Science Update: Inside of a Whale
Dr. Joy Reidenberg discusses the process of dissecting whales.
To understand the anatomical adaptations that amplify whale song underwater, comparative anatomist Joy S. Reidenberg, Professor in the Center for Anatomy and Functional Morphology at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai studies dead whales that washed ashore or were beached. Dissecting one of these whales literally means cutting your way into a hole in the whale, standing inside that hole covered head to toe in protective gear, and then dissecting out the organs that you need. And it often involves using heavy machinery. Learn more.