Emma Luck

At the Neptune Islands, 12 years of observational + acoustic data show white sharks respond to killer whale presence with short-term avoidance, not long-term disappearance.

Context matters. Killer whales aren’t always a driver of shark absence.

🔗 connectsci.au/wr/article/5...

Support Ptarmigan Squadron for ACLU and NARF This rebel design, representing the Alaska state bird: the willow ptarmigan, along with the Big Dipper and the North Star, was created to stand in solidarity with the people of Minnesota and with ever...

Beautiful design by Tsmishian (Alaska Native) artist to support those in MN via the ACLU NARF fund

www.customink.com/fundraising/...

What do we know about hybrid blue (Balaenoptera musculus) and fin (B. physalus) whales? A comprehensive review across ocean basins Hybrids between blue (Balaenoptera musculus) and fin (B. physalus) whales have been reported since commercial whaling in the late 1800s. Even while species descriptions were still at their infancy, wh...

Preprint: our systematic review of hybrids between blue whales and fin whales. There are 46 possible cases, of which 17 have been genetically confirmed (15 from the North Atlantic!)
doi.org/10.22541/au....

A male resplendent quetzal

A sloth sleeping in a tree

A pair of yellow-throated toucans in a tree

And some terrestrial Costa Rican wildlife!

Seeing a resplendent quetzal was AMAZING—they live only in cloud forests in parts of southern Mexico and Central America and can be difficult to spot! Certainly the most exquisite bird I’ve ever seen.

The sloths and toucans are incredible too! 🦥

A false killer whale breaching

A false killer whale doing an aerial scan

False killer whales surfacing in front of wooded hills

Three false killer whales surfacing together

Starting off 2026 with new cetaceans! I am in Costa Rica and saw my first false killer whales a few days ago off the coast of Uvita 🇨🇷

A silvery-gray newborn killer whale surfaces next to its mother

A good example can be found in CA216C1 “Frosty,” a Bigg’s killer whale with pale coloration (over time, this calf turned white with certain areas of black). Its patches were completely white at birth, no hint of orange anywhere…

Photo: Alisa Schulman-Janiger

www.facebook.com/share/1EpDTZ...

However, it is not universal…killer whales with pigmentation abnormalities (e.g., leucism/albinism, Chédiak–Higashi syndrome) do not seem to display this orange color as newborns.

Even though this coloration is seen across all killer whale subspecies and ecotypes, there hasn’t been much investigation into the cause(s).

An infographic depicting illustrations of a killer whale calf, from top to bottom, as a newborn, at 3-6 months, and at 1 year. The illustrations show changes in pigmentation and body condition over time.

A killer whale undergoes many changes in its first year of life!

They emerge after an 18-month gestation period, pencil-thin and completely toothless. Their tiny bodies are wrinkled from spending more than a year curled up in the uterus. Newborn calves are also distinct due to their peachy hue.

Booming sea otters and fading shellfish spark values clash in Alaska HOMER, Alaska — Roarke Brown, a charter boat captain since 1972 in this picturesque fishing village, remembers being able to tread out onto the Kachemak Bay mud flats at low tide to fill a 5-gallon…

Booming sea otters and fading shellfish spark values clash in Alaska

This is why we fund scientists to study things like oyster slobber even if you don’t think it sounds important

Wild map: all the places in the world where killer whales take fish from fishing activities, often right off hooks on lines

By @emmaluck22.bsky.social et al.

www.frontiersin.org/journals/mar...

Frontiers | A global review of operational fishery interactions with killer whales (Orcinus orca): dynamics, impacts, and management strategies Killer whales (Orcinus orca) are cosmopolitan, apex predators that sometimes interact with commercial fisheries. These fishery interactions can affect killer...

Frontiers | A global review of operational fishery interactions with killer whales (Orcinus orca): dynamics, impacts, and management strategies

Frontiers | A global review of operational fishery interactions with killer whales (Orcinus orca): dynamics, impacts, and management strategies Killer whales (Orcinus orca) are cosmopolitan, apex predators that sometimes interact with commercial fisheries. These fishery interactions can affect killer...

There’s a lot more in our paper and I hope you will give it a read! It is open-access

www.frontiersin.org/journals/mar...

Frontiers | A global review of operational fishery interactions with killer whales (Orcinus orca): dynamics, impacts, and management strategies Killer whales (Orcinus orca) are cosmopolitan, apex predators that sometimes interact with commercial fisheries. These fishery interactions can affect killer...

We found some other interesting things, such as the fact that killer whales depredate at least 30 species of fish from commercial fisheries!

www.frontiersin.org/journals/mar...

Frontiers | A global review of operational fishery interactions with killer whales (Orcinus orca): dynamics, impacts, and management strategies Killer whales (Orcinus orca) are cosmopolitan, apex predators that sometimes interact with commercial fisheries. These fishery interactions can affect killer...

There is no one-size-fits-all solution for addressing fishery interactions with killer whales; however, we can enhance our approach by incorporating more concepts from the social sciences.

www.frontiersin.org/journals/mar...

Frontiers | A global review of operational fishery interactions with killer whales (Orcinus orca): dynamics, impacts, and management strategies Killer whales (Orcinus orca) are cosmopolitan, apex predators that sometimes interact with commercial fisheries. These fishery interactions can affect killer...

Both interaction types can result in injury or death for killer whales, but they differ in their economic impacts on fisheries and the risk of fisher retaliation.

www.frontiersin.org/journals/mar...

Frontiers | A global review of operational fishery interactions with killer whales (Orcinus orca): dynamics, impacts, and management strategies Killer whales (Orcinus orca) are cosmopolitan, apex predators that sometimes interact with commercial fisheries. These fishery interactions can affect killer...

Killer whale interactions with fisheries are widespread; they occur in all oceans and involve various gear types (but especially longlines).

www.frontiersin.org/journals/mar...

Frontiers | A global review of operational fishery interactions with killer whales (Orcinus orca): dynamics, impacts, and management strategies Killer whales (Orcinus orca) are cosmopolitan, apex predators that sometimes interact with commercial fisheries. These fishery interactions can affect killer...

We found that killer whales interactions could be broadly split into two main types: depredation (removal of catch or bait directly from gear) and commensalism (feeding on spilled catch/bycatch/discards/other animals attracted to fishing activities)

www.frontiersin.org/journals/mar...

Frontiers | A global review of operational fishery interactions with killer whales (Orcinus orca): dynamics, impacts, and management strategies Killer whales (Orcinus orca) are cosmopolitan, apex predators that sometimes interact with commercial fisheries. These fishery interactions can affect killer...

We reviewed 69 papers from 1963-2024 to get a better understanding of where and how killer whales interact with commercial fisheries around the world, as well as identify knowledge gaps and policy/management options.

www.frontiersin.org/journals/mar...

I am pleased to share our new review paper detailing killer whale interactions with commercial fisheries in Frontiers in Marine Science!

www.frontiersin.org/journals/mar...

Accepted! I can’t wait to share more soon! 🤩

Alaska Sea Grant: Alaska Sea Grant State Fellows announced for 2025 A new class of 11 Alaska Sea Grant State Fellows is preparing to start work around the state, including at the Alaska Fisheries Development Foundation, Alaska Department of Fish and Game, Alaska Ma…

Some exciting news to share—I recently started a new position as an Alaska Sea Grant State Fellow! For the next year, I’ll be working with the Alaska Mariculture Alliance on policy and other topics related to Alaska’s budding mariculture industry 🌊 🦪🌱

alaskaseagrant.org/2025/08/alas...

‘The discovery of the decade’: Researchers have found the culprit behind sea star wasting disease An international research effort, including scientists from the University of Washington, has finally revealed the cause of sea star wasting disease: a strain of the bacterium Vibrio pectenicida.

The culprit of the mass seastar deaths in the Pacific was not a virus as thought, but a Vibrio bacteria strain
www.washington.edu/news/2025/08...

A torbie cat looks at a laptop screen with a photo of a killer whale as the desktop image

A torbie cat stares very intently with her down, gazing at a photo of a killer whale in a book

Every now and then I catch my cat Sushi staring at photos of killer whales with remarkable intensity…

They do say pets take after their owners!

Opinion: What does Rep. Nick Begich have against Alaska marine mammals? Alaska’s congressman has proposed a truly heartless piece of legislation that would gut the remarkably successful Marine Mammal Protection Act.

Alaska's Rep. Nick Begich has proposed text that would drastically weaken the incredible Marine Mammal Protection Act. Cooper Freeman, the Center's Alaska director, explains why these changes would be terrible for Alaskans and the state's wildlife. 👇

www.adn.com/opinions/202...

iOS 26 is getting new emojis, but don’t expect to see them right away It'll be a couple of updates before we see Orca and Bigfoot get the spotlight.

An orca emoji is FINALLY on its way! 🎉

mashable.com/article/new-...

Humpback whales bubblenet feeding with gulls circling overhead

A killer whale calf breaching in front of forested mountains and hills

Last weekend was a delight—I observed my first bubble net feeding humpback whales and got to see the AD8s and AJs! (Resident pods of killer whales)

Their saddle patches (the gray area behind the fin) vary from one individual to the next (within and among populations) so I just tried to include a variety for visual purposes :)

If anybody has recommendations for public policy/interdisciplinary PhD programs in Australia or New Zealand that accept international students, I am all ears 👀