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Conor Ryan

@whalenerd.bsky.social
1.2K followers 699 following 109 posts

Here for whale/fungi/sea kayaking/queer 🏳️‍🌈/marine science chat. 🇮🇪living in🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

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Reposted by Conor Ryan
Graham Appleton @wadertales.bsky.social · 26/06/2025
Newly arrived Black-tailed Godwits at Caldy (thanks Richard Smith). Check out the sites these birds might also visit ⤵️ Blog about connectivity contains link to Shiny App, where you can make a Black-tailed Godwit map for your site: wadertales.wordpress.com/2025/01/09/h... #ornithology
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New Scientist @newscientist.com · 18/06/2025
Meteorologists say that in the next decade, summer daytime temperatures above 28°C could persist for more than a month in the UK, with spikes as high as 46.6°C possible under today’s climate conditions.
newscientist.com
UK should expect summers above 40°C in next decade, warns Met Office
Meteorologists say that in the next decade, summer daytime temperatures above 28°C could persist for more than a month, with spikes as high as 46.6°C possible under today’s climate conditions
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Conor Ryan @whalenerd.bsky.social · 17/06/2025
Bubble-trail encounters from #krill #fishing vessels show that #Antarctic Voluntary Restriction Zones for the #krillfishing industry has displaced fishing into areas where the penguin encounter rate is higher/the same #CCAMLR www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
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Conor Ryan @whalenerd.bsky.social · 17/06/2025
Harbour seal population on the west coast of Scotland was thought to have been stable, but fell by 20% between 2018 and 2023 www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
bbc.co.uk
Significant decline among seals on Scotland's west coast
The population fell by 20% over five years, in a region considered a stronghold for the marine mammal.
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Adam Markham @adammarkham.bsky.social · 15/06/2025
From the Smithsonian Migratory Bird Center. Apart from the overwhelmingly largest cause of population declines - habitat loss and destruction - what are the other big killers of birds? A reason to consider keeping cats inside.🪶🌎
A chart showing that cats kill around 2.6 billion birds annually in North America, compared to 624 million killed hitting windows, 214m by cars and 64m by collisions with industrial installations (e.g. wind turbines, factories, lighthouses, communication towers, etc). Graphic from the Smithsonian Migratory Bird Center.
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Conor Ryan @whalenerd.bsky.social · 15/06/2025
Some critters found while gardening today: European common frog, palmate newt, wood mouse
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MemeStar @memestar1.bsky.social · 12/06/2025
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Ted Pavlic (he/him/his) @tedpavlic.bsky.social · 08/06/2025
Reminder: Nobel-prize winning PCR (1983), used in basically all genetic tech today, was only possible because of extremophile bacterium discovered in 1964 in Yellowstone funded by a small ~$80k NSF grant with no obvious application at the time. #science 🧪 www.richmondscientific.com/how-a-discov...
richmondscientific.com
How a discovery in Yellowstone National Park led to the development of PCR - Richmond Scientific
A discovery in Yellowstone National Park led to the development of PCR, the gold-standard COVID-19 tests used to fight the global pandemic.
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Conor Ryan @whalenerd.bsky.social · 09/06/2025
Willow gloves fungus news #fungi www.bbc.com/news/article...
bbc.com
Endangered willow gloves fungus not yet growing in new Cumbria site
Scientists hope to save the critically endangered willow gloves fungus which is extinct in the UK.
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Conor Ryan @whalenerd.bsky.social · 08/06/2025
Based on interviews and archive work (Bergen/Oslo, April 2024), Peter Wilson, @sbenjamins.bsky.social and I reviewed minke #whaling around Ireland in @injournal.bsky.social Vol 41. Funded by Percey Sladen Memorial Fund & Society for Nautical Research www.researchgate.net/publication/...
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Al Jazeera English @aljazeera.com · 08/06/2025
BREAKING: At least 21 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli attacks across Gaza this morning, sources at local hospitals tell our team. 🔴 LIVE updates: aje.io/m4ewkf
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New Scientist @newscientist.com · 08/06/2025
If your dog will jump in the nearest river, pond or lake given half a chance, don't use spot-on treatments for fleas and ticks, say researchers.
newscientist.com
Dogs pollute water with pesticides even weeks after flea treatment
When dogs given spot treatments for fleas go swimming, they release levels of pesticides dangerous to aquatic life for at least a month after the treatment
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Noam Vogt-Vincent @nvogtvincent.co.uk · 07/06/2025
Can tropical corals find refuge at higher latitudes under future warming? In our new paper in Science Advances, we argue that coral range expansion will be *far too slow* for most coral species to outpace climate change. 🪸🌊 www.science.org/doi/10.1126/... A short 🧵 (1/16)
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Conor Ryan @whalenerd.bsky.social · 07/06/2025
In the latest Irish Naturalists Journal issue, @andyfoote.bsky.social and I reported that "#DopeyDick" the killer whale that swam into #Derry City (Nov 1977) was a West Coast Community whale; probably "Comet". Minimum age 53y, but last documented 10y ago. www.researchgate.net/publication/...
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Conor Ryan @whalenerd.bsky.social · 07/06/2025
Wonderful example of non-invasive research from land, showing that harbour porpoises have a strong preference for coastal waters (<500m from the shore) in parts of Northern Ireland onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...
onlinelibrary.wiley.com
Spatial Dynamics of Harbour Porpoise Phocoena phocoena Relative to Local Hydrodynamics and Environmental Conditions
This study uses a multidisciplinary approach to model the habitat use and site occurrence of harbour porpoises, identifying areas where they were seen spending most time in the Skerries and Causeway ...
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Al Jazeera English @aljazeera.com · 07/06/2025
BREAKING: At least 34 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli attacks since the early hours of this morning, medical sources tell our team on the ground. 🔴 LIVE updates: aje.io/pe4duy
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Met4Cast @met4cast.net · 25/05/2025
This is phenomenal. Sea surface temperatures are >5C above average to the west of the UK and around Iceland. It's the strongest area of anomalous warmth on the planet at the moment. It's the warmest in recorded history for northwest Europe.
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Margaret Cahill @margaretcahillbsky.bsky.social · 22/05/2025
MEP Lynn Boylan has been speaking out about Gaza from the start, including about the lack of Irish government and EU actions and what was needed of both. She gave this powerful speech today in the European Parliament. 💔
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Conor Ryan @whalenerd.bsky.social · 23/05/2025
Departing Aberdeen Harbour is always fun for the bottlenose dolphin action. This afternoon we saw them eating salmon. A grey seal also had a fine lunch of salmon!
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Conor Ryan @whalenerd.bsky.social · 13/05/2025
It has been such an honour to sail around Ireland with U.N. Elder, Mary Robinson. Quoting Archbishop Desmund Tutu, she said she is "Not an optimist, but a prisoner of hope" #ClimateEmergency #BiodiversityCrisis
Mary Robinson presenting to National Geographic Lindblad Expeditions guests off thr Blasket Islands.Mary Robinson presenting to National Geographic Lindblad Expeditions guests off thr Blasket Islands.
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Conor Ryan @whalenerd.bsky.social · 27/04/2025
Here are some macaroni penguins (and a lone gentoo) with a humpback whale bearing down on them off Cooper Island, South Georgia... for #SuperSeabirdSunday
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Conor Ryan @whalenerd.bsky.social · 24/04/2025
www.echo.net.au/2025/04/hump...
echo.net.au
Humpback whale killed in krill supertrawler net
A criminal complaint has been filed regarding a humpback whale being killed by a krill supertrawler, the Chilean-flagged Antarctic Endeavour, in the pristine waters of the Antarctic.
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Graham Appleton @wadertales.bsky.social · 24/04/2025
Whimbrel watchers in Ireland and UK ... Recent paper by Icelandic researchers show that breeding numbers in the South Iceland heartland are falling. Not as rapidly as Dunlin but still a worry. More here: wadertales.wordpress.com/2025/02/20/i... Paper by Aldís Pálsdóttir et al #ornithology
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Conor Ryan @whalenerd.bsky.social · 23/04/2025
I had no idea that we have water shrews in #Mull. Neighbour's cat killed two in under an hour. #shrew #watershrew
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ALOK @alokvmenon.bsky.social · 17/04/2025
plot twist 😂 watch my comedy special BIOLOGY! at the link in bio
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Conor Ryan @whalenerd.bsky.social · 14/04/2025
www.seabird.org/events/meet-...
seabird.org
Meet the Scientist: Fishing Gear Entanglement - The Research and Solutions
Ellie MacLennan talks about current research and how the Scottish Entanglement Alliance are supporting fishing communities to reduce the risk of entanglement.
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Conor Ryan @whalenerd.bsky.social · 14/04/2025
On Compost. "...what matters is not the individual ingredients but the fertile new thing they can become." A beautiful article on why we should cherish our 'waste' @frasermacdonald.bsky.social www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...
lrb.co.uk
Fraser MacDonald · On Compost
I sometimes wonder whether my love of compost is a response to the dispiriting cleanness of modern life – the spray’...
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Conor Ryan @whalenerd.bsky.social · 14/04/2025
New #seabird paper by @gannetguy.bsky.social et al. finds "...discrete areas of co-occurring prey consumption by seabirds and fishing effort..." academic.oup.com/icesjms/arti...
academic.oup.com
Spatial distribution of seabird biomass removal and overlap with fisheries in a large marine ecosystem
Abstract. Globally, seabirds remove a prey biomass equivalent to commercial fishery landings, suggesting likely competition for resources that will vary sp
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Conor Ryan @whalenerd.bsky.social · 14/04/2025
10 years ago today, my work was cited by an expert IWC panel to demonstrate that Japan's proposed new scientific whaling program was not scientifically justified because non-lethal alternatives had been proven to work. Proud moment (which I'd forgotten about until FB reminded me) #whaling
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Conor Ryan @whalenerd.bsky.social · 13/04/2025
Finally found a reference for the population control attempts on killer whales by the US military, at the request of the Icelandic Government in the 1950s (Naval Aviation News, 1956). #whaling
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Conor Ryan @whalenerd.bsky.social · 07/04/2025
These beautiful and honest essay was published recently by my dear friend Rose Skelton. #queerfamily #spermdonation #mushrooms #love & #friendship. newohioreview.org/2025/03/04/f...
A cep on a mossy forest floor in the Isle of Mull
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Conor Ryan @whalenerd.bsky.social · 01/04/2025
Barnacle geese or pink-footed? I am leaning towards the former, as i think pink footed have more of a flutes or whistling call? Migrating north over Mull today with a nice tail wind #migration
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Endless @extraunknown.bsky.social · 28/03/2025
Schizophyllum commune 🍄📷
Some pretty little splitgill fungi. Kinda reminds me of a fuzzy clamshell
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Conor Ryan @whalenerd.bsky.social · 27/03/2025
Antarctic minke whale drive-by in Lazarev Bay
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Faine Greenwood @faineg.com · 27/03/2025
I may have to get into underwater photography simply for Posting - for example, I legit saw a real Penis Starfish today while diving in Sulawesi:
A starfish with arms that look like dicks and they really do look like that
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Conor Ryan @whalenerd.bsky.social · 27/03/2025
I want to see a malleider duck
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Natalie Alana Ashton @natalan.bsky.social · 27/03/2025
if you're in the US and despairing about people being pulled off the street, you need to find your nearest immigrant defence/deportation defence group and learn how to do stuff like this www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2021...
theguardian.com
‘A special day’: how a Glasgow community halted immigration raid
Activists and local people tell how they forced the release of two men detained in an enforcement van
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Conor Ryan @whalenerd.bsky.social · 27/03/2025
Commerson's dolphins: contender for the smallest marine dolphin in the world. These spent hours swimming into our prop-wash while the ship held position off Saunders Island, Falkland
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Stephanie L King @stephanielking.bsky.social · 26/03/2025
🐳 UPCOMING BOOK ALERT 🐬 The Evolution of Cetacean Societies Edited by @darrencroft.bsky.social @andrewfoote.bsky.social @ellengarland.bsky.social and myself Preorder available now press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/bo... #whale #dolphin #animalbehaviour
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Conor Ryan @whalenerd.bsky.social · 24/03/2025
SPRING NEWS. I saw my first sand martin over the Mishnish Lochs, Mull the day after the Equinox (last Friday). #birds #wildlife #seasons #theresagrandstretch
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Conor Ryan @whalenerd.bsky.social · 22/03/2025
I found the beautiful yellow specklebelly in Mull today (Pseudocyphellaria citrina). Like a sheet of hammered copper, studded with golden stars. A rare treasure. #fungifriends #lichen #temperaterainforest
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Conor Ryan @whalenerd.bsky.social · 21/03/2025
Excited to report that @andrewfoote.bsky.social and I have a new note in the next issue of Irish Naturalists Journal irishnaturalistsjournal.org (please subscribe!). We believe that Dopey Dick (Derry 1977) was Comet (Hebrides & Ireland 1992-2014), now presumed dead #WestCoastCommunity #killerwhale.
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Conor Ryan @whalenerd.bsky.social · 20/03/2025
The genocide continues. It is so utterly heart-breaking
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Emily McGovern @emilyscartoons.bsky.social · 20/03/2025
HOUSE SPIDER IN LATE MESOZOIC ERA WAITING FOR THE HOUSE TO BE INVENTED: .....
100 MILLION YEARS LATER: 
(spider sees house being built) 
"Sick."
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Breeding Bird Surveys (BBS) @bbs-birds.bsky.social · 20/03/2025
(1/) If you are looking for an adventure, why not consider signing up for an Upland Rovers square? You can sign up for a single visit, and there are vacant squares in Scotland, Northern Ireland, Wales and England. Scan the QR code or click here for more details: www.bto.org/our-science/...
An image of an upland setting.
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Rahul Rao @rahulraothariel.bsky.social · 18/03/2025
London friends, I'm doing two events in your city this week and would love to see some of you at them if you can make it.
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Rahul Rao @rahulraothariel.bsky.social · 10/03/2025
book talks 📢📢📢 19/03 Housmans London: tinyurl.com/tta5dmur 21/03 SOAS London: tinyurl.com/y7bkzy36 24/03 Topping St Andrews: tinyurl.com/48szxjxf 28/03 Tigre de Papel Lisbon: tinyurl.com/mrx3kpuu 03/04 Lighthouse Edinburgh: tinyurl.com/mrxbsnaj 24/06 Rhodes House Oxford: tinyurl.com/ycx93naj
image of the cover of 'The Psychic Lives of Statues' by Rahul Rao featuring a picture of the Statue of Unity (Veena Nair/Alamy)endorsements of 'The Psychic Lives of Statues' by Rahul Rao, from Neel Mukherjee, Laleh Khalili, and Priyamvada Gopal
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Conor Ryan @whalenerd.bsky.social · 14/03/2025
Keeping animals in unnaturally high densities is putting us all at risk. #eatplants
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Conor Ryan @whalenerd.bsky.social · 14/03/2025
Colleagues have told me that cloudy eyes is a suspected symptom of HPAI in Antarctic fur seals. I saw several adults and pups with both or single cloudy eyes in South Georgia last week. This one was at Maiviken @southgeorgiaht.bsky.social
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Conor Ryan @whalenerd.bsky.social · 14/03/2025
This is a heavy read 😟
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