Paper alert: southern right whale - tohorā food+microbiome study led by Aashi Parikh: Poo DNA from NZ🇳🇿 Aus🦘South Africa🇿🇦 calving grounds + 🇿🇦 feeding ground 🐳 eat LOTS: Decapoda (incl. 🦀 🦞-larval/small ones probably), Copepods, krill Microbiome 🦠links to diet onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10....

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

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...

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…

sciencedirect.com

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...

🧪 Great work on Hector’s & Māui genomes with @laninsky.bsky.social @emma-carroll.bsky.social phys.org/news/2025-07...

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.

phys.org

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...

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...

abc.net.au

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

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

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...

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

doi.org

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/...

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

Andy Foote@andrewfoote.bsky.social · last yr.

The Evolution of Cetacean Societies Edited by @darrencroft.bsky.social @ellengarland.bsky.social and.bsky.social @stephanielking.bsky.social and myself Preorder available now press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/bo... Will share more details closer to release date #whale #dolphin #animalbehaviour

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...

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.co.nz

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/...

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...

science.org

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

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

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/...