Chiara Paoli

Chiara obtained her Honours Bsc in Marine Biology from the University of Aberdeen. She had the chance to volunteer in Galicia at the BDRI, where she helped with dolphins Photo-ID and boat surveys. She also spent one year in Tromsø as an Erasmus student. She was lucky enough to participate in an expedition in West Ice to study harp and hooded seals.
She enjoys science communication and has a passion for seals. Her honours project focused on the timing of moult in harbour and grey seals, in relation to sex and reproductive status.

One big tooth: Let’s talk about the narwhal’s tusk

/ / Whale Science / , ,

In the far far north, close to the sea ice, lives a mysterious creature often called the unicorn of the sea: the narwhal. This animal owes its name to its tusk. In old Norse, the term nafarr means “auger”, which is a type of drill that resembles the narwhal’s spiraled tusk. Narwhals are quite elusive […]

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Seals molt every year to keep their fur healthy

/ / Whale Science / , ,

When we think about molting, the most familiar example we can think of is the snake “shedding its skin” and replacing it with a new one. However, did you know that also mammals shed something? Mammals shed their fur. Pinnipeds, such as seals, otariids, and walruses, belong to this category of fur shedding mammals. Once

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