S2E8: Shoalmates with Jonathan Balcombe
Claudia talks to Jonathan Balcombe about fishes and their varied and incredible experiences. Using the concept of ‘shoalmates’ as a launch pad, they discuss some of the intra- and inter-species relations fishes engage in from work to cuddle and play.
Jonathan Balcombe is a biologist with a PhD in ethology, the study of animal behavior. His books include Pleasurable Kingdom, Second Nature, The Exultant Ark, and What a Fish Knows—a New York Times best-seller now available in fifteen languages. His next book for grown-ups, Super Fly, will be published May 2021 by Penguin Books. A children’s story book about a boy and a fish is also scheduled for publication in 2021. He has taught courses in animal behavior and sentience for the Viridis Graduate Institute, and Humane Society University. He lives in Belleville, Ontario where in his spare time he enjoys biking, baking, birding, Bach, and trying to understand the neighborhood squirrels. Learn more about Jonathan and his work here.
Mentioned:
A foray into the worlds of animals and humans by Jakob von Uexküll;
Sterling murmuration by canoeists; The Ocean Sunfishes by Tierney Thys et al;
The Dark Hobby by Paradise Filmworks
"Clients are not passive participants. When it is their turn, they approach the cleaning station and hover in place, spreading their fins to help cleaners reach all their nooks and crannies. Some open their mouths and gill covers to allow the usually much smaller cleaners to enter and exit. A cleaner will sometimes butt her snout against fins and gills covers to signal the client to spread them for inspection. Cleaners also vibrate their ventral fins so that they tap against the host's body in a signal that says 'please keep this part of your body still for inspection'" (Jonathan Balcombe, What a Fish Knows).
Thank you to Animals in Philosophy, Politics, Law and Ethics (A.P.P.L.E) for sponsoring this podcast, Gordon Clarke (Instagram: @_con_sol_) for the bed music, and Jeremy John for the logo.