Nature Now

(Reprise airdate: November 29, 2023) Host Nan Evans interviews Research Wildlife Biologist Jim Bodkin in Part 1 of a 2-part discussion of sea otters.

(Airdate: November 22, 2023) Please join Nature Now host Debaran Kelso on a fall mushroom hunt with fellow fungiphiles Maxwell Fisher, Baylin Speidel, and Shawn Gisriel!  This is part 2 of a two-part series.

(Airdate: November 15, 2023) In this reprise airing, host Mary Robson discusses with Hansi Hals from the Jamestown S’Klallam tribe the Dungeness River’s northwest 2-mile levee, which is altering the water flow and flood management.

(Airdate: November 8, 2023) Fossil Weekend is coming up in Port Townsend. Listen to Nan Evans talk with paleontologist Liz Nesbitt and natural history writer David Williams about fossils of Washington State, especially the Olympic Peninsula and the Puget Sound area. Liz and David will share stories and explore many of the tales of ancient critters, big and small, that are discussed in their new book Spirit Whales and Sloth Tales.

(Airdate: November 1, 2023) Please join Nature Now host Debaran Kelso on a fall mushroom hunt with fellow fungiphiles Maxwell Fisher, Baylin Speidel, and Shawn Gisriel!  This is part 1 of a two-part series.

(Airdate: October 25, 2023) Nature Now host Jackie Canterbury talks with Dr. Steve Hampton about the plight of the Caspian Tern colony on Rat Island near Flagler campground on Marrowstone Island. Hampton discusses the events of 2022 and 2023 that led to an 80% loss of the breeding colony due to human disturbance and an avian flu outbreak. If we understand the historical perspective of the Caspian Tern dilemma, perhaps humans and the agencies responsible for the management of Rat Island can make 2024 less painful.

In September Jackie spoke with Dr. Katie Hanan, Wildlife Veterinarian and Dr. Scott Pearson, Senior Research Scientist – both with the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife about the avian flu outbreak on Rat Island. The program allowed listeners to understand the basics of the Avian Influenza virus, its pathogenicity, transmission, and relationship to the 1918 Spanish flu pandemic.

(Reprise airdate: October 18, 2023) Ecologist, writer, and philosopher Dr. Carl Safina, author of Beyond Words: What Animals Think and Feel, is interviewed by Nan Evans and they discuss various aspects of animal behavior.

(Airdate: October 4, 2023) Nature Now host Nan Evans talks with University of Washington marine biologist and researche, Dr. Jason Hodin about the mysteries of the endangered Sunflower Sea Star. If we can understand these intricacies, perhaps humans can help restore the endangered Sunflower Sea Star population in the Salish Sea by learning how to raise and take care of baby sea stars.

(Airdate: September 27, 2023) Thousands of crab pots go untended yearly in the Salish Sea; their release causes crab loss and ship damage. Jeff Taylor and Nathaniel Ashford describe their work to salvage those lost pots.

(Reprise airdate: September 20, 2023) Tamanowas Rock-What is it? Nan Evans explores significant rocky out-croppings in Eastern Jefferson County – Tamanowas Rock and Peregrine Rock just west of Chimacum – with geologists Michael Machette and Jeff Tepper. In Part 1, we learn how Tamanowas Rock was formed, what it can tell about the ancient landscape of our region, why it is important to indigenous peoples, and what is being done to protect it.