Dolphins recognize their friends by tasting each other's pee
Everyone & Dolphins Valery Hache/Getty Images hide caption
Everyone & Dolphins
Valery Hache/Getty ImagesThis is an excerpt from the latest episode of Everyone & Their Mom, a new show from Wait Wait ... Don't Tell Me! Follow us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or listen on NPR One, and you can find us on Instagram.
Just keep swimming
This week, Wait Wait panelist and comedian Maeve Higgins joins host Emma Choi to discuss the latest in aquatic gossip: Recent studies suggest that dolphins are able to tell each other apart by swimming through and tasting each other's urine. Yuck! But also, cute maybe?
Let it pee
We can't get past the pee part, so we had to ask about someone who actually knows what's going on. Cue Dr. Jason Bruck, an assistant professor at Stephen F. Austin State University who led the gross (but interesting!) study.
The study focused on the unique whistles that dolphins use to find each other when they are separated from their groups, like how people call each other by name. He and his team discovered they not only recognize each other through these whistles, but also through tasting each other's excretions, kind of like how your dog will sniff other dog's pee on a walk, but a little grosser.
Dr. Bruck shares how he understands certain dolphin whistles and speaks a little dolphin of his own.
Gettin' witchy with it
You know who else loved gross things? People in the olden times! Emma talked to her college professor Dr. Arianne Sedef Urus, who taught a class on witchcraft and magic, a subject that utilizes bodily fluids pretty regularly. She shares stories about witch bottles and how people may have diagnosed diabetes in centuries past. Then, she plays a game where she reveals how magical our favorite mystical things REALLY are.
Listen to the full episode to hear more and play along with our quizzes. Follow us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or listen on NPR One, and you can find us on Instagram.