Aquaria and Zoos as Labs: Recording Vocalizations of Marine Mammals Using Audacity

 

Tested Studies in Laboratory Teaching, 2015, Volume 36

Kathleen Nolan, Kristy Biolsi, Francine Foo, Andrew Salzillo, Afua Azaah, & Allen Burdowski

Abstract

Students and professors at St. Francis College visited aquaria and zoos in the New York City region with a focus of learning more about marine mammals. Behavior of some of the marine mammals (sea lions, seals and a fur seal) was recorded in a journal, and vocalizations were recorded using Audacity, a free down-loadable software. Correlations of vocalizations and behavior were then noted. The participants in these mini "field trips" were able to help develop useful biology laboratory curricula for ecology, marine biology, and marine mammal cognition courses and to collect data for research projects.

Keywords:  Zoo, marine mammals, aquaria

University of Oregon (2014)