Gill Braulik

Important Marine Mammal Areas (IMMAs) and the CSG go hand-in-hand, using robust science to identify areas where research, monitoring, management and threat mitigation are key. As of 2025, 323 IMMAs have been identified to protect cetacean populations. Learn more at our news item: shorturl.at/1UO5w

Come visit us at booth 134 during the IUCN World Conservation Congress, October 9th-15th, 2025! The booth, themed 'Conservation Planning and Action for Cetaceans,' will feature the work of the CSG and partners to spread awareness and increase support for our collective efforts.
shorturl.at/CaV8B

Tired but happy after a fantastic few days discussing all things UK seal populations with the NERC Special Committee on Seals (SCOS). Delighted to host such a brilliant group of scientists and government advisors and policy makers at SMRU
@uniofstandrews.bsky.social @ukri.org

📣Announcing the launch of SealMAP: Seal Mapping & Analysis Platform. This SMRU app allows you to explore & download the latest grey & harbour seal distribution maps for Scotland. You can also get estimates of density for your area of interest. Happy mapping! arts.st-andrews.ac.uk/shiny/smru/s... 🦭🗺️

Recapping Day 2 at the 13th WIOMSA Scientific Symposium, the highlight of the day was a mini-session focused on Management of threats to marine megafauna in the WIO.

There are multiple threats such as fishing, [...]

#wiomsa2025 #day2 #oneoceanonefuture #hudonet #oceanscience #marineconservation

Other presentations in the session included a photo-id study of the enigmatic Omura’s whale (a beautiful creature) and study of the overlap of marine traffic and cetaceans in the SWIO, which highlighted hotspots where speed restrictions or rerouting could reduce impacts.
#wiomsa #day2 #omuraswhale

Had an amazing weekend at the '100 Years of RRS Discovery' celebrations in #Dundee

Thanks for the support from @seamammalresearch.bsky.social and @smruinstrument.bsky.social

#RRS100 #Discovery100

Quick Fact #3: Indian Ocean  humpback dolphins are quickly disappearing throughout their natural range.

They continue to face various threats that cause mortality, such as gillnets, chemical contaminants, ports and their associated activities and infrastructure.

#HuDoNET #LetsGetQuizzical

Quick Fact #4: Humpback dolphins can be found along the rim of the western Indian Ocean, the Arabian/Persian Gulf, the Red Sea and some islands.

For a more detailed breakdown, head over to hudonet.org/map

#HuDoNET #LetsGetQuizzical #HumpbackDolphinFacts

Post prepared by Articulating Science

Fantastic to see this lovely piece on my long-time marine mammal science colleague in Iran Nazanin. Well worth a listen!

HuDoNet Member Spotlight: The Real World

As we continue to highlight the amazing feats of our members, this week, we have an eye-opening piece about the career of Nazanin Mohsenian in Iran and her work on humpback dolphins.
#HuDoNET #WomenInStem #conservation #research

[...] of medicine or engineering, she pursued a unique passion, one that led her to the heart of the sea and the Persian Gulf. She spent long hours standing on boats, capturing rare and beautiful moments from the lives of dolphins alongside her friends.
#WomenInStem #conservation #research

Saving China's finless porpoise from the brink of extinction Scientists are racing to protect what some view as "the most important animal" in the Yangtze.

The incredible thing about rivers is their ability to regenerate and heal. Too late for Yangtze paddlefish & Yangtze River dolphin, but the Yangtze environment is now improving and the Yangtze finless porpoise numbers are starting to recover thanks to Prof Wang Ding and colleagues in China

We are the IMMA-Network, identifying & safeguarding Important Marine Mammal Areas for whales, dolphins, seals, sea lions, dugong, manatees, sea otters & the polar bear. Our group is the IUCN Marine Mammal Protected Areas Task Force. Please join us to make a place in the sea for the marine mammals.

Getting the Seal of Approval: Marine Animals as Ocean Scientists - Dundee Heritage Trust From weather forecasting to understanding climate change, Dr Lars Boehme from the Sea Mammal Research Unit will discuss how seals can help us.

🚀 Upcoming Talk! 🚀

Dr Lars Boehme from SMRU (@seamammalresearch.bsky.social) will share how SMRU Instrumentation tags and seals can help advance marine science. 🦭

📍 Discovery Point, Dundee.
📆 Sat 13 & Sun 14 September
🕧 12:30 pm both days

More info: www.dundeeheritagetrust.co.uk/event/how-se...

incredible new opportunity to interact and download data on seals accross the UK. amazing work by @seamammalresearch.bsky.social

Quick Fact #1: Indian Ocean humpback dolphins are listed as Endangered on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.

#HuDoNET #QuickFacts #IUCN #EndangeredSpecies #HumpbackDolphin #MarineMammalConservation

🐬 HuDoNET has just docked along the shoreline of the digital world .
We’re here to talk humpback dolphins, conservation, and community — and we want you on board.
Let’s save these coastal beauties together.
Find us on Facebook, Insta & LinkedIn. 🌊💙
#DolphinConservation #HuDoNet #MarineScience #SDG14

Almost all #cetaceans were reassessed for the IUCN Red List between 2018-2021. This information was published in 2023 to provide a global #RedList status overview. A key finding was that 26% of assessed species were threatened with extinction. Learn more on iucn-csg.org/red-list-sta....

In January 2025, the Gephyreus Project reached a significant milestone with the launch of its dedicated website, www.gephyreus.org/en, designed to advance the #conservation of Lahille's bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus gephyreus). Learn more at our latest news item: shorturl.at/h9bJa

Mexican whale researchers sound the alarm on an energy megaproject A planned gas terminal would routinely send huge tankers through a marine mammal oasis, scientists fear

In November 2024, the CSG worked with the IUCN SSC and WCPA chairs to draft and send a letter of concern that has helped to halt a potentially harmful LNG development in an Important Marine Mammal Area in the Gulf of California. Read more at: shorturl.at/VwvwF

#conservation #IUCN #cetaceans

Grey seal in the water

Ever wondered why seals don't drown? New groundbreaking research from @smruecophys.bsky.social led by @chrismcknight.bsky.social published in @science.org reveals that, unlike other mammals, seals can sense blood oxygen levels.
Paper: www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

SMRU researchers are appealing for the public to help us understand why UK Harbour seals are in steep decline news.st-andrews.ac.uk/archive/st-a...

The current status & #extinction risk for #whales, #dolphins & #porpoises. 1 in 4 are in immediate trouble. I wonder how that will look 4 years from now? @disciara.bsky.social @oceangill.bsky.social @defenders.org @whalesorg.bsky.social @imma-network.bsky.social

Red‐list status and extinction risk of the world's whales, dolphins, and porpoises To understand the scope and scale of the loss of biodiversity, tools are required that can be applied in a standardized manner to all species globally, spanning realms from land to the open ocean. We...

The proportion of cetaceans assessed as threatened has increased over time:
15% in 1991,
19% in 2008 and
26% in 2021.
conbio.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

Red List Status & Extinction Risk of the World’s Whales, Dolphins and Porpoises published in Conservation Biology showed that 1 in 4 cetacean species (26% of 92) were assessed as threatened (Critically Endangered, Endangered, Vulnerable)
conbio.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

Excited to have contributed to this study where we tracked 29 sperm whales in the North Atlantic! 🐳

Some traveled nearly 8000km and dove deeper then 1000m! 🛰️🌊 www.nature.com/articles/s41...

This is one of my favorite photos taken during this fieldwork of a 🐳 diving under the midnight sun 🌞

It’s 3 am and I’m at the airport waiting for my first flight from Punta Arenas to Santiago as I head home after a great field season tagging 13 elephant seals #AnillosSEALS - and they are off! 🦭✈️ (and so am I)

Don't be missing it!