Science Friday spoke with Professor of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Megan Leftwich regarding her exciting research with sea lions in the segment, "Swimming Sea Lions Teach Engineers About Fluid Dynamics." The interview covers her work studying these exceptional swimmers as well as other research into fluids and biomechanics, including the fluid mechanics of human birth.
Here's a snippet of the segment: "But sea lions actually pull themselves through the water with their arms, so their front flippers, which are very analogous to the human arm in terms of bone structure. They even have five little fingers in there. They take them, and they pull themselves through the water with this big clapping motion. And it’s really very different than anything we see in the high-performance swimming regime," said Leftwich.
Listen to the full segment on Science Friday.