycle and some

really interesting things about the life of a whale that you might not have thought about that

may have implications going forward for global warming but more than anything Dr. Pearson was

incredibly kind and just nice to listen to someone who sounds like she just loves what she does

and I found it really infectious and just incredibly joyful to listen to so with that said let's

get over to the interview I hope you enjoyed as much as I did and coincidentally we are just now

this episode is a little late because we're heading to the Monterey Bay Aquarium I actually mentioned it

in the end of the interview not only was it coincidence because we had just planned it when this

episode happened but also now on release it was the next one up in the queue as I'm trying to get

prepped to leave for a birthday trip for Little Feabster she's turning six in a few days can you

believe it well anyway I thought that was just a sweet little coincidence so now for reels let's

get over to the interview and I'm joined by Dr. Heidi Pearson how you doing today I'm doing well

thank you thanks for having me on the show oh thanks for coming on I'm excited to talk about whales

first and foremost I hear they're attacking rich people I don't know have you heard about that

do they talk to you about that I assume you're referring to the orcas that have been attacking

sailboats in the Mediterranean yes I'm sure people have asked you about it yes it is a hot topic but

...