Giving a talk on Mirnong Southern Right #Whales @UWA Albany with @robharcourt.bsky.social and Kate Sprogis

www.tohoravoyages.ac.nz

04.09.2025 09:10 — 👍 34    🔁 4    💬 0    📌 0

Large-scale differences, mesoscale similarities: Neighbouring marine predator populations provide insights into Southern Ocean productivity Understanding how marine predators explore dynamic ocean environments is key for assessing the ecological significance of different habitats and for i…

southern right #whales in #NZ & #Australia are a conservation success story

& our new paper shows their offshore feeding grounds

if the #highseastreaty #bbnj is ratified we can protect that, plus sharks, seabirds and other marine predators:

www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

23.08.2025 07:24 — 👍 15    🔁 5    💬 1    📌 0

3D model of the reconstructed skeleton of Megabalaena. The posterior skull, partial mandible, left flipper, and much of the vertebral column and ribcage are preserved.

The skull and mandible of Megabalaena. The skull is quite wide, like modern right whales, and the lower jaw is very large, and must have been about three meters long. Steepness of the braincase indicates the rostrum would have been arched like modern rights and bowheads.

Bonus #whaleontology #fossilfriday: Introducing the new right whale Megabalaena sapporoensis from the upper Miocene of Japan! About 12-13 meters long - at the small end of extant right whales (Eubalaena). Described by my NZ office mate Yoshi Tanaka et al. palaeo-electronica.org/content/2025...

22.08.2025 21:20 — 👍 15    🔁 9    💬 0    📌 0

Innovative DNA assembly process produces high-quality reference genomes for endangered dolphins Creating genomes from DNA is hugely important for managing threatened species—understanding their past and how they have adapted to their environment helps conservationists protect them.

🧪 Great work on Hector’s & Māui genomes with @laninsky.bsky.social @emma-carroll.bsky.social

phys.org/news/2025-07...

12.07.2025 11:23 — 👍 17    🔁 7    💬 0    📌 0

Something is happening with the southern right whale population, scientists say The southern right whale species had the unfortunate habit of going close to shore, making them easy pickings for whalers. After the practice was banned, their population bounced back — but researcher...

New paper showing stalled recovery of Australian southern right whale from whaling using amazing long term dataset

#whale #science #climatechange

www.abc.net.au/news/2025-05...

02.05.2025 08:20 — 👍 7    🔁 3    💬 0    📌 0

Animal culture recognized as key factor in new conservation strategies Exeter scientists are among those who have discovered many animals learn and pass on behaviors through social learning or culture, which could have important implications for conservation.

phys.org/news/2025-05...
Unravelling some of the complexity of animal cultures & conservation with @lucymaplin.bsky.social,
@emma-carroll.bsky.social, Alison L Greggor, Andrew Whiten, @ellengarland.bsky.social & contributors to our theme issue
doi.org/10.1098/rstb... @royalsocietypublishing.org

02.05.2025 03:49 — 👍 28    🔁 10    💬 1    📌 1

Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences: Vol 380, No 1925

New theme issue in Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B @royalsocietypublishing.org:

Animal culture: conservation in a changing world

Edited by @pbrakes.bsky.social, @lucymaplin.bsky.social, @emma-carroll.bsky.social, Alison L Greggor, Andrew Whiten and @ellengarland.bsky.social

doi.org/10.1098/rstb...

01.05.2025 08:37 — 👍 18    🔁 12    💬 0    📌 0

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/...

21.03.2025 12:13 — 👍 53    🔁 23    💬 0    📌 4

Delighted to have contributed to the genomic insights into demographic and evolutionary histories chapter led by @andrewfoote.bsky.social with @mariels.bsky.social @emma-carroll.bsky.social Michael Fontaine and Yacine Benchehida

26.03.2025 17:13 — 👍 10    🔁 2    💬 0    📌 0

There's a reason whale song strikes a chord with humans Most of us are familiar with whale song, but new research suggests that the structure of the song - the individual parts that make up the whole - has similarities to human language.

RNZ let me warble on about our study on human language-like structure in humpback #whale song

@royalsocietynz.bsky.social @aucklanduni.bsky.social
@ellengarland.bsky.social

#animalculture

www.rnz.co.nz/news/nationa...

07.02.2025 09:09 — 👍 19    🔁 3    💬 0    📌 0

Whale song shows language-like statistical structure Humpback whale song is a culturally transmitted behavior. Human language, which is also culturally transmitted, has statistically coherent parts whose frequency distribution follows a power law. These...

SO very excited about new paper with @simonkirby.bsky.social and @ellengarland.bsky.social: We used infant-inspired tools to analyze eight years of humpback whale song, finding recurring parts with a Zipfian frequency distribution. www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

06.02.2025 21:13 — 👍 37    🔁 12    💬 0    📌 1

Schémas de paternité chez les baleines à bosse: compétition sexuelle et flux génique
royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rsos.241424
@francae.bsky.social @emma-carroll.bsky.social @ellengarland.bsky.social @lrendell.bsky.social @entropie-marinelab.bsky.social
@seamammalresearch.bsky.social
1/7

21.01.2025 23:05 — 👍 8    🔁 4    💬 2    📌 1

In @science.org

www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

Human language & whale song share statistical structure for ‘learnability’

#culture #whale

@ellengarland.bsky.social @jennyallen13.bsky.social @inbalarnon.bsky.social @simonkirby.bsky.social @clairenea.bsky.social @aucklanduni.bsky.social

06.02.2025 19:28 — 👍 25    🔁 3    💬 0    📌 0

We uncovered the same statistical structure that is a hallmark of human language in whale song, published today in Science. @inbalarnon.bsky.social @simonkirby.bsky.social @jennyallen13.bsky.social @clairenea.bsky.social @emma-carroll.bsky.social
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

06.02.2025 19:14 — 👍 269    🔁 101    💬 17    📌 20