North Pacific humpback whales are a celebrated conservation success, rebounding from extensive commercial whaling. Yet they remain vulnerable to the impacts of climate change, a multifaceted stressor that can exacerbate existing threats. During 2013–2016, a Northeast Pacific marine heatwave severely reduced forage availability in their feeding grounds, concurrent with diminished whale recruitment and increased mortality. We an...

The drivers of animal social structures remain poorly understood, particularly in species such as cetaceans that are wide‐ranging and challenging to study. Understanding the factors shaping sociality can shed light on population ecology, gene flow, and information transmission. Here, we investigated variation in social structure among three independent island‐associated stocks of common bottlenose dolphins ( Tursiops truncatus...

Photo‐identification (photo‐ID) is a widely used, non‐invasive method for monitoring individual animals, including humpback whales ( Megaptera novaeangliae ; HBWs), and has provided valuable insights into their population dynamics, movement patterns, and social structures. Traditional identification relies on the trailing edge and ventral pigment patterns of the tail fluke (fluke‐ID); however, not all whales present their fluk...

Several legal acts mandate that management agencies regularly assess biological populations. For species with distinct markings, these assessments can be conducted noninvasively via capture‐recapture and photographic identification (photo‐ID), which involves processing considerable quantities of photographic data. To ease this burden, agencies increasingly rely on automated identification (ID) algorithms. Identification algori...

Under the recently adopted Kunming‐Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, 196 Parties committed to reporting the status of genetic diversity for all species. To facilitate reporting, three genetic diversity indicators were developed, two of which focus on processes contributing to genetic diversity conservation: maintaining genetically distinct populations and ensuring populations are large enough to maintain genetic diversit...

Urbanisation is occurring globally, leading to dramatic environmental changes that are altering the ecology and evolution of species. In particular, the expansion of human infrastructure and the loss and fragmentation of natural habitats in cities is predicted to increase genetic drift and reduce gene flow by reducing the size and connectivity of populations. Alternatively, the ‘urban facilitation model’ suggests that some spe...

Marine protected areas (MPAs) are a key tool for achieving goals for biodiversity conservation and human well-being, including improving climate resilience and equitable access to nature. At a national level, they are central components in the U.S. commitment to conserve at least 30% of U.S. waters by 2030. By definition, the primary goal of an MPA is the long-term conservation of nature; however, not all MPAs provide the same...

Anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions are triggering changes in global climate and warming the ocean. This will affect many marine organisms, particularly those with high site fidelity and habitat temperature preferences, such as humpback whales on their breeding grounds. To study the impacts of a warming ocean on marine organisms, large-scale projections of climatic variables are crucial. Global models are of 0.25 - 1° (~25-...

Swim-with-whale tourism has expanded across several countries globally, with humpback whales ( Megaptera novaeangliae ) being the most commonly targeted species of baleen whale. Behavioural responses from humpback whales to swim-with-whale tours have been reported, however, responses are likely context-dependent. In 2014, swimming with humpback whales began in Hervey Bay, Queensland, Australia, an important resting ground and...

The concurrent increase in marine tourism and vessel traffic around the world highlights the need for developing responsible whale watching guidelines. To determine the impact of vessel presence on humpback whale behaviors in Maui Nui, a land-based study was conducted from 2015 to 2018 in Maui, Hawai'i. Theodolite tracks were used to summarize humpback whale swim speed, respiration rate, dive time, and path directness to deter...

Experiments were conducted to identify environmental factors that influence the survival of rainbow smelt Osmerus mordax during their early life stages. Developing rainbow smelt embryos and yolk‐sac larvae were cultured under controlled conditions with different dissolved oxygen (DO; 1·09, 2·18, 4·37 and 6·55 mg l −1 , pH (4·0, 4·5, 5·0, 5·5, 6·0 and 7·0), nitrate ( 0·7, 3·6, 7·3, 14·6 and 29·2 mg l −1 ), phosphate (0·04, 0·21...