With ‘terrifying’ trade in African hornbills, scientists call for increased protection For millions of years, the African landscape — the rainforests, woodlands, savannas and scrublands — has echoed with the booms and cackles of large, raucous, strange-looking birds: hornbills. When U.S...

A new study warns that the international trade in African #hornbills is “terrifying”, with thousands of birds or their parts exported, entirely unregulated. Scientists are calling for increased protection for these key seed dispersers.

So sad and so happy, PP… hugs and prayers…

The Trump administration spending ledger:

✅ $40 billion for Argentina
✅ $230 million for Trump's grievances against the Department of Justice
✅ $300 million for a golden ballroom
❌ $0 to save 42 million Americans from hunger
❌ $0 to stop your health care costs from going up 30%

Excited to share that we have just been awarded a NERC Pushing the Frontiers grant to work on between-group cooperation in the Shark Bay dolphins. We will soon advertise a 3 year post-doc to join the team - drop me an email if you might be interested! Pls share widely 🙏🏻

This is figure 5, which shows CIRBP overexpression extends lifespan and enhances DNA damage resistance in Drosophila.

The remarkably long lifespan of bowhead whales could be due to an increased ability to repair DNA mutations, according to research in Nature. go.nature.com/4hzvDN7 🌏 🧪

This whale lives for centuries: its secret could help extend human lifespan A cold-activated protein that mends damaged DNA could play a part in keeping the bowhead whale in tip-top shape.

Encased in a blanket of blubber that is nearly half a metre thick, the 80,000-kilogram bowhead whale does not, at first glance, seem a natural poster child for health and longevity

go.nature.com/3L6tmx7

Bowhead whale. Illustration by Uko Gorter/American Cetacean Society

How bowhead whales live for centuries—and how we might borrow some of their biology to extend our healthy lifespan. Gift link to my new column: nyti.ms/4hyD9ry

A critically endangered whale gets a 'trifecta of good news' The right whale population increased to 384, up from 376 the year prior, according to estimates released by The North Atlantic Right Whale Consortium.

www.aol.com/articles/cri...

Latest right whale population estimate is "positive news" for critically endangered species, researchers say The North Atlantic right whale population continues to grow slightly, but advocates say stronger protections are needed for the species' survival.

🌊 Only 384 North Atlantic right whales remain. Without immediate protection, they could disappear within our lifetime.

www.cbsnews.com/boston/news/...

Great piece by @fieseler.bsky.social

Given that the flattening of the #rightwhale decline coincides with offshore wind development's increase, those who use the cherry-pick-a-corelation-to-suit-my-story (aka Shellenberger's Dictum) would conclude that offshore wind is good for whales
/snark
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Happy happy birthday Tiana!!

Look at this incredible whale museum that opens in 2027 in northern Norway (north of the Lofoten Islands)

dortemandrup.dk/work/whale

Scientists are using corals from other countries to save Florida's dying reefs The past three summers have been the worst on record for Florida's coral reefs. To try to restore them, scientists are breeding corals that can handle heat better, using coral from other countries.

🪸 Florida’s coral reefs are in crisis after massive bleaching — but scientists are attempting to fight back using coral sourced from other countries to see if they can replant and restore what’s been lost. 🐠🌍

Read more 👉 https://n.pr/48kNhlu
@npr.org

Another great paper on baleen whales & calving
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A partial skull of a small baleen whale; it is about a meter long, light brown in color, with a long blowhole and a narrow, pyramidal braincase with high muscle attachment crests and a large eye socket. It's sitting on a white sheet with scale bars next to it.

#fossilfriday The beautiful skull of the dwarf baleen whale Herpetocetus bramblei (Cetotheriidae) I discovered and excavated as an undergrad from the 5-6 myo Purisima Formation near Santa Cruz, California. Now in @ucmpberkeley.bsky.social collections!

Jem Cresswell’s striking whale images – in pictures The photographer spent five years documenting humpback whales in the waters surrounding the Tonga Trench

Jem Cresswell’s striking whale images – in pictures www.theguardian.com/environment/... 🦑🌎🧪

Marine mammals are dying in record numbers along the California coast It's been a doozy of a year for marine mammals, who have been dying in record numbers along the California coast. Volunteer rescue crews are traumatized and fatigued, but refuse to give up.

Marine mammals are dying in record numbers along the California coast

Humpback calves need 38 times more energy after birth than in womb The energy required for newborn humpback calves to grow after birth is 38 times greater than what they needed inside the womb according to research from University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa Hawaiʻi Institut...

🐋

I can’t find a PhD on marine mammals. What now? Finding a PhD on marine mammals is no easy task, and not everyone succeeds. But your dreams of doing marine mammal research did not end...

With the PhD application process looming (at least in the UK), here’s an interesting article on why you may want to consider research outside of marine mammals (we know! shock horror!) and why this doesn’t have to be the end of a career in marine mammal science 🐬
whalescientists.com/i-cant-find-...

Twelve whales have been tangled in shark nets off Queensland’s coast so far this year. Here’s why In the worst case, entanglements could cause drowning, one expert says, but whales can also suffer long-term effects from the nets

Great piece in @australia.theguardian.com by @petrastock.bsky.social on all the entanglements in shark nets off Queensland this year. Sensible commentary from @robharcourt.bsky.social and @jessicabolin.bsky.social

The only way to stop entanglement, really, is to take the nets out: Rob Harcourt
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The paltry fossil record of narwhals (Monodon) and the evolutionary history of white whales Narwhals are certainly among the strangest and most immediately recognizable of all marine mammals, owing to their fantastic tusk. Narwhals ...

NEW blog post! The evolution and fossil record of narwhals and belugas - the white whales! Emphasis on the surprising fossil record of belugas and the evolution of the bizarre tusk in the weirdest modern cetacean. 🐬🧪🦖 #whaleontology Read it here: coastalpaleo.blogspot.com/2024/07/the-...

Big mother whales have more daughters than sons Archival whaling data reveal a sex bias in the offspring of long female whales.

A little bit of coverage of our paper in @nature.com!
www.nature.com/articles/d41...

Three bottlenose dolphins in the water.

🌐🧪🦤 Using DNA from skin samples, age (1–45 yr) and sex of Lahille’s bottlenose #dolphins in Brazil were estimated. With <600 left, this non-invasive #epigenetic tool aids survival predictions and #conservation 🧬🐬. bit.ly/esr_58_137

Big mother whales have more daughters than sons Archival whaling data reveal a sex bias in the offspring of long female whales.

The offspring of longer whale mothers are more likely to be female than those of shorter mums

go.nature.com/4nSRLUY

Longer body size means more female calves for baleen whale moms University of Washington researchers found, in historical whaling data, that longer baleen whale mothers were more likely to birth female calves than males. These results run contrary to a leading...

🐋📏Longer body size means more female calves for baleen whale moms, contradicting a popular evolutionary theory postulating that strong mammals benefit more from birthing males.

New research by UW QERM student Zoe Rand, @trevorabranch.bsky.social & Sarah Converse.

www.washington.edu/news/2025/09...

Longer body size means more female calves for baleen whale moms University of Washington researchers found, in historical whaling data, that longer baleen whale mothers were more likely to birth female calves than males. These results run contrary to a leading...

New! Longer body size means more female calves in baleen whales! By Zoe Rand, Sarah Converse and myself

Paper: royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/...

Press:
www.washington.edu/news/2025/09...

📸 Southern right whale: Fredrik Christiansen, Aarhus University 📸 North Atlantic right whale: Center for Coastal Studies, taken under NOAA permit #24359 👉 Link to paper: https://www.int-res.com/abstracts/meps/v768/meps14914

Our recent study in the #MarineEcologyProgressSeries
highlights how body size, condition, and human impacts shape the survival of right whales & why they are so vulnerable to prey limitation and disturbance 🐋

🔗 in thread

#Conservation #WhaleResearch #RightWhales #OceanHealth #MarineScience 🌐🌏🧪🌱

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

Obviously, and laughably wrong. Whales do not in fact fly into windmill blades. Entanglement in fishing gear, and getting hit by ships is the main cause of right whale deaths. And the other whale species are doing just fine in the Atlantic.

Gray whale population crashes amid climate-driven starvation Once considered a conservation success story, the Eastern Pacific gray whale is now vanishing — a stark warning of climate chaos in motion.

Meanwhile, in conservation reality and #whales -

A good article by Sue Arnold in Independent Australia on the population crash of Western Pacific gray whales.

"The latest estimate of 13,000 animals is less than half of the 27,000 population ten years ago."
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