The Dolphins and Whales of New York City (with Kristi Collom)

All Things Wild

Kristi Ashley Collom is a Senior Research Associate and Dolphin Catalog Manager for Gotham Whale and an acoustic analyst for Wildlife Conservation Society’s New York passive acoustic monitoring research. Prior to these positions, Kristi completed her graduate degree in Animal Behavior and Conservation with Dr. Diana Reiss at Hunter College. Kristi grew up in New York City, and began her wildlife career as a polar zookeeper at the Central Park Zoo, where she worked with seals, sea lions and penguins. Kristi traveled to Belize with Oceanic Society to study bottlenose dolphins, and ultimately ended up back in New York City working in marine conservation. In today’s conversation we discuss what is known about the dolphins and whales that are seen in New York City waters, with an emphasis on the bottlenose dolphin and humpback whale populations. We discuss the history of these animals in New York, what is known about their social lives and migration patterns, and many of the questions that continue to be a mystery in the lives of these animals.

Gotham Whale

Kristi Collom

Common Dolphins in the East River

The America Princess

Artificial Reefs