Sperm whales (Physeter macrocephalus) and long-finned pilot whales (Globicephala melas) are the most abundant species among the community of deep-diving cetaceans occurring off the west coast of Ireland, North-east Atlantic. To address a knowledge gap on these elusive species in an area subject to increasing levels of anthropogenic noise, fixed bottom-mounted autonomous acoustic recorders were deployed from 2014 to 2016 at thirteen locations.

Over the last two decades, the collection of hydrographic profiles from CTD attached to deep diving seals has been very successful in collecting data from the polar regions of the Ocean. A judicious choice of the species, sex and age of individuals makes it possible to obtain data in under-sampled regions such as areas of pack ice or continental shelves.

Marine species live in complex landscapes with scattered food and numerous disturbances that interrupt the animals’ normal foraging behaviour. Cetaceans are disturbed by noise from ships, seismic surveys, offshore construction work, etc., but the extent to which this influences the individuals’ energy balance depends on the time it takes till they can commence feeding after being disturbed. Animals that are able to move to alternative foraging grounds, or to return to the area they were scared away from, are thus less severely affected.

Echolocating animals that forage in social groups can potentially benefit from eavesdropping on other group members, cooperative foraging or social defence, but may also face problems of acoustic interference and intra-group competition for prey. Here, we investigate these potential trade-offs of sociality for extreme deep-diving Blainville′s and Cuvier's beaked whales. These species perform highly synchronous group dives as a presumed predator-avoidance behaviour, but the benefits and costs of this on foraging have not been investigated.

The spatio-temporal distribution of cetacean species often overlaps with fishing practices in the Mediterranean, having direct and indirect negative consequences. The present study is the first long-term study focusing on the effects of commercial and artisanal fisheries on the behaviour of T. truncatus in Montenegro.

Over the past ~30 years, cetacean-based tourism focused on free-ranging animals has grown rapidly, providing an alternative source of wealth to communities and a way to educate people about ocean conservation. It has also led to unsustainable practices causing stress, declines in reproductive success, displacement and poor education. The opportunity to have close encounters via swim-with and boat-based tours is now available throughout the world and with increasing numbers of whales there are more opportunities arising. One of the challenges is sustainable management.

The killer whales of the Strait of Gibraltar are considered distinct from other subpopulations in the Northeast Atlantic, based on studies of photo-identification data, mitochondrial DNA, microsatellite genetic markers, stable isotope ratios and contaminant loads. This small subpopulation, with a low number of mature individuals, depends heavily on an endangered prey species, the Atlantic bluefin tuna.

Narwhals are endemic to the Arctic where they divide their time between offshore ice-covered winter habitats and coastal ice-free summering areas. They show little flexibility in migration routes and their remarkable fidelity to summering areas is used to discriminate stocks. Low and declining abundance estimates, combined with increasing catch levels, indicate that several stocks in Greenland are at risk of extirpation.

The staff, students, and collaborating scientists of the Sarasota Dolphin Research Program (SDRP) engage in research, conservation, and education/outreach activities to benefit cetaceans in Sarasota Bay, Florida, and elsewhere around the world.  The SDRP conducts the world’s longest-running study of a wild dolphin population, initiated in 1970.  Information available from five decades of research on the multi-decadal, multi-generational, year-round resident community of individually identifiable bottlenose dolphins of Sarasota Bay established this as a unique natural laboratory fo