Check out this excellent article written in Science magazine about our note on grey seal cannibalism at Sable Island!

Science Magazine@science.org · 3mo ago

For years, scientists blamed local sharks and boat propellers for bizarre seal deaths in eastern Canada. But new research reveals an even grimmer truth. The freshly weaned animals were brutally killed by their own kind: adult male gray seals. Learn more: https://scim.ag/4uI3rNs

@science.org news article coverage of work led by SMRU's @izzylangley.bsky.social: Scientists ID ‘corkscrew killer’ behind gruesome seal deaths www.science.org/content/arti... Read the paper in @marinemammalogy.bsky.social journal here: onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

Scientists ID ‘corkscrew killer’ behind gruesome seal deaths

Bizarre injuries were not caused by sharks or boat propellers, but a more surprising culprit

science.org

Exciting opportunity to join a fab team (if we do say so ourselves!) investigating seal diet around Scotland. Fieldwork and lab work. Fixed term until 31st March 2028 - take a look for more info. Closing date is 18th May 2026 lnkd.in/eUZ7pGri

SMRU@seamammalresearch.bsky.social · 3mo ago

📢Job Vacancy📢 SMRU are hiring a seal diet technician. Please share with potential candidates. Apply by 18/05/2026 www.vacancies.st-andrews.ac.uk/Vacancies/I/...

Really looking forward to European Cetacean Society (ECS) in Dundee next week! If you're interested in seal diet and predation, Holly Armstrong and I will be presenting in the Advances in Dietary Studies workshop on Monday, and at both poster sessions later in the week. Come say hi 👋

Paper alert 🚨🚨🚨 We’ve developed a remotely operated device for collecting blood samples and administering sedatives in freely moving seals 🦭 🔗 doi.org/10.1111/2041... A thread 🧵👇 @seamammalresearch.bsky.social @uniofstandrews.bsky.social

Studying overlap with fisheries can help highlight important areas for protection 🐧 Check out my little article! After spending so long learning to write for scientific audiences, it was an interesting experience learning how to write for the public but I highly recommend!

Can African penguins be brought back from the brink? Better designed no-fishing zones could help

A new court order seeks to protect African penguins, which are critically endangered.

theconversation.com

The NERC Special Committee on Seals (SCOS) 2025 report is now live on the SMRU website: www.smru.st-andrews.ac.uk/files/2026/0.... Updated population trends analysis and advice to gov relating to management of UK seal populations 🦭📈📉

We are seeking a 3+ year postdoc in ocean modelling, to work on an exciting project investigating underwater tsunamis in Antarctica. More about the project here: www.polomints.ac.uk Read more about the post here: lnkd.in/eBjndZPv Please share and help connect us with the best candidates!

Really excited to see this out and have contributed to a fascinating story in marine mammal science! Fab collab between SMRU and the Sable Island team, bringing together seal scientists from both sides of the Atlantic. Thanks to @oceanfrontier.bsky.social for my visiting fellowship!

SMRU@seamammalresearch.bsky.social · 6mo ago

Another new paper led by SMRU's @izzylangley.bsky.social: First observations of grey seal cannibalism at Sable Island, inc. a comparison of carcass pathology to cases in Scotland. Collab between SMRU, DFO and @dalhousie.bsky.social with support from @oceanfrontier.bsky.social doi.org/10.1111/mms....

New publication led by SMRU's @izzylangley.bsky.social on competition between grey & harbour seals in Scotland using 20+ yrs of diet data. Many thanks to all who collected samples, and collaborators from the Lighthouse Field Station and Institute of Marine Research #OA Paper: doi.org/10.1002/oik....

Temporal changes in the dietary niche of sympatric seals provides insight into the role of competition in population declines

Competition theory suggests that interspecific prey competition can result in changes to the dietary niche, but obtaining timeseries of data from sympatric species experiencing temporal variation in ...

doi.org

🦭 We have a new paper out! We developed an accessible framework for assessing the risk of collision between seals and operating tidal turbines. ⏭️ We found that most seal tracks moved near the turbine without collision. Read it here: doi.org/10.1002/aqc.... @seamammalresearch.bsky.social

New paper on the social learning of bubble net feeding by humpbacks in British Columbia, published in Proceedings of the Royal Society B 🐋 royalsocietypublishing.org/rspb/article... #marmam @bcwhales.bsky.social @seamammalresearch.bsky.social @lrendell.bsky.social @uniofstandrews.bsky.social [1/5]

The diffusion of cooperative and solo bubble net feeding in Canadian Pacific humpback whales

Abstract. Animal culture, information and behaviours acquired and shared by social learning are a form of biodiversity with intrinsic and practical value.

royalsocietypublishing.org

Our recent paper on grey and harbour seal transboundary distribution made the cover of @jappliedecology.bsky.social! 😀🦭Thanks to Dr Kelly Robinson of @seamammalresearch.bsky.social for the photo! Check the paper here: doi.org/10.1111/1365...

🚨 NEW PUBLICATION! 🐳🎉 Our new review paper, now published in Mammal Review, maps the the literature focusing on threats to 19 marine mammal species, to summarise volume of research, and highlight knowledge gaps (for species, locations, threats). Read it here: doi.org/10.1111/mam....

Marine Mammals in the Anthropocene: Developing a Systematic Evidence Base of Threats to Nineteen Species

Marine mammals are vulnerable to a variety of anthropogenic threats, yet a global systematic map of the literature for 19 species found both spatial and temporal disparity in research effort between ....

doi.org

Researchers from the School of Psychology and Neuroscience have developed a new AI tool which hopes to remove the bottleneck in animal movement analysis 🪲🖥️🥳 Read more... 👇 https://ow.ly/GYv550Y147z #EverToExcel

Our winner for best poster at #UKIRSC26 was our very own @miahurst.bsky.social “An automated method for polynya detection using a geomorphon algorithm” 🏆🧊 Thank you to Seiche and Whales et al. ART for sponsoring this prize!

Eva-Maria S. Bønnelycke @eva-mariab.bsky.social explores how CO2 accumulation limits energy gain in freely diving grey seals, impacting their foraging efficiency. 🦭💨 #UKIRSC2026

New #OA paper in Landscape Ecology led by SMRU researchers @mattidcarter.bsky.social and @djfrussell.bsky.social reveals scale-dependent foraging behaviour and habitat associations of grey and harbour seals across the North Sea 🦭🧭 link.springer.com/article/10.1...

Scale-dependent foraging behaviour and habitat associations of two sympatric marine top predators - Landscape Ecology

Context Theoretical research has considered how animals should optimise foraging strategies to maximise fitness, adapting search scale to exploit different habitats and minimise competition. Empirical...

link.springer.com

My first research paper, "Can Hematological Biomarkers Indicate Diagnoses and Prognosis in Stranded Harbor Seals (Phoca vitulina)?", has been published! Read it here: doi.org/10.1111/mms.... #publishedarticle #marinebiology #marinemammals #research @seamammalresearch.bsky.social

Great talk by @izzylangley.bsky.social of @seamammalresearch.bsky.social at #BES2025 on intraguild predation and UK seal population trends. Check the paper here: doi.org/10.1111/1365...

If you are attending the @britishecologicalsociety.org conference #BES2025 in Edinburgh, look out for exciting seal research from SMRU folk @izzylangley.bsky.social @mattidcarter.bsky.social @eva-mariab.bsky.social and Mia Goldman

More interesting SMRU research being presented at #BES2025 by Georgina Whittome! 🐋

New @jappliedecology.bsky.social paper: SMRU researchers @mattidcarter.bsky.social & @djfrussell.bsky.social led a large collaborative team to map the distribution of grey and harbour seals at sea across the Northwest European Shelf 🦭 besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

At‐sea distribution of seals on the Northwest European Shelf: Towards transboundary conservation and management

This study provides the first comprehensive, regionally scalable distribution estimates for pinnipeds across the NWES and its constituent countries. The modelling framework is adaptable to other cent....

besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com

We’re looking for an enthusiastic #PhD candidate to explore the resilience of sea turtle populations in a changing climate, supervised by Leo Clarke and myself. Interested in sea #turtles, #marine #biology, #conservation & #fieldwork in Cape Verde. Funded by ACCE+ NERC DLA tinyurl.com/dm573yrm

Postdoc position in eDNA/eRNA based in beautiful Faroe Islands, with some time in Greenland for fieldwork and research visit. “Tracking spatial and temporal distribution of marine mammals in the Atlantic Arctic with environmental DNA” setur.totalview.cloud/recruitment/... 🐋🐬🧬🧪🛥️

New study, collab with @uniofaberdeen.bsky.social: reduced adult survival for harbour seals in areas of pop. decline in Scotland. tinyurl.com/ys4hc3jw Mark-recapture models applied to photo-ID data from 3 sites with contrasting pop. trajectories to generate concurrent survival and fecundity rates.

Our new publication with @strandings.bsky.social & #SMRUsealpred contributors. A first attempt at quantifying grey seal predation of marine mammals and the potential impact on declining harbour seal populatons. Check it out! doi.org/10.1111/1365...

Intraguild predation in sympatric seals and the effect on a declining population

This study examined the prevalence, spatial extent, and temporal trends of grey seal intraguild predation (IGP). We demonstrated the utility of integrating disparate datasets to address conservation ...

doi.org

SMRU@seamammalresearch.bsky.social · 10mo ago

New study led by SMRU's @izzylangley.bsky.social in collaboration with @strandings.bsky.social: evidence for grey seal predation of grey seals, harbour seals and harbour porpoises across Scotland, at levels that could prevent recovery of depleted populations. tinyurl.com/4r3wka6a

New study led by SMRU's @izzylangley.bsky.social in collaboration with @strandings.bsky.social: evidence for grey seal predation of grey seals, harbour seals and harbour porpoises across Scotland, at levels that could prevent recovery of depleted populations. tinyurl.com/4r3wka6a

Intraguild predation in sympatric seals and the effect on a declining population

This study examined the prevalence, spatial extent, and temporal trends of grey seal intraguild predation (IGP). We demonstrated the utility of integrating disparate datasets to address conservation ....

besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com

A wonderful conference for ECRs working in marine mammal science in the UK! Share far and wide 😍

UKIRSC Marine Mammals@ukirsc.bsky.social · 10mo 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

Great talk by @philippawright.bsky.social at CWW - fish for thought!