New paper! Lead author @noemiefreymond.bsky.social used a hybrid approach combining tag data & physical modelling to show that the timing & hydrodynamic effects of bubble releases by sperm whales during drift dives indicate deliberate & active buoyancy regulation, even during sleep.

Journal of Experimental Biology@jexpbiol.bsky.social · last wk.

Sperm whales rest in an unusual position, sleeping vertically underwater. In their recent paper, Freymond & co show that the whales blow bubbles in their sleep to keep themselves from shooting to the surface, letting them sleep soundly beneath the waves doi.org/10.1242/jeb....

ASA is supporting a Marine Bioacoustics Summer Course for high school juniors & seniors in San Diego County! Scripps Institution of Oceanography July 13–17, 2026 Hands-on learning about marine mammals, sound & conservation Apply: https://smmiles.org/upcoming-programs Deadline: April 30, 2026

New publication! 'Headbutting Behavior Between Sperm Whales Documented Using Unoccupied Aerial Vehicles' Out in @marinemammalogy.bsky.social in collaboration with @lrendell.bsky.social, @azwhlab.bsky.social and @asociaciontursiops.bsky.social. doi.org/10.1111/mms....

Headbutting Behavior Between Sperm Whales Documented Using Unoccupied Aerial Vehicles

Click on the article title to read more.

doi.org

New publication! @marinemammalogy.bsky.social doi.org/10.1111/mms....

Predicting Individual Body Length, Volume, and Mass From Dominant Stroke Cycle Frequency in Sperm Whales: Empirical Cross‐Validation and Prediction Functions

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doi.org

Very happy to see our opinion article out in @cp-trendsecolevo.bsky.social today. 🥳 We ask whether sexual signals can influence the evolutionary trajectory of naturally selected adaptations, such as protective colouration, for better or for worse 🧐 1/n doi.org/10.1016/j.tr...

New paper out today in @ecol-evol.bsky.social doi.org/10.1002/ece3.... The total size of the body’s fat stores is a crucial factor in understanding animal health, life history and conservation biology, but no established method exists to measure it in large marine animals without capturing them.

Happy to share that our paper ‘a formal theory of group-level adaptation for obligate eusociality’ (with @andygardner.bsky.social) is now out in @jevbio.bsky.social advances. doi.org/10.1093/jeb/... #OpenAccess #Eusociality #GroupAdaptation #FormalDarwinism

Impressive work by Cam Nemeth (not on BlueSky). We hypothesized that the significant lift force produced by the humpback whale’s large pectoral flippers result in them being the only species executing tight, high-speed, sustained turns characteristic of bubble-net feeding doi.org/10.1242/jeb....

The key to bubble-net feeding: how humpback whale morphology functionally differs from other baleen whales

Summary: Humpback whale turning performance during solitary bubble-net feeding exceeds the observed capabilities of other baleen whales.

doi.org

Journal of Experimental Biology@jexpbiol.bsky.social · 12mo ago

You can find the first JEB additional language abstract by Cameron Nemeth and colleagues in #Hawaiian accompanying their paper, The key to bubble-net feeding: how humpback whale morphology functionally differs from other baleen whales at journals.biologists.com/jeb/article/...

It's official! I'm now the newest postgraduate research fellow at the marine mammal research program at the University of Hawaii at Mānoa. Bio and blog post with more details here: www.mmrphawaii.org/alec-burslem www.mmrphawaii.org/post/shippin...

Shippin' out from Scotland

Written by MMRP PostDoc Alec BurslemFor a while it looked like I was going to be a chef. It was 2009, and after a couple of disappointing A-level results in biology and chemistry had shaken my confide...

mmrphawaii.org

Now all typeset and pretty! A little summary:

Kalyani Twyman@kztwyman.bsky.social · last yr.

Very excited to share that our paper, ‘The clonality window: relatedness and the group covariance effect in the evolution of division of labour’, is out now in @journal-evo.bsky.social advances. With @andygardner.bsky.social doi.org/10.1093/evol... #OpenAccess #Evolution #Multicellularity

Alec Burslem @alecburslem.bsky.social presented his new non invasive method for measuring body composition in sperm whales - low impact and generalisable 👏👏👏 @seamammalresearch.bsky.social #ECSconference2025 🐋🦑🧪

Had a great time this week presenting at the Scottish oceans institute seminar series, giving an overview of my PhD work on sperm whale behavior and physiology. Recording here: universityofstandrews907-my.sharepoint.com/:v:/g/person... @seamammalresearch.bsky.social @uniofstandrews.bsky.social

A wee bit of r&r with @kztwyman.bsky.social in the high Atlas

That's me officially all done on my PhD! I'm now full time on the 3S4 project, investigating the drivers of fine scale baseline behavior and sonar response of killer whales in the Norwegian Arctic. Stay tuned!

📢 Exciting #PhD alert! Study Atlantic bluefin #tuna in Southwest UK waters using #drones, remote sensing, #ocean profiling & eDNA while working with #anglers🐟 www.plymouth.ac.uk/study/resear... Supervised by @lilianlieber.bsky.social @marinemicrobes.bsky.social @peterimiller.bsky.social & me!

JOB VACANCIES! We're seeking 3 Conservation Scientists to join our friendly team of #seabirders at the RSPB. We're an inclusive team where everyone is welcome. DEADLINE: Friday 3rd January. #conservationjobs #ornithology #seabirds #science Details: app.vacancy-filler.co.uk/salescrm/Car...

Hi everyone! Good to see lots of familiar faces here. For everyone else: Research profile: research-portal.st-andrews.ac.uk/en/persons/a... PhD abstract: doi.org/10.17630/sta... If that seems like your kind of thing, consider giving me a follow