Off Track - Separate stories podcast

Next to nothing was known about sperm whales in the Southern Ocean. That is, until the Australian Antarctic Division started listening to their clicks.

From the murky waters of the Murray River emerges a rare monster with an underbelly of red berries and claws of ghostly white. This program is selected from the rich Off Track archives for your listening pleasure.

Two PhD-qualified fisheries scientists have jumped ship to open a eco-friendly fish and chip shop, aiming to put their philosophy of sustainable ocean use into practise.

Off Track listeners from all over the globe have been recording the sounds of nature on their phones. Listen as a panel of experts takes us through the latest batch of Earworms

Do individual birds have consistent, unique personalities? Zoologist Dr Michelle Hall is trying to find out. This program has been selected from the Off Track archives for you listening pleasure.

Distinguished Professor Jamie Kirkpatrick has been crawling across lawns for more than 70 years, it's just that this one is on the top of a mountain and is full of plants from the cretaceous.

Can thousands of years of Australian agricultural practices be translated into dance? This week, Bangarra Dance Theatre takes on Bruce Pascoe's revision of pre-colonial Australian resource management as it premiers Dark Emu.

What does your world sound like? Listeners have sent recordings to the Off Track inbox, and now we all get to listen. Close your eyes and take in the earworms.

If you like nature and have some kids in your life, here is a short taste of a new ABC podcast called ABC Classic Kids.

PODCAST BONUS. Two women, armed with a pencil and a violin, take on the history of birdsong.

Song began in Australia when the first songbird sang its opening note. 30 million years later two classically trained musicians use their instruments to trace the birds' story in song.

When nature documentaries show elephants at a waterhole, Peter Langdon goes crook at the telly. He wants them to zoom in on the bird sitting in the tree in background. [This repeat program is carefully selected from the Off Track archive for your listening pleasure]

Scientists strap tiny bum-bags onto geckos in the middle of the night on an outback cattle station. They are tracking how cattle grazing impacts tiny lizards. PLUS BONUS #FieldWorkFail

From a tiny sound recorder in a Victorian sheep paddock comes a startling array of sounds - some identifiable and some complete mysteries. Relax and let this earworm do its work.

The wailing calls of the red-tailed black cockatoos that live in Australia's South East are being used to help change the future for the failing species.

For International Dawn Chorus Day, here's the sounds of an Australian autumn morning, crisp and bright.

Listen to birds and possums communicating about land grabs, politics and sex. To celebrate International Dawn Chorus Day, this program about a forest chorus is from the Off Track archive.

Despite all the noise of planes coming and going, the echidnas at Hobart airport are digging in to hibernate.

If a koala bellows in a forest and a scientist isn’t there to record it, does the koala exist at all?

Robert Adlard says that parasites are intimate aliens, and that our dislike for them stems from their ability to surprise us with their closeness. They are intimate aliens.