Sidecar Sync
Sidecar Sync
Amith Nagarajan and Mallory Mejias
Dolphins & DeepMind: Cracking the Code of Animal Language with Dr. Denise Herzing | 107
40 minutes Posted Nov 6, 2025 at 11:00 am.
Introduction to Dr. Denise Herzing
The Founding of the Wild Dolphin Project
Tech in 1985 vs. Now: A Researcher’s Evolution
TIME AI 100 and the Power of Recognition
What We Misunderstand About Dolphins
Building the First LLM for Dolphins
Language vs. Sound: What Counts as Communication?
Structuring Messy Data for AI Research
That First “Wow” Moment with DolphinGemma
The CHAT Interface: Mutual Signals with Dolphins
AI’s Environmental Impact: Risks, Reality & Optimism
Looking Ahead: Scaling Dolphin Gemma Across the World
Closing Thoughts: On To digitalNow!
0:00
40:30
Download MP3
Show notes
Send us Fan Mail In this episode of Sidecar Sync, Mallory Mejias is joined by marine biologist and behavioral researcher Dr. Denise Herzing for a one-of-a-kind conversation about dolphins, data, and deep learning. Dr. Herzing shares insights from her 40-year study of Atlantic spotted dolphins and how that lifetime of underwater research is now powering DolphinGemma—an open-source large language model trained on dolphin vocalizations. The two discuss what it means to label meaning in animal co...