Animals

There's breaking news in the whale world. Scientists discovered that humpback whale songs and human speech have striking similarities. The Conversation spoke to Ellen Garland, a whale biologist at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland, about what this new discovery means for whales and people.

Hawaiʻi is considered the epicenter of rat lungworm disease, which is spread when people accidentally consume snails and slugs that have eaten infected rat droppings. The Conversation talked to ecologist Randi Rollins about her work on how rat lungworm disease spreads between rodents, snails and humans.

Over 400 volunteers for the Hawaiian Islands Humpback Whale National Marine Sanctuary and the Pacific Whale Foundation scanned the ocean — many with binoculars — to spot the breaching creatures.

The Kauaʻi Humane Society has no more space for pets — and is asking the public for help. The organization is currently housing 578 animals.

Some Hawaiʻi Island lawmakers want the state to come up with a humane plan to manage avian flu. The Hawaiʻi County Council has introduced a resolution urging the state Department of Agriculture to work with local poultry farmers to develop a plan. The resolution was heard in a council committee meeting on Tuesday.

Over a hundred sea turtles are found injured or dead near Hawaiʻi’s shorelines yearly. Skylar Denlinger studied turtle strandings as an undergraduate at the University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo. The Conversation talked to her about new research that looks at over 750 turtle strandings.

The National Wildlife Disease Program within the U.S. Department of Agriculture works to monitor diseases avian flu. The Conversation talked to Julianna Lenoch, the program coordinator, about the latest outbreak.

Michelle Barbieri with NOAA's Hawaiian Monk Seal Research Program talks about the risks avian flu poses to marine mammals; The executive editor of The Atlantic pens a piece on Hawaiian sovereignty

The detection of avian flu at the Hilo Wastewater Treatment Plant is another sign that the disease is spreading in Hawaiʻi. The Conversation talked to Jason Omick, a wildlife biologist with the Division of Forestry and Wildlife.

H5 avian influenza, or bird flu, was detected in a sample collected from the Hilo Wastewater Treatment Plant on Dec. 2.