Vaquitas "hanging on" is a fair description. Describing this as a modest increase is not following the science. From the survey report summary - "There is too much uncertainty in visual estimates to make strong conclusions about a trend in vaquita numbers..." more quotes to come 🐳🌍🦑 1/2

As @tommysoutdoors.com has reposted this (thanks Tommy!) I thought I would too. For those who came in late...

Great piece by @pelagicblue.bsky.social and Andrea Capurro on #krill management issues in the #Antarctic 🐳🌍🦑

When subeditors write headlines like this, who needs @theonion.com, @chaser.com.au or pick your parody site Massive acoustic monitoring effort, vaquita numbers stable this year at 7-10. "1,228 detectors at 497 sites, acoustic monitoring recorded 254 encounters" 🐳🌍🦑 h/t @vaquita911.bsky.social

Great piece by @fieseler.bsky.social Given that the flattening of the #rightwhale decline coincides with offshore wind development's increase, those who use the cherry-pick-a-corelation-to-suit-my-story (aka Shellenberger's Dictum) would conclude that offshore wind is good for whales /snark 🐳🌍🦑

So on the one hand, the Trump admin is talking about $50 million for polar bears in Greenland. Greenland only, not Svalbard, Canada, Russia, US. While Repubs want to gut the MMPA that protects polar bears in the US apnews.com/article/seal... US intelligence using conservation as an excuse 🐳🌍🦑

New piece on the ongoing attempts by Republicans in the US Congress to destroy the US Marine Mammal Protection Act. Per the new bill "the act has “unduly and unnecessarily constrained government, tribes and the regulated community”" In @apnews.com by Patrick Whittle 🐳🌍🦑

Interesting development - $50 million for "polar bear conservation" in Greenland. My articles about how some conservation NGO projects are not what they seem - www.int-res.com/abstracts/es... www.commondreams.org/opinion/war-... show how this will play out 🌍 1/n 🧵

Another great paper on baleen whales & calving 🐳🌍🦑🧪

Great paper led by Martin van Aswegen from @lbejder1971.bsky.social's lab - @meps-ir.bsky.social Age-specific body length, mass, and energetic cost of growth in humpback whales "... lactating females, who must support one-third of their offspring’s lifetime growth costs in just 1 yr." 🐳🌍🦑🧪

For some light relief - Whale oil is a cure-all better than snake oil! "Mice treated with whale oil developed thicker, denser hair follicles" plus People reported "sharper focus, greater resistance to fatigue, and improved sleep quality" "even slow the aging process" #whaling 🐳🌍🦑

Great piece in @australia.theguardian.com by @petrastock.bsky.social on all the entanglements in shark nets off Queensland this year. Sensible commentary from @robharcourt.bsky.social and @jessicabolin.bsky.social The only way to stop entanglement, really, is to take the nets out: Rob Harcourt 🐳🌍🦑🧪

Meanwhile, in conservation reality and #whales - A good article by Sue Arnold in Independent Australia on the population crash of Western Pacific gray whales. "The latest estimate of 13,000 animals is less than half of the 27,000 population ten years ago." 🐳🌍🦑🧪 1/3

Nice piece by 60 Minutes Australia on the status of #humpback #whales in Australian waters. Featuring @drvanessapirotta.bsky.social with the #scicomm and some interesting #citizenscience Well done all

Well this seems apropos.

The process to the demise of the US Marine Mammal Protection Act. Jane Davenport from @awionline.org, pithy and accurate as usual: “The overall thrust is going to essentially put a stake through the heart of the statute.” 🐳🌍🦑

Farewell Tony Thulborn He taught vertebrate biology when I was an undergraduate. He was kind.

Well this is unfortunate - extend the pause on regulations on #lobster fishing to protect #rightwhales until 2035? ""Lobstermen will have insufficient time to work in a good faith way to plan for new regulations, and may well find themselves unable to comply," Golden said Tuesday" 🐳🌍🦑

And finding good (or any) reviewers is hard enough... @theguardian.com piece by @joshtaylor.bsky.social Seems from the final paragraph that someone at @theguardian.com is a @vizcomic.bsky.social fan? 🧪

New paper Exploring the biodiversity of cetacean communities along the western North Atlantic Ocean shelf-break led by Samara Haver. One finding: "beaked whale species [were] the most significant driver of differences among cetacean communities" 🐳🌍🦑🧪 royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/...

Canadian government taking steps to protect North Atlantic #rightwhales this year: Patrick Whittle for @apnews.com "Canada is enforcing mandatory protection measures for the whale this summer... All vessels of 42.7 feet (13 meters) in length or more must comply with speed restrictions" 🐳🌍🦑

So much of what's wrong with #rightwhale science for conservation in one short article: "These whales used to follow a fairly steady path." When we started using passive #acoustics to monitor whales they invariably turned up in unexpected places. It became a rule of thumb 1/n 🐳🌍🦑

Interesting development in the whales-and-wind saga. Someone's playing this one very smart. Repeating - anyone who tries to shut down offshore wind for right whale conservation and does nothing about entanglements is either a fool or has a motive other than whale conservation. 🐳🌍🦑 1/2

New piece out in @mongabay.com on #whaling - the zombie idea that whales need culling for fisheries management is coming back. "a cartoonish oversimplification of complex ecological processes". It's "disinformation, disseminated by vested interests intent upon reviving commercial whaling" 🐳🌍🦑

"Now this is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning." As someone once said

Fascinating paper, led by Loraine Shuttleworth. Gestation in female Southern #rightwhales is far longer than thought. Follows previous work showing similar for North Atlantic right whales and bowheads. We don't understand these #whales as well as we think. We have their basic biology wrong. 🐳🌍🦑

New paper on #rightwhale conversation by Cole & Brillant www.int-res.com/articles/esr... "...annual entanglement risk to right whales from the GSL snow crab fishery is estimated to have been reduced by approximately 62 ± 3% (mean ± SE) relative to pre-closure" 🐳🌍🦑

Congratulations to Prof Ove Hoegh-Guldberg, made a Companion of the Order of Australia for "For eminent service to marine science, particularly the research, conservation and management of coral reef ecosystems, and to tertiary education." 🌍🦑

Meanwhile, on #whaling The new Japanese factory ship returns to port after a hunt of 25 fin whales With the classic @greenpeace.org campaign of bearing witness long gone, and @cpwfgermany.bsky.social confrontations also stopped, this skates by with no coverage / interest

Here we go again Reopening a National Monument for commercial exploitation For the commercial fishing industry in the NE US, the entire ocean must be for their use. "Supporters of the change say the rollback corrects years of government overreach." Protection == overreach 🐳🌍🦑

Enlightening piece by @gingerandhoney.bsky.social in @australia.theguardian.com on acquired brain injury and prison. Having had a brain injury, this is so relatable. Brain damage changes who you are.

Great PhD opportunities Based in a wonderful part of the world Awesome research group

@noaa.gov Our Woods Hole Science Aquarium’s indoor exhibits will be closed to the public starting on May 1. The outdoor seal pool will remain open for regular public hours... "The Woods Hole Science Aquarium was established in 1875, making it the country's oldest public aquarium" Thanks to #DOGE

New paper out, on why baleen whales' culture matters in conservation. Congratulations to @ellengarland.bsky.social for her leadership and superb herding of cats. And to all coauthors for their thoughtful contributions

The new NOAA

Interesting piece on the terrible price being paid for a botched translocation program for #elephants in Malawi. A previous elephant conservation program in Kenya also raised issues 🌍

Brilliant article in @dailymaverick.co.za on the ongoing environmental disaster that is the Antarctic #krill #fishery Article misses one point - Kjell Inge Røkke, majority owner of Aker, also established REVOcean www.revocean.org REV Ocean's stated goal – to ensure ‘One Healthy Ocean’. 🤔 🐳🌍🦑

More on #rightwhales Nauset is the whale used as an example. She's 31, has had 4 calves of which at least 2 are dead. 1 female should be mature now but isn't. At 31 she could be a great-grandmother but isn't even a grandma And at 31, she should have another 100 years to live but she won't 🐳🌍🦑 1/n

Interesting article by @jennthornhillverma.bsky.social in @theglobeandmail.com on the latest calving season for North Atlantic #rightwhales 10 calves, so answering question, not how things are now Great to see Josh Reed's paper on calving issues mentioned @robharcourt.bsky.social 🐳🌍🦑

Here's some happy news for a Friday afternoon - The whaling company that hunts fin whales in Iceland seems unlikely to go whaling this summer Hoping this holds 🐳🌍🦑

Although the focus of the story is on @noaa.gov staff working on climate, it's not just climate. Staff working on endangered marine species too. Hopefully someone else will see the humor in me standing up for NOAA Fisheries 🤔 🐳🌍🦑🧪

As Jan Mayen is now subject to 10% #tariffs from the USA, here's some images from the island, from when we popped in there in 2002. "Popped in" means helicoptered off an icebreaker for a few hours. The idea that Jan Mayen imposes #tariffs on the US - just wow.

Under the terms of the Svalbard Treaty, all Americans can live and work in Svalbard, including owning mineral rights. So - tariffs on American workers there...😱 Also, I've been to Jan Mayen. Less than 20 people are stationed there. Apart from postcards, there's not much to buy.

Here's a useful post from @proton.me on non-US options for internet usage My little space on the internet - aduncus.net - is hosted with @infomaniak.bsky.social because they're Swiss, and they have an excellent environmental policies - www.infomaniak.com/en/ecology

Talk about privatizing the profits and socializing the environmental costs "The gear will be sorted and documented and, when possible, returned to their owners." What about the owners being held accountable for littering? h/t @davabel.bsky.social 🌍🦑

Interesting piece by @unpopularscience.bsky.social in @currentaffairs.bsky.social Sidney Holt quoted on MSY: “pseudo-science with little empirical or sound theoretical basis” that “enthrones and institutionalizes greed.” (MSY == Maximum Sustainable Yield)

Super-important scoop by @jael.bsky.social for @heatmap.news The new General Counsel for @noaa.gov was previously with rodafisheries.org Horrifying, and not just for what it will mean for offshore wind development 🐳🌍🦑

Well done @foeus.bsky.social @biologicaldiversity.org @sierraclub.org & @turtleisland-org.bsky.social "...Trump is dealing a death blow to the critically endangered Rice's [Gulf of Mexico] whale in the name of Big Oil handouts," But - Rice's whale is the collaborators' name for this species 1/2

After the latest work that I'm coauthor on comes out in @royalsociety.org journals, that's it for me. h/t @conservbytes.bsky.social too

I wonder if the Four other Eyes have planned for living through the first act of Johnny English Strikes Again, but all their clandestine staff being unmasked due to US incompetence. If they hadn't before, I guess they have now. Geography teachers! Assemble #signalgate #FiveEyes