Mai Bonomo
@maibonomo.bsky.social
170 followers 940 following 20 posts
Trying to find my way in this wide weird world of marine biology 🐙🧬 On the search for a PhD in marine molecular ecology/biology. Unrestrained foodie 🥯
Posts Media Videos Starter Packs
Pinned
maibonomo.bsky.social
Starting my search for a marine bio/eco/conservation/molecular PhD! 🫣

I'm planning to track how many emails/apps I send in, how many responses I get, how many interviews, etc., and see what the stats are like at the end. Obviously it's person-dependent, but fun to see.

Let's gooooooo!
maibonomo.bsky.social
I'm looking for some good resources to discuss AI and how it meets us grad students/researchers in the biological sciences, including the good, the bad, and the ugly - ethics, useful tools, considerations, etc.
Please share if you've come across anything good!
maibonomo.bsky.social
This fantastic scientific group, the Transnational Red Sea Center, attempts to stimulate Red Sea reef research and promotes regional cooperation. I love what these guys do and have had the pleasure of working with them a bit!

Great new video of their work in Aqaba, Jordan:
vimeo.com/1110945817
A New Approach to Coral Reef Monitoring / Aqaba, Jordan - May 2025
This is "A New Approach to Coral Reef Monitoring / Aqaba, Jordan - May 2025" by TRSC on Vimeo, the home for high quality videos and the people who love them.
vimeo.com
maibonomo.bsky.social
A few weeks ago I went on a whale watching tour from Gloucester and we came across this beautiful male, Satula 🐋
He has a unique trait where he “purrs” before taking a dive - he is the only whale they’ve heard do it, and they don’t know why! Guesses?

Volume up to hear the purr (and excitement lol)
maibonomo.bsky.social
Preparing to apply to PhDs in the US as an international student is… confusing. 😵‍💫

If anybody wants to share their academic CV or take a look at mine, let me know!
maibonomo.bsky.social
I want to believe that the author didn't know what she was looking at
maibonomo.bsky.social
Really interesting! We are seeing the same in the Eastern Med - constant new species popping up, and the climate is getting nice and tropical for those migrating Red Sea species
maibonomo.bsky.social
Sex on the reef! 😛 Video I captured a couple of weeks ago in the Red Sea.

Every year, masses of these brown surgeonfish get together to spawn for a few weeks at sunset. Other fish love to join the party, like the Seargant Major fish here that immediately go for the egg and sperm.
maibonomo.bsky.social
Here's a close up I got of one eating! Very common in the northern Red Sea
maibonomo.bsky.social
Yep, looks like it!
maibonomo.bsky.social
Me waiting for my first (!!) paper that's under review
maibonomo.bsky.social
(and let me know if you hear of anything good)
maibonomo.bsky.social
Starting my search for a marine bio/eco/conservation/molecular PhD! 🫣

I'm planning to track how many emails/apps I send in, how many responses I get, how many interviews, etc., and see what the stats are like at the end. Obviously it's person-dependent, but fun to see.

Let's gooooooo!
maibonomo.bsky.social
It’s one of those things where the more you find out, the more you realize how little we know, and how incredibly much there is under that [blue] surface.

I can recommend reading Ian Urbina’s book of the same name (warning: it’s hard to swallow) and reading articles on their website and newsletter.
maibonomo.bsky.social
🎧 Podcast recommendation!

The Outlaw Ocean is an independent investigative journalism project dedicated to exposing the myriad of crimes happening today in the ocean.

I can recommend it as one of the most fascinating and harrowing investigative series I’ve listened to.

theoutlawocean.com/podcast
The Outlaw Ocean Podcast | The Outlaw Ocean Project
theoutlawocean.com
maibonomo.bsky.social
This documentary was such a difficult watch - but important!

Bottom trawling doesn't just catch fish for consumption, it completely uplifts, disrupts, and destroys the local seafloor habitat and its benthic community, often catching much more than the intended catch.
unpopularscience.bsky.social
I will forever be haunted by this footage.

Trawling has only been filmed underwater a few times in documentary history, and never with such clarity.

What’s so heart-rending about these shots is watching how the animals don’t just get swept up — they swim for their lives.
🌎🦑🧪
Reposted by Mai Bonomo
unpopularscience.bsky.social
I will forever be haunted by this footage.

Trawling has only been filmed underwater a few times in documentary history, and never with such clarity.

What’s so heart-rending about these shots is watching how the animals don’t just get swept up — they swim for their lives.
🌎🦑🧪