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Dr Tom Montgomery

@drtomontgomery.bsky.social
631 followers 47 following 47 posts

Marine biologist. USA based; work mainly in Americas & Arctic regions. I specialize in marine mammals, predominantly cetaceans, in a team of 16 international marine scientists. I write about rare & endangered species, science and nature.

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Reposted by Dr Tom Montgomery
Pádraic Fogarty @whittledaway.bsky.social · 07/02/2026
Sharks on brink of extinction caught in tangle nets in protected Irish waters "That the Irish Government still allows this form of destructive fishing throughout Irish coastal waters is an absolute disgrace" www.irishtimes.com/environment/...
irishtimes.com
Sharks on brink of extinction caught in tangle nets in protected Irish waters
Seals also among the animals killed as by-catch of growing crayfishing industry
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Dr Tom Montgomery @drtomontgomery.bsky.social · 10/06/2025
#Ocean Does anyone think our commercial fishing practices are sustainable? Fundamental change is inevitable, and like the cop says, we can do it the easy or hard way. It can start now, phased in sensibly, or a bit later, by catastrophic collapse. Our stark choice.
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Dr Tom Montgomery @drtomontgomery.bsky.social · 31/05/2025
#Ocean What have we done? A whale-watching company in Ireland has closed down permanently because huge trawlers have left nothing but "an empty, lifeless sea." All the dolphins and humpback, minke & fin whales have disappeared, leaving nothing left to watch. Source in 🧵
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Dr Tom Montgomery @drtomontgomery.bsky.social · 04/05/2025
#Asia This is a tragic image from Facebook advertising this binturong for sale as a 'pet' They are long-lived wild animals, completely unsuitable as pets, as our homes are not a forest, nor are we nocturnal, & imprisonment, deprivation of mate & family is cruel & decimating numbers in wild. 🧵1/4
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Dr Tom Montgomery @drtomontgomery.bsky.social · 30/04/2025
#Pangolins Chinese pangolins facilitate ecological restoration in burned forest sites. They are ecosystem engineers: a year after forest fire, birds, animals & plants had all benefited significantly from pangolin activity. We're wiping out those who can help save us. Research paper in 🧵
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Dr Tom Montgomery @drtomontgomery.bsky.social · 26/04/2025
#Antarctica Gentoo penguin chicks getting by with help from their friends. Whilst the parents go out to sea to catch food, they survive by huddling together for warmth and protection from predators.
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Dr Tom Montgomery @drtomontgomery.bsky.social · 23/04/2025
#Vietnam Delacour's langur: gentle leaf and flower eaters, who regenerate forests by spreading seeds. Critically endangered, only~200 left in the wild. Hunted to brink of extinction for traditional medicine and their habitat destroyed by deforestation and limestone quarrying for cement.
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Dr Tom Montgomery @drtomontgomery.bsky.social · 28/03/2025
What American tourists don't see on safari - the unimaginable squalor of bushmeat & risk of zoonotic disease. So much talk of national security, but global disease threatens us all - and this U.S. administration is putting everyone in danger. This excellent thread explains why:🧵
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Dr Tom Montgomery @drtomontgomery.bsky.social · 11/02/2025
#Climate An albatross chick lies dying in wet mud on Bird Island. The tall nest was specially constructed to protect them, but we’ve warmed the world. Winds are now stronger, so the chicks are blown out of their nests. A bird who lives on the wind is now dying by the wind.
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Dr Tom Montgomery @drtomontgomery.bsky.social · 28/01/2025
#Birds I'm seeing terrible advice all over sm about giving dryer lint to wild birds as nesting material. DON'T do this. It spreads microplastics into the environment, and is harmful to birds. Here's advice from Audubon: Please tell your friends. www.audubon.org/news/what-ne...
audubon.org
What Nesting Materials Are Safe for Birds?
Follow these dos and don'ts if you want to help your feathered neighbors build their homes this spring.
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Dr Tom Montgomery @drtomontgomery.bsky.social · 24/01/2025
#StormÉowyn We can take refuge from extreme weather in our homes, but most wildlife suffers the full force. Seabirds are particularly vulnerable; puffins die in their thousands in powerful storms. A warming world is littered with their battered bodies.
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Dr Tom Montgomery @drtomontgomery.bsky.social · 19/01/2025
#Wildlilfe A property developer near Dublin, Ireland buried alive a family of badgers in their sett. Many tons of clay and large tree trunks were piled on top of their home, leaving them no chance of escape. He appealed his conviction and walked free. 🧵1/
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Dr Tom Montgomery @drtomontgomery.bsky.social · 14/12/2024
#Brazil A Giant armadillo showing her superb excavating tools. >150 burrows dug each year provide homes & refuge for an astonishing 80 recorded species. Hunted for meat & claws, with shrinking habitat, they are increasingly rare. Their loss to the ecosystem and biodiversity would be incalculable.
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Reposted by Dr Tom Montgomery
Dr Tom Montgomery @drtomontgomery.bsky.social · 02/12/2024
#Wildlife A maned wolf drowned in a new soybean irrigation canal in Brazil. Three generations of the family were later found also drowned. Extensive scratch marks were seen where they’d frantically tried to escape, but the slippery plastic canal liner made it impossible.
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Dr Tom Montgomery @drtomontgomery.bsky.social · 04/12/2024
#Amazon An excellent article by Jonathan Watts @jonathan-watts.bsky.social on the threat to the Soy Moratorium which helps protect the Amazon from new deforestation for soy plantations. In my🧵there's a short documentary explaining more about the moratorium. www.theguardian.com/environment/...
theguardian.com
Protection deal for Amazon rainforest in peril as big business turns up heat
Exclusive: With Brazil’s politicians, agribusiness organisations and global traders piling on the pressure, the highly successful 2006 Soy Moratorium is under threat
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Dr Tom Montgomery @drtomontgomery.bsky.social · 04/12/2024
#Biodiversity #Extinction On the left: the problem. On the right: the solution. When a species is wiped out, they won't care; we are the losers, and we need to start cherishing and protecting our fellow inhabitants of this planet as a priority, not an afterthought. Money won't bring them back.
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Dr Tom Montgomery @drtomontgomery.bsky.social · 02/12/2024
#Wildlife A maned wolf drowned in a new soybean irrigation canal in Brazil. Three generations of the family were later found also drowned. Extensive scratch marks were seen where they’d frantically tried to escape, but the slippery plastic canal liner made it impossible.
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Dr Tom Montgomery @drtomontgomery.bsky.social · 29/11/2024
#Brazil #Ocean Millions of seahorses are not the only casualties of shrimp trawlers; here is another tragic victim: The Groovebelly Stingray (Dasyatis hypostigma). A fascinating species, numbers have plummeted ~ 80% in the past 30 yrs. Industrial bottom trawling is ravaging marine ecosystems.
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Dr Tom Montgomery @drtomontgomery.bsky.social · 27/11/2024
#Rio My team & I are back in Brazil, where the highly-threatened Franciscana dolphins struggle to survive. Every year thousands die in gillnets, and orphaned newborns need round-the-clock care. 🧵1/
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Dr Tom Montgomery @drtomontgomery.bsky.social · 25/11/2024
#Rhino Poachers gunned down 20 dehorned rhinos for their residual stump last month. Two men were shot dead. Dehorning has reduced rhino deaths, but this evil trade, driven by wealthy buyers in Vietnam & China, will not end until the last rhino dies. dailymaverick.co.za/article/2024...
dailymaverick.co.za
Poachers butcher 20 dehorned rhinos in KZN game park
The dehorning project in the Hluhluwe-iMfolozi rhino sanctuary in KwaZulu-Natal has suffered a setback, with at least 20 dehorned animals gunned down for their remnant horn stumps over the past month.
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Dr Tom Montgomery @drtomontgomery.bsky.social · 22/11/2024
#Birds There used to be millions—now African penguins are on the brink of extinction—and it's all our fault. They could be gone in less than 4,000 days. In this link there's a petition to sign to protect their food sources effectively (takes 5 seconds): birdlife.org/news/2024/11...
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Dr Tom Montgomery @drtomontgomery.bsky.social · 19/11/2024
#HabitatDestruction A young sloth bear torn by barbed wire, a snare gripping his left forelimb. We are making life impossible for wildlife. We act as if we only need livestock for our survival. Species are not passively being lost; we are actively exterminating them.
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Dr Tom Montgomery @drtomontgomery.bsky.social · 16/11/2024
#nature A red squirrel's drey. The Eurasian red squirrel (Sciurus vulgaris) often builds their nest in the fork of a tree like this. They don't hibernate, although they may sleep through the very worst weather and juveniles are lucky to survive their first winter.
A red squirrel's drey.
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Dr Tom Montgomery @drtomontgomery.bsky.social · 15/11/2024
#Penguins Each African penguin has a unique pattern of black dots within their ventral feathers which remains unchanged throughout their life. A study shows the dots help them identify their mates, and they help us to monitor individuals using AI. sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
African penguins recognize their mates by the unique pattern of black dots on their chest.
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