Just a reminder that 1) science can co-exist with indigenous beliefs, 2) indigenous beliefs sometimes (if not often) are rooted in science. PS. Maybe things got lost in translation but Sierra Madre does indeed protect the east coast of Luzon in its own way, by lessening the impacts of typhoons.

Life updates: - marked safe from typhoons Ragasa and Bualoi - marked safe from last night's deadly 6.9M earthquake in Northern Cebu - not marked safe from thesis Diving into the last quarter of the year, and into typhoon season...

This past week and a half, I subbed for a teacher. Today's sked: 💪🏽 9AM-12PM lab learning applied physics through a game of tug-o-war and Giant Jenga 🧠 1-3PM lab playing Pilaut, a behavioural research game I co-created with Wildlife Coexistence Quest last year. Tired, but in a good way.

People who don't have airconditioning, how do you stay focused and working in this °C heat? 🥵

Cool new paper about terrestrial vertebrates endemic to the 🇵🇭 Philippines ⬇️

I've been working in conservation for 22 years. It's disheartening to see there are still foreigners conducting one-off trainings in the Philippines 🇵🇭 with little to no Filipino participants and *zero* Filipino experts as resource persons or facilitators. Seems very 🚩 #ColonialScience 1/2

Yesterday, I learned cake icing decoration. I probably failed at techniques, but I managed to make a whale shark. #SharksNearMe

To celebrate #SharkAwarenessDay here is a snippet from my talk last Saturday at #PAMS18. As of 2023, the 🇵🇭 Philippines has 166 species of sharks and rays and 95 of these are IUCN Threatened Species. However, only 45 species are protected nationwide. Still lots of work to do to #ConservePHSharks

ATM at #PAMS18 — one of the largest gathering of marine scientists and conservation workers in the Philippines! I'll try to post live updates over the next 3 days.

Where my #PinoyScientists at? If you're heading to Cebu for #PAMS18 be sure to bookmark these talks by yours truly and colleagues from @mwwphilippines.bsky.social! See you soon 🌊🦈

#FlashbackFriday to last week's training in Bohol 🇵🇭 with colleagues from BALYENA.ORG 🐳 I talked about marine ecosystems and ofc #sharks! It was especially meaningful to see participants from LGUs with emerging whale shark tourism so eager to learn proper guidelines 🦈

Happy Pride Month! You know who doesn't change their brand image to rainbow just for June? Ctenophores. They make their gay little rainbows all year. It's a Pride parade in the ocean every day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. 366 every four years. 🦑🐙

Today is 🪸 Coral Triangle Day! DYK the #Philippines is one of 6 countries in this global epicenter of marine biodiversity? I was lucky to see this pair of mating Olive Ridley #seaturtles during a survey of Iliana Bay (a.k.a. Iranun Bay) 🇵🇭 last April with BALYENA.ORG

New #sharkscience Megamouth shark babies

So cool! 🐟 🦑 🦈 🧪

Remember that first global record of megamouth shark pups? It's finally published in a scientific journal! Read all about it here: doi.org/10.31398/tpjf This study was partly supported by @mwwphilippines.bsky.social #AtingPating grants. Congratulations to the authors!

#NewPaperAlert 📣 — out now in Coral Reefs, a research paper on Benham Bank 🇵🇭 #MCEs that our Life Begins At 30 Deep team collaborated on using #BRUVS data we collected in 2019. We are happy to finally see this published! 1/4 #MesophoticPH #LifeBeginsAt30Deep

Mark Schwartz has launched a bite-sized podcast series spotlighting new #conservation papers—tailored for busy practitioners. Each 3–6 min episode breaks down a recent study with real-world relevance, saving you time + helping you stay informed. Tune in & subscribe: www.youtube.com/@Conservatio...

Great to be back volunteering for Balyena.org — this time, we're in Mindanao for a short exploratory survey of 🐬🐋 marine mammals in Pagadian Bay 🇵🇭 Wish us lots of good sightings 🤞🏽

An unidentified shark spotted on the Balyena.org drone in the Babuyan Marine Corridor! Is it white shark? Let us know 👇🏽 Video on their IG and FB: www.instagram.com/share/reel/B...

March 2025 2 weeks fieldwork 2 weeks KO 💤 1 conference abstract accepted 1 co-authored manuscript accepted 1 journal article reviewed 4 grant reports reviewed 0 thesis progress 🫠🤷🏽‍♀️

#NewPaperAlert — the Sandbar Shark, a.k.a. #BestShark according to @whysharksmatter.bsky.social, is now confirmed to be present in the Philippines 🇵🇭 #PatingKaBa

Please enjoy part 1 of a series of blog posts written by myself and @brettfavaro.bsky.social offering our advice on how scientists can effectively speak with jouranlists about our areas of expertise. Part 2 is coming next week. Please read and share! www.southernfriedscience.com/advice-for-t... 🧪

Although we've had lots of leads from fishers, my team and I have still yet to see an actual shark or ray on this trip. Cats have tried their best to keep us entertained, though.

A complete and all-out attack on NOAA. Without a functioning NOAA there is no function seafood industry, no functioning radar network, no functioning weather models (US or otherwise). Would you cut a personal investment that saved you 70 times over your original investment every single year? (1/3)

Yep.

We're down to our last week of fieldwork looking for sharks and rays in Siquijor 🇵🇭 We've not had much luck finding them, so please enjoy a pic of this beach doggo instead.

Been a bit busy lately so here's a throwback to January #ConservePHSharks

another year, another abstract submitted just minutes before the deadline P.S. #PAMS18 folks, what does an "incomplete" submission mean?

ATM in Siquijor 🇵🇭 with this team looking for sharks and rays. Wish us luck!

Back in Jagna, Bohol 🇵🇭 Today @aayaptinchay.bsky.social, myself, and Dr. Jom Acebes of Balyena.org will present to community stakeholders the NDF results of our assessment of mobulid fisheries in Bohol. #ConservePHSharks

Have you joined Bluesky after leaving SnapTok or whatever? Are you wondering “where are all the shark scientists and conservation advocates?” I got you! 🧪🌎🦑🐠🦈 go.bsky.app/Q1x1gJB

At Moalboal 🇵🇭 sardine run 🐟 Other people: *free dives for pretty pictures w/ sardines Me: *free dives to get closer look at morphological features of sardines to ID to species level 🧐 *tries to ID other fishes 😂 #TeamFish 4evrr

A quarter of freshwater species (fish, dragonflies and crabs) are threatened with extinction according to a new analysis: www.nature.com/articles/s41...

🦈 🐟

If you are a scientist (including graduate students) or professional science communicator who is at least 18 years old and are using Bluesky for any kind of professional purposes, please consider taking our survey. Link: umiami.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_... Please help share. 🧪🌎 #SciComm

Power Plants of a Parrotfish! The jaw muscles and pectoral muscles in parrotfishes are deep red, rich with myoglobin, compared to white body muscle above the eye and pelvic fin. Thinking about this for a fun paper. 🐟🦑🌎🧪#Biomechanics #Feeding #Locomotion

Please re-tweet so I can quit X. I've got 45k followers there, just 500 here. When I get to 5k I can dump Musk forever I'm the director of @centerforbiodiv.bsky.social. Follow me for real-time, insider takes on endangered species, climate, public lands, oceans, toxics. We sue Trump alot. Very alot.

The Global Ecology starter pack is now curated! ✨ and some slots are open 😊 Studying global biodiversity, ecosystem functioning, or conservation across terrestrial and marine realms ? 📚 Published in these fields? 👉 You are welcome to join ! just reply to be added. go.bsky.app/V6tN4cv 🧪🌐🌍🦤🦑

Productive day in Camarines Norte 🇵🇭 today with @aayaptinchay.bsky.social, smallscale and commercial fishers, traders, local government units, and #fisheries managers as we discussed the future of #RhinoRays in the province! #ConservePHSharks #sharkada

just out! Interdecadal stability in ecological indicators suggests no ecosystem downgrading by a long-standing shark fishery Free download till January 29 from here: authors.elsevier.com/c/1kEqc3RKK-...

If you're in the Philippines, join this new @mwwphilippines.bsky.social initiative to share your shark and ray sightings with us! #SharkSpottedPH #Sharkada

Woohoo! @mwwphilippines.bsky.social and @aayaptinchay.bsky.social are now on Bluesky! 🥳 if you work on #dugongs, #seaturtles, and #sharks or know of any folks who do and who to follow, list them in the replies ⬇️

Me, on a report deadline: *downloads all relevant articles vs Me, as a procrastinator: I should organize my files.

My 1st time leading a book section/chapter for the Philippines! I'm grateful for the trust and support of my 🇵🇭 co-authors + the patience and understanding of my IUCN SSG colleagues 🦈

My shark science and conservation starter pack now includes more than 80 people! 🌎🧪🦑🦈 go.bsky.app/Q1x1gJB

I spent the afternoon assisting Dr. Edna Sabater's undergrad Marine Vertebrates class, learning about shark anatomy with zebra bullhead #sharks (Heterodontus zebra). What a surprise to find a partially digested #octopus inside! 1/2

I made a starter pack of marine social scientists active on #Bluesky. Let me know who I'm missing! go.bsky.app/TyBgT5H

If you age fish with calcified fish structures, check out our new website that displays images of known-age fish. Learn how to age fish and touch up on your skills! www.fishage.org 🐟 #fisheries #fishsky #otoliths

Within two years students have gone to needing to learn to write and demonstrate knowledge to completely reliant on LLM to do writing for them. They will never get those skills now.