In today's episode, we're talking about species that thrive... and some that don't. First, an American lobster discovered in European waters raises some important questions: is it invasive or just non-native? Then the story of two birds: one universally reviled and the other an avian celebrity.
An American Lobster in Stockholm
There are different kinds of lobster… you know this, right? You’ve seen Blue Planet.
There are those colorful, tropical, spiny lobsters that don’t have claws. There are scampi, which are actually technically tiny lobsters. There are slipper lobsters that look like a shoe and furry lobsters that look… well… furry.
The red one you find at the grocery store, or in traps off the coast of Maine - they’re American Lobsters. But there’s also a European lobster. They look almost identical, except the Europeans are maybe a little smaller, have thicker shells, and a slightly different color.
But when some American lobsters were discovered in Norwegian waters, it kicked off an investigation into whether Scandinavia was in the midst of a foreign lobster invasion.
Listen to An American Lobster in Stockholm
Vultures Inherit the Earth
This is a tale of two birds. One—the turkey vulture—is almost universally reviled but they’re also pretty amazing, in their way.
The other—the Bicknell’s Thrush—is a local celebrity: the target of research dollars, and enthusiastic bird-watchers… but it’s in a tight spot, literally and figuratively.
And the story of these two birds actually tells us a story about our world as a whole. It tells us where we’re headed. Toward the world of songbirds and high alpine gardens, or toward one where vultures inherit the earth.
Listen to: Vultures Inherit the Earth
