Had a blast organising this year’s marine mammal conference in our very own Plymouth! @plymbiomarsci.bsky.social

UKIRSC Marine Mammals@ukirsc.bsky.social · 8mo ago

And shoutout to our UKIRSC committee for organising this year’s conference #UKIRSC26 🙌 @beth-harvey.bsky.social @oshuwilson.bsky.social @miahurst.bsky.social @eva-mariab.bsky.social @isha-just-isha.bsky.social @rebeccahdudley.bsky.social @crday-reader.bsky.social @ellenlhayward.bsky.social

Inspiring keynote from Dr Clare Embling on her career journey so far 🐬🐳 From porpoises to sperm whales, PhD & postdoc tips, insights into predator–prey interactions and impacts of noise. A brilliant, honest look at building a career in marine mammal science. #UKIRSC26 @plymbiomarsci.bsky.social

A gorgeous morning to kick off #UKIRSC26 and what a view from the Plymouth University Marine Station! 🐬

Wonderful infographic on my paper showing that "flight" species of baleen whales generally call too deeply and quietly to be heard by hunting killer whales, unlike the "fight" club. By A Haddock & C.A. Gallagher, SMM Education Committee Paper here: doi.org/10.1111/mms....

PhD position - Changing Ecological Role of Coral Reef Marine Protected Areas. One of the new @exageo-dla.bsky.social advertised projects: www.exageo.org/phd-student-... - deadline for applications 9th January. International applications welcome. Come and join us @lec-reefs.bsky.social

Reminder that registration closes this week! Follow the link in the thread to sign up 🧵

UKIRSC Marine Mammals@ukirsc.bsky.social · 11mo ago

🐬 Registration is now OPEN for the UKIRSC 2026 Marine Mammal Conference hosted @plymuni.bsky.social 🎓A FREE event bringing together students from across the UK & Ireland to share research, connect, and learn from leading marine mammal scientists. 👇Link below #UKIRSC2026 #MarineMammals

Some EXCELLENT leaping by spinner dolphins in an atoll lagoon 🐬 (Super scientific video commentary includes ‘there’s loads of them!’ and ‘woo-hoo!’) #indianocean #science

Farage: epic grifter

Big news from the Indian Ocean! First sighting of the incredibly rare Omura’s whale, confirming previous acoustic recordings in the Chagos Archipelago. Project to determine cetacean 🐋 diversity by @iomarinescience.bsky.social @zslofficial.bsky.social @plymbiomarsci.bsky.social Photos by me 🧪 🌍 🧵1/5

Another landmark moment in the ongoing fight to end this senseless slaughter.

🐬 Registration is now OPEN for the UKIRSC 2026 Marine Mammal Conference hosted @plymuni.bsky.social 🎓A FREE event bringing together students from across the UK & Ireland to share research, connect, and learn from leading marine mammal scientists. 👇Link below #UKIRSC2026 #MarineMammals

Counting turtle tracks 🐢 👣 #fieldwork #addocean

Jane Goodall’s legacy: three ways she changed science

Jane Goodall’s legacy: three ways she changed science

The primatologist challenged what it meant to be a scientist.

nature.com

Noddies! Can someone help me out though - brown or lesser?? & any tips for differentiating 🙏 #birds #indianocean

Beth Harvey 🐬🌱@beth-harvey.bsky.social · 12mo ago

Good morning from the (slightly stormy) Indian Ocean where I’m spending the next two months as marine mammal observer. Will be sharing pics of birds, cetaceans & other sea life as I go! 🐬 🪸 🧪 🌍

I get that the news cycle is packed right now, but I just heard from a colleague at the Smithsonian that this is fully a GIANT SQUID BEING EATEN BY A SPERM WHALE and it’s possibly the first ever confirmed video according to a friend at NOAA 10 YEAR OLD ME IS LOSING HER MIND (a thread 🧵)

Very cool new #seabird paper showing no difference in breeding success between healthy and black-eyed gannets, but a worrying overall decline in productivity following the #avianflu outbreak. 🦠🐣 Read the paper here 👉 onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/... #seabirds #ornithology

Obsessed with red-footed boobies, which have the most colourful bills and sometimes perch on the front of the boat to keep us company at sea. They are unafraid of humans so giving them their name (original meaning = stupid, poor things)

Beth Harvey 🐬🌱@beth-harvey.bsky.social · 12mo ago

Good morning from the (slightly stormy) Indian Ocean where I’m spending the next two months as marine mammal observer. Will be sharing pics of birds, cetaceans & other sea life as I go! 🐬 🪸 🧪 🌍

Good morning from the (slightly stormy) Indian Ocean where I’m spending the next two months as marine mammal observer. Will be sharing pics of birds, cetaceans & other sea life as I go! 🐬 🪸 🧪 🌍

yo #cetacean biologists, #whale scientists, wildlife/remote sensing nerds -- what's the track record of attempts to use satellite imagery to spot whales? eg www.spacewhales.de. Null results don't get shared; I'm trying to understand how much of a fool's errand this is vs no it's possible now! 🌊🦑

Fishermen & divers of the UK we need YOU! Our #octopus bloom surveys have been extended to Sept 21st. If you haven't already done so, please fill out the fishermen's survey survey.alchemer.eu/s3/90884550/... or divers survey survey.alchemer.eu/s3/90886025/... Thank you! Please share widely! 🐙

It’s been a joy to see bluefin tuna in the UK for the first time in recent years. Now of course we have to ruin it (with no basic understanding of stock recovery or fishing impacts) 🎣

George Monbiot@georgemonbiot.bsky.social · last yr.

This week's column. The details will make you gasp and rage. This massive desecration of nature is almost unbelievable, but it is happening in the UK right now. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Interesting analysis showing just how much of a problem bycatch is for common dolphins in the southwest, which will only increase as their numbers rise with climate change and changing prey distributions 🐬🥅

SMRU@seamammalresearch.bsky.social · last yr.

Important new analysis of bycatch patterns in UK fisheries by @fayehelenmoyes.bsky.social continuing the legacy of the late Professor Simon Northridge. An unexpected result: 'pinger' use, although decreasing cetacean bycatch, may actually increase seal bycatch academic.oup.com/icesjms/arti...

RISSO'S DOLPHIN CALVES!! We had a beautiful encounter with a nursery pod of Risso's Dolphins off Levenwick and Clumlie here in Shetland last week. Check out some of those tiny calves - some are only a few days old at most! #MarineLife #MarineMammals #CetaceansUK #UKWildlife

As global #shipping expands, our #oceans' #biodiversity faces growing threats. Our new study maps the critical hotspots where #marine #life needs protection from vessels and identifies priority areas for urgent #conservation action. #Ecology #Wildlife #Sea 🧪🌐🌎🌊 www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Mapping global shipless areas and conflict zones between shipping and large marine vertebrates

The growth of global maritime traffic poses increasing threats to marine biodiversity, including vessel collisions, behavioural disturbances, and poll…

sciencedirect.com

Are you an early career marine mammal scientist? We've created a list for you! Ask to be added ⬇️ and follow to keep up to date with marine mammal research, boost your science and connect with other PhD students/ECRs 🐬🐋🧪🌍 (If not - please still share widely!) bsky.app/profile/did:...

Honored to have been a part of the collaborative #smartWhales initiative aiming to detect rare and critically endangered #rightwhales using #satellite imagery. Check out our new paper showcasing our work with Hatfield Consultants, AltaML, University of New Brunswick & Canadian Wildlife Federation!

📢 Our new paper is out in @methodsinecoevol.bsky.social! A step toward more comparable approaches in bioacoustics! We tested how different acoustic feature extraction and classification methods affect caller ID classification accuracy. Read about it here: 🔗 shorturl.at/F31Pb

We’ve had some gorgeous weather on recent surveys, and some lovely bow riding common dolphins too! ⛵️ 🐬

Free student conference we’re hosting in Plymouth next year, it’s friendly and a lot of fun!

UKIRSC Marine Mammals@ukirsc.bsky.social · last yr.

📣 SAVE THE DATE! 📣 The 20th UKIRSC Conference will take place 13 - 16th Jan 2026 at the University of Plymouth. A free event for students in marine mammal science to share research, network, and be inspired. More details coming soon! #UKIRSC #MarineMammals #StudentScience @plymbiomarsci.bsky.social

Wonderful example of non-invasive research from land, showing that harbour porpoises have a strong preference for coastal waters (<500m from the shore) in parts of Northern Ireland onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...

Spatial Dynamics of Harbour Porpoise Phocoena phocoena Relative to Local Hydrodynamics and Environmental Conditions

This study uses a multidisciplinary approach to model the habitat use and site occurrence of harbour porpoises, identifying areas where they were seen spending most time in the Skerries and Causeway ...

onlinelibrary.wiley.com