Hakai Magazine Audio Edition

by Erich Hoyt • Forty years ago, the world’s whale researchers met in Indiana. The now legendary, but nearly forgotten, meeting changed the way scientists and the public see whales—and it all started with a few photographs.

by Heather Pringle and Amorina Kingdon • The sea suffers for fashion. Kombucha leather and leased jeans to the rescue.

by Sarah Gilman • Giving Mexico’s rarest porpoise, the vaquita, a fighting chance in the face of poverty, corruption, and greed.

by Tyee Bridge • Our insatiable need for concrete has led to destructive mining around the world. How can we do it better?

by Jennifer S. Holland Baleen whales carry their medical records in their mouths.

by Evan Lubofsky A maverick scientist claims she has done what scores of researchers before her failed to do: solve the century-old mystery of why a legendary Civil War submarine sank.

by Ann Finkbeiner Mega-quakes have periodically rocked North America’s Pacific Northwest. Indigenous people told terrifying stories about the devastation but refused to leave.

by Elin Kelsey Why humpback whales rescue seals and why volunteering for beach cleanups improves your health.

by Eloise Gibson Braving an Antarctic winter to catch Chilean sea bass in the act.

by Zach Zorich Along southern Florida’s coast, the ancient Calusa constructed an entire island of shell and defied the Spanish Conquest.

by Ann Finkbeiner Fleeing the Irish Famine, some immigrants brought their islands with them to North America.

by Sasha Chapman All of them—which makes conservation difficult when your neighbors keep poaching.

by Bruce Grierson Our oceans contain enough energy to power the planet—if we could just get our hands on it.

by Heather Pringle Did lowly shellfish change the world?

by Ferris Jabr The moon influences life in a surprising and subtle way: with its light.

by Heather Pringle Tireless in her quest, ethnobotanist Nancy Turner works with indigenous elders to preserve plant knowledge dating back to the First People in the New World.

by Emily Urquhart Isolated in the North Atlantic, the people of Newfoundland and Labrador developed a subtle and beautiful lexicon to describe their environment.

by Amorina Kingdon and Patrick Daley How shellfish farmers are leaning on genes to unmask the secrets of mussels, scallops, and oysters.

by Theodora Sutcliffe Indonesia’s reefs have been poisoned or blasted to smithereens by the very people who depend on them the most. Now islanders are working to restore the coral, and recover the resources they’ve lost, piece by piece.

by Shanna Baker In the Northern Territory of Australia, policymakers and biologists managed the impossible—making the benefits of living with a booming population of deadly crocodiles outweigh the risks. But when two apex predators must share coastal resources, there’s bound to be conflict.