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Isabella Reeves

@bellareeves.bsky.social

1.9K followers 340 following 30 posts

Postdoctoral researcher in predator evolution & ecology with CETREC and SouthernSharkEG 🐬🦈 🧬🧪

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Isabella Reeves @bellareeves.bsky.social · Nov 28

Hi 🦋, I'm a PhD candidate soon to finish on the evolutionary ecology of Australasian killer whales in Aus 🇦🇺. I dabble mostly in pop/evolutionary genomics, trophic and nutritional ecology of marine predators 🧬🧪👩🏻‍🔬

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Reposted by Isabella Reeves

Anaïs Remili @anaisremili.bsky.social · 8h

🚨 NEW PAPER 🚨 We show that during warm, low-ice years in the Canadian Arctic, ringed seals exhibit thinner blubber, depleted fatty acids, and elevated metabolic stress. We also show that high PCB and mercury levels contribute to oxidative damage in the liver.

Climate variations and a local PCB hotspot have altered metabolomic profiles in ringed seals

Environmental contaminants and climate change pose ongoing threats to Arctic marine mammals, yet their combined physiological impacts remain poorly un…

www.sciencedirect.com

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Reposted by Isabella Reeves

Emma Luck @emmaluck22.bsky.social · 13d

I am pleased to share our new review paper detailing killer whale interactions with commercial fisheries in Frontiers in Marine Science!

www.frontiersin.org/journals/mar...

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Darren Croft @darrencroft.bsky.social · 16d

We are hiring - PDRA position exploring how information access shapes social dynamics in killer whales. Collaboration with @samellisq.bsky.social @drwhale.bsky.social Prof Dan Franks (York) start 1st Nov (or ASAP) end 31st Oct 2028. Apps close on 19th Oct.

www.jobs.ac.uk/job/DOT336/p...

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Isabella Reeves @bellareeves.bsky.social · Aug 24

Woohooo ✨

Reposted by Isabella Reeves

Andy Foote @andrewfoote.bsky.social · Aug 15

'Ancient stickleback genomes reveal the early stages of parallel adaptation' - now published online in Evolution @journal-evo.bsky.social‬

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Reposted by Isabella Reeves

Brittany Heath @b-heath.bsky.social · Aug 13

My first-first author paper is out! We found that overall healing in sharks was comparable between sutured and non-sutured incisions. But sutured incisions had significantly more bacteria present. www.publish.csiro.au/wr/pdf/WR25009 Forever thankful to Jordan Matley & @charlie-huveneers.bsky.social

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Andy Foote @andrewfoote.bsky.social · Jul 28

New lab preprint led by Jana Nickel (not on BS): doi.org/10.1101/2025...
Investigating hitchhiking mutation load in threespine sticklebacks. I'll be presenting this work in a few hours at #Stickleback2025 here in beautiful Bamfield

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Reposted by Isabella Reeves

Nico Lubitz @drnicolubitz.bsky.social · Jun 26

New paper out! We found that a climate change-driven warming off Sydney has increased the amount of time bull sharks spend around Australia's biggest city. #sharks #climatechange #sydney #bullsharks
@jcuofficial.bsky.social @drrossdwyer.bsky.social @imos-aus.bsky.social @saveourseas.bsky.social

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Reposted by Isabella Reeves

Michael Haslam @twigtechnology.bsky.social · Jun 23

New orca tool use alert!!

@drwhale.bsky.social and colleagues introduce ‘allokelping’. Pairs of killer whales collect kelp strands and then together roll them along their bodies, keeping the kelp between them. The longest bout lasted over 12 minutes. It’s not play, and may be linked to molting 🧪🛠️🌊

Manufacture and use of allogrooming tools by wild killer whales

Michael Weiss and colleagues report on wild orcas using kelp as a tool for social grooming.

www.cell.com

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Reposted by Isabella Reeves

Charlie Huveneers @charlie-huveneers.bsky.social · Jun 16

The most commonly sighted shark species in Norfolk Marine Park use the region in different ways: doi.org/10.1002/ece3...

New study led by Jordan Matley

@parksaustralia.bsky.social @imos-aus.bsky.social

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Reposted by Isabella Reeves

Éadin O'Mahony @eadinomahony.bsky.social · Jun 11

‼️ Dear MARMAM community,
We, at the DEI Committee of the Society for Marine Mammalogy, are beginning the process of establishing an Indigenous Representation Subcommittee, the idea of which came out of an ad hoc meeting held at the SMM conference in Boorloo (Perth) in the Whajuk region of WA (1/n)

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Charlie Huveneers @charlie-huveneers.bsky.social · Jun 9

New Science paper: 15,845 tracked individuals across 121 species to identify spatial conservation targets www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

led by @anammsequeira.bsky.social

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Becky Taylor @beckystaylor.bsky.social · May 21

Interested in measuring genetic load? We have a new paper out providing a modified version of GERP which is more user friendly in wildlife species and with scripts to automate making input files and pulling out derived alleles in your species #consgen #popgen star-protocols.cell.com/protocols/4202

Cell Press: STAR Protocols

STAR Protocols is an open access, peer-reviewed journal from Cell Press. We offer structured, transparent, accessible, and repeatable step-by-step experimental and computational protocols from all are...

star-protocols.cell.com

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Isabella Reeves @bellareeves.bsky.social · May 13

@emmaluck22.bsky.social

Isabella Reeves @bellareeves.bsky.social · May 13

@meyer-sci.bsky.social @urbanedgesharks.bsky.social

Isabella Reeves @bellareeves.bsky.social · May 13

Last call ⏳🚨

If you have any elasmobranch and killer whale interaction records we want to hear about it!

Please reach our team with the email below, would love to include them in our global review!

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cherinebaumgartner.bsky.social @cherinebaumgartner.bsky.social · Apr 24

New paper about unusual encounters in Icelandic waters…

In June 2022 and 2023, neonate pilot whales were observed swimming alone among groups of killer whales off south Iceland - with no other pilot whales in sight.
🧶⬇️

onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...

Interactions Between Killer Whales (Orcinus orca) and Neonate Long‐Finned Pilot Whales (Globicephala melas) off South Iceland

This study documents two encounters off south Iceland where neonate pilot whales were observed in the company of killer whale groups, with no other pilot whales in the vicinity. The interactions invo...

onlinelibrary.wiley.com

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Sebastian Alvarez-Costes @sebasalco.bsky.social · Apr 7

The first paper from my PhD is out 🧬🐬

Thanks to all the co-authors of this project and my amazing supervisor @laninsky.bsky.social

onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

Leveraging Synteny to Generate Reference Genomes for Conservation: Assembling the Genomes of Hector's and Māui Dolphins

Escalating concern regarding the impacts of reduced genetic diversity on the conservation of endangered species has spurred efforts to obtain chromosome-level genomes through consortia such as the Ve...

onlinelibrary.wiley.com

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Dr. Sean Buckley @theg-cat.bsky.social · Apr 4

Out now in Animal Conservation: our Special Issue on #conservation #translocations, following #ICTC2023, showcasing 12 awesome studies on the complexities of translocations. Feat. #birds, #marsupials, #lizards and #genetics, check it out here: zslpublications.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/1469...

The cover of the Special Issue: Experimental approaches in conservation translocations. Photo shows an aquatic warbler with leg bands held in hand.

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Charlie Huveneers @charlie-huveneers.bsky.social · Mar 30

Ever thought about using shark jaws for stable isotopes from teeth? This is a must read: doi.org/10.1016/j.ma...

#StableIsotopes @meyer-sci.bsky.social @sawsharkman.bsky.social

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Andy Foote @andrewfoote.bsky.social · Mar 26

The Evolution of Cetacean Societies

Edited by @darrencroft.bsky.social @ellengarland.bsky.social and.bsky.social @stephanielking.bsky.social and myself

Preorder available now
press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/bo...

Will share more details closer to release date

#whale #dolphin #animalbehaviour

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Sebastian Alvarez-Costes @sebasalco.bsky.social · Mar 18

🧬🌊 Hola! I'm Sebastian Alvarez-Costes, a Mexican PhD Candidate in Aotearoa, New Zealand. My research focuses on the evolutionary genomics of Hector's and Māui dolphins 🐬. Always happy to connect with fellow researchers in evolutionary biology, bioinformatics, and conservation genomics!

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Andy Foote @andrewfoote.bsky.social · Feb 28

The 2nd publication from @bellareeves.bsky.social PhD thesis finds a genetic rescue effect from admixture between distinct killer whale lineages. Likely the cause of high genetic diversity in regions with low killer whale density. Open access in Mol Ecol: onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10....

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Isabella Reeves @bellareeves.bsky.social · Mar 5

Thanks to the wonderful coauthor team, including my awesome supervisor @andrewfoote.bsky.social and @emmaluck22.bsky.social for the infographic!

Isabella Reeves @bellareeves.bsky.social · Mar 5

Some admixed regions may be under natural selection, suggesting that admixture is increasing genetic diversity and adaptive potential promoting a natural genetic rescue effect.

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