On today’s episode of the Mongabay Newscast, we listen to recordings of marine mammals in the Arctic with Dr. Howard Rosenbaum, the director of the Wildlife Conservation Society’s Ocean Giants Program.

Rosenbaum co-authored a recent study that used bioacoustics to better understand how seasonal variation in sea surface temperatures and sea ice extent affect populations of five species of endemic Arctic marine mammals: bearded seals, beluga whales, bowhead whales, ribbon seals, and walrus.

We listen to recordings of marine mammals used in the study as well as recordings of ships, and Rosenbaum joins us to discuss how those ship sounds can affect Arctic wildlife, and how the results of the study will help scientists track the impacts of climate change on Arctic ecosystems.

Here’s this episode’s top news:

• Conservationists set the record straight on COVID-19’s wildlife links
• Record-high global tree cover loss driven by agriculture
• In Afghanistan, a new national park carries hopes for conservation and peace

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