What can a sea lion teach us about underwater physics?

They pull themselves through the water with this big clapping motion.

And it's really very different than anything we see in the sort of high performance swimming regime.

It's Tuesday, March 26th, the birthday of Robert Frost, Tennessee Williams, and Leonard Nimoy.

It's also Science Friday.

I'm Scifry producer Charles Herrquist.

When you go to the zoo, you're probably hoping for a glimpse of the Red Pandas

or wanting to check out a kamoto dragon.

But if you stop by the sea lion habitat, you might encounter some folks observing a little

more closely than you might expect. Dr Megan Leftwich is a professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering

at the George Washington University in Washington, D.C.

And among her research interests, she's studying sea lion locomotion,

with hopes of designing better undersea vehicles.

Welcome to Science Friday, Dr. Leftwich.

Thanks, thanks so much for having me.

So there are lots of good swimmers out there. What's special about sea lions?

Actually it is the difference in how sea lions swim that really got me interested in them.

I was actually like at the zoo with my kids here in Washington, D.C.

And what I noticed is that most things, animals, mammals, fish that are good at swimming,

swim with their tail or their fluke or whatever's at the back of their body.

So you know, dolphins, tuna, they have this rear appendage that produces thrust.

But sea lions actually pull themselves through the water with their

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