It’s summer, so today we’re talking about the ocean. To be specific, we’re talking about whales — and other marine creatures — with guest Clay George.
George is a wildlife biologist with the Georgia Department of Natural Resources. He’s based in Tommy Tomlinson's hometown of Brunswick, Georgia. Garden & Gun magazine named George one of its “Southern Heroes” for the work he’s done as part of a team to keep the North Atlantic right whale from going extinct.
He helps track the whales when they come south to give birth in the wintertime, and also does the delicate and dangerous work of disentanglement — cutting the whales loose from fishing lines.
The whales he’s helped save include one incredibly tough whale named Ruffian.
We talk about Ruffian, and manatees, and the issues our Southern marine animals face — including the massive one that is already changing the coast: climate change.
Show notes
- The Garden & Gun story naming George one of its "Southern Heroes"
- The North Atlantic Right Whale Catalog
- The gear that Ruffian the whale dragged more than 1,500 miles
Other music in this episode
- Gotama, "The Ocean in a Drop"
- Borrtex, "Ocean"
