On the Air: February 9, 2025

Depending on which side of the country you live on, you probably either hate or love sea urchins. Off the coast of California, there are too many of the spiny creatures. They’re destroying kelp beds, harming the entire ecosystem.

But off the coast of Florida—and throughout the Caribbean Sea—there aren’t enough urchins. And without them, coral reefs are dying off.

In Print: February 1, 2025

If you thought dating other humans was complicated, wait until you hear about the complex courtship behaviors of wild leopard seals. These apex predators are the second largest Antarctic seal species after southern elephant seals. At 8 to 11 feet long and weighing up to 1,300 pounds, their only natural predators are orcas. These ice-loving pinnipeds are notoriously difficult to study, but a team of researchers led by a Baylor University biologist managed to observe a two-hour courtship interaction between a male and female in Laguna San Rafael, Chile.