Mentors & supervisors for #DECRA applicants: Make time in your schedule on Monday – it matters👇 Better yet, make time in your schedule *today* to go over what to expect with applicants you know. Show them your previous assessor reports, & how you responded. Before all the emotion hits on Monday!

So pleased to announce our ARC Linkage project that aims to take sea cucumber fishery management into the future was funded! Commiserations to all those that weren't successful, I've been there. This is my 5th attempt at an ARC and my first successful one...

Giving off some elmo vibes! It's so fluffy!

Nothing in the Budget last night for the ARC. Despite review after review recommending ARC funding be increased, nothing. Year on year, the same thing, no matter who's in Government.

$90 million over 2 years for federal management of conservation and planning. What a woeful track record for a government that is supposedly interested in the environment.

Ready for my late night plenary at the International Sclerochronological Conference! Can't wait to talk about the weirdness that are shark and ray tissues #sharks #rays

Sea pigs are weird and wonderful actual animals (a type of sea cucumber). I dare people to find more alien looking creatures!

I was supposed to present my research on deep-sea sharks in the western Caribbean Sea at #SI2026, but I was, er... let go from my job shortly before the conference and am not there. Since I gained a few followers from this, I thought I would share some of what I would have presented yesterday (1/9)

I really like the #TheScientificNaturalist format, & this "Big sharks in the dark" paper is a great example—sufficient details, but written in a way that makes the work accessible & engaging to a broad audience. doi.org/10.1002/ecy.... @esajournals.bsky.social

We really need some concrete explanations for the increase in shark depredation, globally or there is risk that broader calls for shark culls will get taken up...

McCallister at #SI2026 Florida is a global hotspot for shark depredation. About half of anglers have experienced a shark eating their catch before they could reel it in in the last few months, about half of total catch is depredated. Large and growing human wildlife conflict issue.

If you are interested in working with me on a PhD on the effects of killer whale fear on baleen whale ecology, behavior, and evolution... and you would be eligible for the fellowship below... contact me! www.simonsfoundation.org/grant/simons...

Job!

Some good news for your day!

Our #FishOfTheWeek this week is… the Luderick (Girella tricuspidata) 🐟 👇More #fishfacts and the latest #research featuring ASFB members: doi.org/10.1007/s122... 🌐 Info via Fishes of Australia: fishesofaustralia.net.au #Australia #fish #biology

📑 #NewStudy by Woolley et al. studied the succession of fishes on offshore artificial reefs Did the community change in the traditional trajectory you might expect? 👀 doi.org/10.3354/meps...

doi.org/10.22541/au.... Not exactly a clean $$ figure - but related

Drone's aren't as low impact as you'd think, often causing birds to abandon nests or seals to dive into water. Luckily, they don't seem to have any impact on whale sharks! We even used biotelemetry to show it didn't change their swim patterns. esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....

📑 #NewStudy by Mitchell et al. tested an electrical shark deterrent for reducing shark depredation (where sharks eat hooked fish before they can be retrieved). 👀 Read the full study: doi.org/10.1071/MF25... 🔗 Link to UWA media release: www.uwa.edu.au/news/article...

What did the shark say when it swam into a concrete wall? Dam! (Ok science nerds, let’s hear your best science jokes!)

The Great Barrier Reef gets no respite. On a year where bleaching wasn't an issue, it's now going to get hit with a Category 5 cyclone, right in the area that was most impacted by bleaching 2 years ago. www.theguardian.com/australia-ne...

The Government released the final report of the Strategic Examination of R&D yesterday. It's called "Ambitious Australia"🙃 Haven't read much, yet, but it says we should fund the ARC more. Like every single previous review. Can we got on with it & do that, now? www.industry.gov.au/publications...

Aging may feel gradual… but what if it’s not? In our recent paper, we tracked fish continuously from puberty until death. This gave us a unique view of how aging unfolds across the adult lifespan. 🧵

We all lose – and future generations will lose even harder – when governments cut investments in research & researchers. Or fail to increase them to the levels actually needed. 😡

We are a rich enough country to be funding 37% of all basic research proposals, not just considering "the best" 37% and then maybe only funding 12% in the end.

An analogy I use with my students that seems to land: At the gym, you could use a forklift to move all the weights around. But you don’t actually get any benefits unless you lift them yourself.

PhD opportunity at the University of the Sunshine Coast: Movement Ecology and Trophic Dynamics of Bull Sharks (Carcharhinus leucas) in Southeast Queensland 💰 stipend of $15,000/yr for 3.5 yrs (+ RTP scholarship) Dr Bonnie Holmes: www.unisc.edu.au/staff/dr-bon... Dr Matt McMillan (DPI, Queensland)

Part of me thinks this is just a ploy so AI algorithms get access to all teaching information so they can resell it. There's no way this ever benefits students. companion.ai/einstein

AI will save the world eh? More like make sure the next gen of doctors haven't learned any of their basic anatomy, the next gen of engineers don't understand physics...

Light-colored peppered moths right now

🦈 #shark #depredation A new study out of Mote Marine Laboratory suggests a small electronic device could help solve a frustrating problem for anglers... sharks successfully took the bait 92% of the time when the device was off — but only 46% of the time when it was on. baynews9.com/fl/tampa/new...

Let's get this straight. Adani donates $600k the Qld LNP before election. After the election, Qld LNP ends legal action over $400 MILLION in unpaid royalties. Dodgy, dodgy, dodgy. Thread. www.theguardian.com/australia-ne...

Underwater cameras reveal the behaviours and interactions of marine wildlife around demersal shark fishing gear. We saw an overall low incidence of detrimental (gear capture) marine wildlife interactions authors.elsevier.com/a/1mZKbbiU28...

🦈 Ep 3 Athletes of the Reef is out! New research led by Joel Gayford shows tonic immobility isn’t universal in sharks - for some species, “playing dead” may be a fatal mistake. 🎙️ Spotify: open.spotify.com/episode/05xT... 📄 Paper: doi.org/10.1007/s111... #SharkScience #MarineBiology 📸 Rachel Moore

📢 We are seeking Expressions of Interest for the role of ASFB Newsletter Editor 🐟🦈🐠 🔗For more details and how to apply: tinyurl.com/3ussu7vv

The teeth of white sharks are not static weapons but living records of a shark’s changing lifestyle.

Timeline cleans with snowflake-sized baby lagoon jellyfish. . 🎥 jelliesfarm www.instagram.com/jelliesfarm?...

What’s driving the decline? The crisis isn’t just fishing — it’s invisible fishing. Much shark & ray catch is under-reported, aggregated, or mislabeled, masking real mortality & delaying management. What we don’t measure, we don’t manage. @cgmull.bsky.social @nathanpacoureau.bsky.social

New paper out today in @natrevbiodiv.nature.com by the #GlobalSharkTrends team: Bending back the curve of shark & ray biodiversity loss; Read the paper here: rdcu.be/eZ9n9 @sfu.ca @sfubiosciences.bsky.social @earth2ocean.bsky.social

Oh noooooooooooo...

Culls have been happening to the point bull shark populations are more likely to be declining along coasts than increasing. What's more, we have plenty of evidence that short of eliminating sharks (which would cost a fortune!), culls won't reduce shark bites at all.

Shark culls have been happening in QLD & NSW, for decades, through shark nets & drumlines. They're diabolical for sharks & other wildlife, including whales, dolphins, dugongs & sea turtles. They do stuff all to improve safety, but education does! 👉 www.sharksmart.nsw.gov.au/staying-safe

Yet another reason (other than sharks) to stay out of the water for a little longer...

Healthy and sustainable fisheries have lower carbon emissions and fuel use, because fish are more abundant and easier to catch with less effort. Rebuilding fisheries and ensuring that fleet sizes are appropriate for catch level, are keys for CO2 reduction By Hilborn et al. doi.org/10.1111/faf....

You've basically answered your own question! Hawaii ran the largest culling program in history (over 5,000 sharks killed) and it had no measurable effect on shark bites. Essentially the same here in Australia, we've been culling sharks (with shark nets) for 70 years and hasn't made a dent.

Chief reason not to go in brackish water like this after heavy rain: it's full of actual poop and other nasty chemicals. It's a one-way ticket to an ear infection, this is on top of the sharks!

No, culling sharks will not lower the risk of bites. We've been culling sharks for 70+ years through the shark control programs, and the evidence we have suggests bull shark numbers are already declining. Very disappointed that a scientist would suggest culling. connectsci.au/mf/article/7...

Here’s @jsresearchpro.bsky.social reporting on ridiculous new ARC grant time-scales (e.g. 16 months for DPs). The ARC “did not respond to questions about the reasons for the length of the delays or on how the changes will affect researchers’ planning”. I reckon they haven’t thought that far ahead.

Three shark bites in Sydney. It's not by chance that this is in January and after the heaviest rainfall since 1988: these two things are known risk factors for the presence of bull sharks in these waters. My thoughts are with the victims and their communities. www.smh.com.au/national/nsw...

Friendly reminder to celebrate your academic accomplishments and milestones more 🙂