An Interview with Dr. Beth Goodwin from ‘Earthsounds’ on Apple TV+

Humpback whales, with new recordings of the sounds of their communicating recorded by onboard microphones mounted on them, in “Earthsounds,” now streaming on Apple TV+.

Dr. Beth Goodwin is a Marine Biologist whose work was recently featured in the Apple TV+ series, Earthsounds. In fact, while shooting “Earthsounds,” Dr. Goodwin and team used a remotely operated vessel the size of a surfboard, with a built-in hydrophone, and discovered a new corridor for humpback whales moving between Hawaii and Mexico in waters thought to be unreachable to them, highlighting the importance of this remote area of the ocean. Further information on the waveglider’s discovery can be found HERE. And we here at NTG were fortunate enough to sit down with Beth to discuss that discovery and her involvement with the show.
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John Betancourt: How did you come to be involved in this particular series?
 
Dr. Beth Goodwin: I'm not really remembering how we first connected about Europa's missions in search for humpbacks whales in remote deep ocean basins, but in short order, we were like "family" making plans to film Europa's mission and results.
 
John Betancourt: Let’s talk a little bit about the discovery your team made filming, first what was it like to see it play out?
 
Dr. Beth Goodwin: It was an amazing experience having never really been a part of a professional film. The attention the crew had to detail and accuracy while still getting stunning background footage, close up sounds and details, capturing the true essence of the waveglider was quite remarkable. It took a superb level of skill for the time and patience the crew had to have to capture the scenes they did. I learned a lot about the process to get just one scene!!
 
John Betancourt: What does it mean to you to have that discovery documented in this series?
 
Dr. Beth Goodwin: It's a bit of legacy for Jupiter Research Foundation, Europa, and myself. It's a way for your results to be broadcast to a very large audience, both in the scientific community and as well as the general community interested in protecting our planet.
 
John Betancourt: What do you hope audiences take away from your discovery?
 
Dr. Beth Goodwin: That there is so much more we don't know about whales, our planet, and that we are all interconnected. That new technology will continue to open our eyes to the world we haven't seen.
 
John Betancourt: What do you hope this series does for science and environmental awareness?
 
Dr. Beth Goodwin: The series really did a fantastic job at recording, discovering, and presenting new discoveries to the public. I learned so much from the docuseries and have shared with fellow researchers who have said the same thing. It presented new material, showed how we are all connected and how creative scientists have to be to keep exploring and learning about our environment.
 
John Betancourt: What does it meant to you, to be part of this ambitious series?
 
Dr. Beth Goodwin: A real joy! Brilliant!
 
John Betancourt: What are you most proud of when it comes to your work on this series?
 
Dr. Beth Goodwin: Being a part of Jupiter Research Foundation, which developed the waveglider, and enabled us to develop Europa with sensors that could explore deep ocean basins like never before and make a very unexpected discovery about humpback whales, their migration, behavior, and song, thereby having an impact on future management. That Offspring and Apple were able to see just how impressive this work truly is and wanted to include it in a most brilliant docuseries.
 
This interview has been lightly edited and condensed for clarity.

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