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Kate Sprogis

@katesprogis.bsky.social
111 followers 151 following 4 posts

Australian marine mammal researcher and lecturer in Marine Mammal Science at the University of Western Australia 🐳🐋🐬🦭

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Reposted by Kate Sprogis
Luke Rendell @lrendell.bsky.social · 21/08/2026
New paper! Costs and benefits of group size for sperm whales of the open ocean royalsocietypublishing.org/rsbl/article... w/ Hal Whitehead, Sam Walmslsey and @anaeg.bsky.social 🐋🦑 @seamammalresearch.bsky.social
royalsocietypublishing.org
Costs and benefits of group size for sperm whales of the open ocean
Abstract. Individual feeding success can change with the size of a social group through competition, cooperation, recruitment and other processes. Female s
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Nature @nature.com · 28/08/2026
The past century has seen strong El Niño events happening more frequently than in the 1,000 years before human-generated greenhouse-gas emissions began to warm the planet go.nature.com/4wStJgC
go.nature.com
Why are El Niños getting stronger? 1000-year-coral record points to climate change
A reconstruction of Pacific Ocean sea surface temperatures adds to the evidence that human-caused warming is boosting El Niño events.
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Reposted by Kate Sprogis
UWA Oceans Institute @uwaoceans.bsky.social · 07/07/2026
New research by OI member 𝗗𝗿 𝗞𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗦𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗴𝗶𝘀 indicates southern right whale mothers may be resting upside down in order have a break from their calves. Listen to the interview at www.abc.net.au/listen/progr... (𝘚𝘬𝘪𝘱 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘵𝘰 2:08:00 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘒𝘢𝘵𝘦'𝘴 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘷𝘪𝘦𝘸)
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UWA Oceans Institute @uwaoceans.bsky.social · 16/07/2026
Timely reporting of whales in distress is crucial to improve rescue efforts and help protect the migrating population. "This is not just an Australian problem, this is a global problem" shared OI member Dr Kate Sprogis. www.facebook.com/share/r/14gb...
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Peter Corkeron @petercorkeron.bsky.social · 15/07/2026
A cool fun science story - Southern right whale mums regulate their calves' nursing by lying upside-down. Great work by Renae van Noort, @katesprogis.bsky.social, Barbara Stewart and Fredrik Christiansen from @uwaoceans.bsky.social & @marinemammalsau.bsky.social 🐳🌍🦑🧪 🧵1/2
link.springer.com
Energy-conserving behavioural strategies in southern right whale mother-calf pairs during early lactation - Mammalian Biology
As capital breeders, baleen whale mothers fast while on the calving grounds, relying on finite energy reserves to give birth and support the rapid growth of their calves. Whereas maternal size and con...
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Peter Corkeron @petercorkeron.bsky.social · 23/07/2026
Fun @nationalgeographic.bsky.social piece by Melissa Hobson on how #rightwhale mums turn upside-down to regulate their calf's nursing. From a paper by Renae van Noort, @katesprogis.bsky.social , Barbara Stewart & Fredrik Christiansen: @uwaoceans.bsky.social & @marinemammalsau.bsky.social 🐳🌍🦑🧪
nationalgeographic.com
Scientists finally have an explanation for this weird whale behavior
Mother right whales were captured in a rare video with their bellies up. It could be a sign they need a break.
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The Conversation AUNZ @aunz.theconversation.com · 06/07/2026
This behaviour is unique, rather perplexing and not reported in other large whales.
theconversation.com
Upside-down whales aren’t sick or hurt – they’re just resting
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The Conversation AUNZ @aunz.theconversation.com · 06/07/2026
Another apparent case of H5 avian influenza in a wild bird is a cause for concern – but it’s not the same as an outbreak.
theconversation.com
A suspected bird flu case has now been found in NSW. Here’s what that means
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Kate Sprogis @katesprogis.bsky.social · 06/07/2026
Southern right whales resting upside-down, why? New research paper in Mammalian Biology: doi.org/10.1007/s429...
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IUCN Cetacean Specialist Group @iucn-cetaceansg.bsky.social · 08/01/2025
Red List Status & Extinction Risk of the World’s Whales, Dolphins and Porpoises published in Conservation Biology showed that 1 in 4 cetacean species (26% of 92) were assessed as threatened (Critically Endangered, Endangered, Vulnerable) conbio.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
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IUCN Cetacean Specialist Group @iucn-cetaceansg.bsky.social · 27/11/2025
The IUCN published Red List update 2025-2 on October 10th, coinciding with the 2025 World Conservation Congress. Sperm Whales remain Vulnerable and Lahille’s Bottlenose Dolphins were assessed as ‘Endangered. Check out our news item for more: tinyurl.com/45yn4rvk #IUCN #RedList #Conservation
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Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution @whoi.edu · 01/01/2026
Wishing you a joyful start to the new year! In this time of new beginnings, we invite you to shake up your world view by shifting focus to the ocean. Check out why It's an Ocean World: go.whoi.edu/ocean-world
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Dr Hannah M. Rowland @hannahmrowland.bsky.social · 25/09/2025
🌍🦋 Across 6 continents, 21 sites & 15,000 paper moths, we joined a worldwide experiment led by @wlallen.bsky.social & Iliana Medina, showing how ecological context shapes the evolution of animal colouration. Proud to be part of this global team effort: doi.org/10.1126/scie...
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David Shiffman, Ph.D. 🦈 @whysharksmatter.bsky.social · 26/09/2025
Frontiers | A global review of operational fishery interactions with killer whales (Orcinus orca): dynamics, impacts, and management strategies
frontiersin.org
Frontiers | A global review of operational fishery interactions with killer whales (Orcinus orca): dynamics, impacts, and management strategies
Killer whales (Orcinus orca) are cosmopolitan, apex predators that sometimes interact with commercial fisheries. These fishery interactions can affect killer...
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Trevor A. Branch @trevorabranch.bsky.social · 26/09/2025
Wild map: all the places in the world where killer whales take fish from fishing activities, often right off hooks on lines By @emmaluck22.bsky.social et al. www.frontiersin.org/journals/mar...
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Oceana @oceana.bsky.social · 19/09/2025
🎉BREAKING: The High Seas Treaty has reached 60 ratifications — enough to enter into force! This landmark agreement creates a pathway to help protect the high seas — waters beyond any one country’s authority that cover nearly half our planet. oceana.ly/3VqpI2Y
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Oceana UK @oceanauk.bsky.social · 20/09/2025
🐬 Dolphins & whales depend on sound to survive, but industrial noise is drowning them out 🔊 🐋 @whalesorg.bsky.social's new report 'Towards Quieter Seas' shows how noise pollution from industries like oil & gas disrupt vital behaviours #EndOffshoreDrilling 👉 bit.ly/4nlxlUo
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Nature @nature.com · 20/09/2025
There is increasing interest in using AI tools not only to listen in on animal speech, but also to potentially talk back go.nature.com/4mtVo2u
go.nature.com
AI is helping to decode animals’ speech. Will it also let us talk with them?
Nature - The complexity of vocal communication in some primates, whales and birds might approach that of human language.
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CSIRO Publishing @csiropublishing.bsky.social · 17/09/2025
New research in #AusMammalogy compared the whiskers of wombats, finding that southern hairy-nosed wombats have longer, thicker whiskers. Without a rhinarium, the study's authors suggest they may depend more on whiskers to navigate & interact. www.publish.csiro.au/AM/AM25025 @womsat.bsky.social
A portrait of a southern hairy-nosed wombat, with nose and many long whiskers prominently visible. The photo is credited as being by David Clode, Unsplash.
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Endangered Species Research @esr-ir.bsky.social · 12/09/2025
🌐🧪🦤 Considering prey availability has the exciting potential to improve marine conservation efforts, as evidenced in this case study modeling the habitat of critically endangered North Atlantic #RightWhales. #OceanScience #Maine #ProtectOurOceans #BluePlanet. bit.ly/esr_58_67
North Atlantic right whales “Arpeggio” (Catalog #2753) and Catalog #4617 pass by each other while skim feeding in the Great South Channel in February 2024
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Exeter Marine @exetermarine.bsky.social · 12/09/2025
NEW RESEARCH Application of spatially robust stereo-BRUV sampling for quantifying fish assemblages in UK marine protected areas Watch the video to learn more, and find the paper here - esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/... @owenexeter.bsky.social @kristianmetcalfe.bsky.social 🦑🧪🌍🐟
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OneOcean Flotilla @oceanflotilla.bsky.social · 26/08/2025
New study by @exetermarine.bsky.social @heriotwattuni.bsky.social @zslofficial.bsky.social underscores the critical importance of Very Large Marine Protected Areas for safeguarding wide-ranging marine species. #MPAs news.exeter.ac.uk/faculty-of-e...
news.exeter.ac.uk
Chagos study highlights value of vast Marine Protected Areas
Large ocean animals can be protected throughout much of their lifecycle by huge Marine Protected Areas (MPAs), new research shows. Scientists tracked sea turtles, manta rays and seabirds – all of whic...
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UBC Oceans @ubcoceans.bsky.social · 12/09/2025
B.C. researchers can now determine a #whale’s sex from its wake vancouversun.com/news/how-bc-... via @vancouversun.bsky.social
vancouversun.com
B.C. researchers can now determine a whale’s sex from its wake
Ocean Wise recently published a first-of-its-kind study on decoding the sex of whales from environmental DNA.
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Global Change Biology @globalchangebio.bsky.social · 13/09/2025
Rising Heat, Rising Risks: Understanding the Nexus of Marine Heatwaves, Fishing Dependence, and Vulnerability to Coastal Communities 🔗 buff.ly/wrmWoS0
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Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences @pnas.org · 11/09/2025
One in six species on Earth experienced extraordinarily high temperatures across more than 25% of their range in 2024--the hottest year on record. For most, this was the second year of extreme heat, likely compounding risks. In PNAS: www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
The number of terrestrial vertebrate species highly thermally exposed (>25% range) over time versus the mean global terrestrial temperature anomaly (denoted by color scale of points).
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Kate Sprogis @katesprogis.bsky.social · 11/09/2025
🐳 Collecting small skin samples from southern right whales to examine questions on genetics, diet, sex and age. With @robharcourt.bsky.social and @emma-carroll.bsky.social. 🔗 tohoravoyages.ac.nz/welcome-to-m... 🇦🇺 #southernrightwhale
Kate Sprogis, Emma Carroll and Rob Harcourt presenting at UWA Albany campusSouthern right whale off Western Australia
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Oceana UK @oceanauk.bsky.social · 09/09/2025
"Bottom trawling is one of the most widely used, & most destructive, fishing practices in the world" 🎣 Yet it's allowed in most of our marine protected areas. Check out this new BBC podcast for more info 🌊👇 www.bbc.com/audio/play/w... Then TAKE ACTION 🪸🔽 only.one/act/uk-mpa-c...
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Marine Mammal Research at Aarhus University, Ecoscience @marinemammalsau.bsky.social · 08/09/2025
By being large and fat, baleen whales can endure long periods with little or no prey 🌐🌏🧪🌱 We found that: 🐋 A southern right whale in average condition could survive up to 17 months without feeding. 🐋 But a severely entangled North Atlantic right whale may only last about 50 days. 🔗 to paper:
int-res.com
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Marine Mammal Research at Aarhus University, Ecoscience @marinemammalsau.bsky.social · 08/09/2025
Our recent study in the #MarineEcologyProgressSeries highlights how body size, condition, and human impacts shape the survival of right whales & why they are so vulnerable to prey limitation and disturbance 🐋 🔗 in thread #Conservation #WhaleResearch #RightWhales #OceanHealth #MarineScience 🌐🌏🧪🌱
📸 Southern right whale: Fredrik Christiansen, Aarhus University
📸 North Atlantic right whale: Center for Coastal Studies, taken under NOAA permit #24359
👉 Link to paper: https://www.int-res.com/abstracts/meps/v768/meps14914
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AU Bioacoustics @bioacousticsau.bsky.social · 21/03/2025
🔊 Paper alert! 🐬🎧 Noise of high-speed vessels 🚤 impairs the #biosonar ability of #harbourporpoises 🐬 - making it more difficult for them to 🤯 sense surroundings, 🧭 navigate and 🐟 hunt prey within several hundred meters. 🥳Huge contribution to understanding masking effects! 🌐 doi.org/10.1242/jeb....
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Dr Leena Riekkola @finntasticleena.bsky.social · 09/06/2025
Check out this huge international initiative to enhance whale conservation: bluecorridors.org. 🐋 Such a great example of global collaboration towards an important goal. So excited to get to be part of this cool group of people! 🤗 x.com/WWF/status/1...
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Dr Leena Riekkola @finntasticleena.bsky.social · 26/08/2025
New paper alert!🚨Satellite tracking reveals southern right whales🐋feed in key high seas area, outside of existing protections. shorturl.at/2Vgst Funders: @aucklanduni.bsky.social @royalsocietynz.bsky.social LiveOcean @docgovtnz.bsky.social IWC-SORP ASOC @Macquarie_Uni RaeFamilyFoundation
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emma-carroll.bsky.social @emma-carroll.bsky.social · 04/09/2025
Giving a talk on Mirnong Southern Right #Whales @UWA Albany with @robharcourt.bsky.social and Kate Sprogis www.tohoravoyages.ac.nz
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