The CODCAST

By: Shaye Ogurek
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  • Summary

  • This four episode podcast series explores the discovery of a sound. It is a faint but distinct sound produced by a fish, the Arctic cod. Only recently have scientists realized how important sound is in the lives of fishes. The Arctic cod was never thought of as a sound producing, or soniferous species, until researchers from the Juanes Lab put a recording device in an Arctic cod tank. The sound they heard was clearly biological, produced by the fish in the tank, and is now known as a 'grunt'. This one discovery launched a multi-year investigation into the sound producing ability of this species. Why do they produce sound? How do they produce sound? When do they produce sound? Is noise pollution interfering with their sound production in the wild? These are the questions this series will dive into, getting accounts from the investigating scientific team, bioacousticians, and fish sound experts. This series also explores noise pollution in the ocean more broadly, and how it is affecting not just fish, but all sound producing marine species.
    © 2025 Shaye Ogurek
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Biological Sciences Science
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Episodes
  • The Arctic Cod Grunt

    The Arctic Cod Grunt
    Apr 15 2025

    This episode follows marine biologist Amalis Riera through the process of discovering a faint but critical sound: the grunt of an Arctic cod. Riera explains how she discovered the sound producing abilities of Arctic cod and why this is important for conservation of the Arctic. This grunt has spurred a multi-year research project exploring everything about this fish and the sounds they make.

    The Codcast is produced by John William Last, in association with the Juanes Lab at the University of Victoria. The project is funded by the North Pacific Research Board (NPRB)

    Episode Highlights:
    - How we discovered the Arctic cod grunt
    - Why the identification of this sound important, and what we can learn from it
    - The importance of conserving Arctic cod to the Arctic ecosystem

    Researchers Interviewed:

    Amalis Riera:
    Amalis is a Biologist from Spain who came to Victoria (BC) to do an MSc. in killer whale acoustics, which led to the expansion of the Endangered Southern Residents critical habitat. She studied cetacean occurrence around Vancouver Island with DFO, and then returned to UVic to study fish sounds. She described for the first time the sounds of Arctic cod, sablefish, and walleye pollock, and worked with an amazing team to create the FishSounds.net website. Her latest research revolved around the Arctic marine ecosystem, and included the acoustic detection of marine mammals and Arctic gadids. She has been working in management of BC freshwater invasive fauna since 2023 with the BC Ministry of Water, Land and Resource Stewardship. Amalis Riera LinkedIn.

    Additional resources:

    Read Riera’s original research paper describing the sounds of Arctic cod in captivity

    Check out more fish sounds from the University of Rhode Island’s Sound in the Sea project

    The production of this podcast is an outreach initiative part of the core NPRB funded research project 2103: Passive Acoustic Monitoring of Arctic cod (Boreogadus saida): seasonality and demography of their sound production

    Learn more about John William Last, the producer of the Codcast

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    15 mins
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