Welcome to Wild Resonance, a podcast exploring bioacoustics and the sounds of the natural world.

In this fifth episode, host Stephen Griesgraber talks with Dr. Eduardo Mercado III about his book "Why Whales Sing." Published in November 2025, the book challenges the current understanding of whale songs. Broadly believed to be an aural "peacock tail" and courtship strategy, Eduardo proposes that whale song is a form of echolocation humpbacks use as a sonar system to search for one another.

Dr. Mercado is a Professor of Psychology at SUNY Buffalo, where he has also served as the Director of the Center for Cognitive Science. Mercado strives to progress cognitive theory by quantifying behavior in novel ways, collecting evidence that directly challenges current assumptions about how minds think. While he has published on the singing behavior of whales, his research has also focused on the cognitive ability of dolphins and children with ASD.

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Dr. Mercado's website : https://www.eduardomercado.com/

Buy his book!
JHU Press - https://www.press.jhu.edu/books/title/53709/why-whales-sing
Amazon - https://www.amazon.com/Why-Whales-Sing-Eduardo-Mercado/dp/1421452898
Barnes and Noble - https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/why-whales-sing-eduardo-mercado-iii/1146939309?ean=9781421452890
Bookshop.org - https://bookshop.org/p/books/why-whales-sing-eduardo-mercado/aa6bb7b038ceb610?ean=9781421452890

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