Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Emily Hague 🐳 @emily-hague.bsky.social · Sep 1

🐋 FINAL CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS AND CHECKS!🐋

Help us develop a global atlas collating worldwide examples of the variety of ways citizen and community scientists have contributed to marine mammal research!

Check out the current map here: bit.ly/CitSciMap And read below for submission info 🌊

3 2

Emily Hague 🐳 @emily-hague.bsky.social · Aug 28

FINAL CALL FOR ABSTRACTS

Want to share your marine mammal research at one of Scotland's biggest scientific conferences? Submit an abstract to present at the MASTS @mastscot.bsky.social Annual Science Meeting! More info here: masts.ac.uk/annual-scien...

Look forward to seeing you there! 🐳🌊

1 2

Emily Hague 🐳 @emily-hague.bsky.social · Jul 8

You can submit examples by emailing Emily Hague ([email protected]) with information on the project(s) to be included. Where possible, please include title, short description, location, URL and species of focus! Please send your submissions by 31st July 2025.

THANK YOU!
🧵4/4

Emily Hague 🐳 @emily-hague.bsky.social · Jul 8

We expect there are still MANY projects missing from the map and so we now ask YOU 🫵, the global marine mammal community, to help build the atlas and submit any further examples of projects and ways citizen scientists contribute to marine mammal studies, so they can be included! 🦭🐳

🧵3/4

a whale is swimming in the ocean with the words viralhog in the lower right corner

ALT: a whale is swimming in the ocean with the words viralhog in the lower right corner

media.tenor.com

1 1

Emily Hague 🐳 @emily-hague.bsky.social · Jul 8

So far, we have collated examples through a systematic mapping process, conducted in April 2025, and via a workshop, at the European Cetacean Society conference held in May.
The draft map so far is available here: bit.ly/CitSciMap

Spot anything missing?

🧵2/4

Atlas of Citizen Science Contributions to Marine Mammal Science - Google My Maps

This map presents examples collated (so far) of ways citizen and community scientists have contributed to marine mammal research, particularly to monitoring. The examples have been collated through a ...

bit.ly

1

Emily Hague 🐳 @emily-hague.bsky.social · Jul 8

🦭🐳CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS! We are working to collate all examples of ways citizen and community scientist initiatives contribute to marine mammal science, and are collating this into an interactive map and a peer review publication! And we need YOU! 🫵📜🗺️

🧵1/4

1 4 3

Emily Hague 🐳 @emily-hague.bsky.social · Jun 19

🌊🚤Excited to share our latest paper, showing the types of vessels overlapping and interacting with marine mammals around Scotland, highlighting how to reduce your disturbance (check out the @naturescot.bsky.social Scottish Marine Wildlife Watching Code)🐳🚢

Read it here: doi.org/10.1016/j.bi...

4 9

Reposted by Emily Hague 🐳

Luke Rendell @lrendell.bsky.social · May 15

Marine mammals in the anthropocene - systematic review of publications on threats to marine mammals by @emily-hague.bsky.social identifies key knowledge gaps - also @seamammalresearch.bsky.social #2 in the contributions league table after NOAA! #ECSconference2025 🦑🐋🧪

Emily Hague in front of her title slide of her systematic review of threats to marine mammals

4 20

Emily Hague 🐳 @emily-hague.bsky.social · May 15

🐋💙 Today I'm giving a talk on some of my work at the European Cetacean Society, in the Azores 🗺🌊 Over 700 people are here to discuss all things marine mammals, it's so brilliant to be amongst so many incredible people, and hear talks from lifelong heroes of mine 😁💙🐋
@uhishetland.bsky.social

1 1 12

Emily Hague 🐳 @emily-hague.bsky.social · Apr 16

⚓ NEW PUBLICATION! Thrilled that the first paper of the Scottish Vessel Project is now published in Marine Policy showing how AIS data only represents ~40% of coastal vessel traffic around Scotland.

🚤 Why is this important? Read below: 👇⛴

🔗 doi.org/10.1016/j.ma...

A map of Scotland and the North Atlantic, showing density of vessel tracking data (also known as AIS data), which highlights areas in red where there are a lot of AIS vessels and blue where there are less. The map shows coastal Scottish waters are very busy (i.e. coloured red) with AIS traffic.

8 20

Reposted by Emily Hague 🐳

Emily Hague 🐳 @emily-hague.bsky.social · Mar 26

Can you spare a few minutes to share your thoughts on marine mammal protection in Scotland?🐳

Please fill in the survey most relevant to you (you are welcome to do both)
Scotland-wide: forms.office.com/e/xbkmFe4TxV Shetland: forms.office.com/e/ee9yBzJC35

More info: www.shetlandmarinemammals.com

A drone image taken of a humpback whale in coastal waters of Shetland

9 7

Reposted by Emily Hague 🐳

Dominique Anderson @dmjanderson.bsky.social · Mar 28

2/3 🌊 Dive into the MASTS Deep Seas Climate Change WG's Story Map!

storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/11db...

Created by @emily-hague.bsky.social, it provides an interactive look Scottish deep seas and climate driven impacts. #MASTS #DeepSea #StoryMap

Effects of climate change on Scottish deep seas

The deep sea encompasses all marine habitats that exist below the "sunlight zone". The sunlight zone is the surface layer of the ocean to a depth of about 200 metres (m) at which point abou...

storymaps.arcgis.com

3 5

Emily Hague 🐳 @emily-hague.bsky.social · Mar 26

Can you spare a few minutes to share your thoughts on marine mammal protection in Scotland?🐳

Please fill in the survey most relevant to you (you are welcome to do both)
Scotland-wide: forms.office.com/e/xbkmFe4TxV Shetland: forms.office.com/e/ee9yBzJC35

More info: www.shetlandmarinemammals.com

9 7

Emily Hague 🐳 @emily-hague.bsky.social · Mar 16

🌊 Really looking forward to giving a Winter Webinar this week on why communities count when it comes to cetacean conservation! 🐳 Hear more about the Scottish Vessel Project, BLUE CONNECT, IMMAs and more..

www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/cetacean-c...

@heriotwattuni.bsky.social @uhishetland.bsky.social

Cetacean Conservation: Communities Count! With Emily Hague

Join Emily to celebrate the incredible community effort that plays a huge role in monitoring, researching and protecting Scottish whales.

www.eventbrite.co.uk

1 3

Emily Hague 🐳 @emily-hague.bsky.social · Mar 1

Totally agree, I just want to live in the whale room 😱😍🐳

1

Emily Hague 🐳 @emily-hague.bsky.social · Feb 28

The best start to the #MarineForum2025 - a behind the scenes tour of the National Museums Scotland collection, then a meeting with many of the BLUE CONNECT project team to plot ideas of what could be ahead for the next few years 🥰🐳🐬🦭 Work rarely feels like work with colleagues as awesome as this! 🙏🏼🥰

1 12

Emily Hague 🐳 @emily-hague.bsky.social · Jan 11

Feeling energised after a week of in-person meetings with lovely humans (@strandings.bsky.social, WDC 🐳) to formulate plans for the BLUE CONNECT project, and then attending the UHI Research Conference at @uhiinverness.bsky.social to get to know my new UHI colleagues 🥰🩵🏔🌊!

1 4

Emily Hague 🐳 @emily-hague.bsky.social · Jan 7

Delighted to be starting 2025 by going full time with this awesome team 😊🤗🐳 Look forward to what we manage to achieve this year! 💫✨️🌟

tanyagriley.bsky.social @tanyagriley.bsky.social · Dec 20

🌊 A Year with the Marine Spatial Planning Team 🌊
Here is a look back at what the Marine Spatial Planning team at UHI Shetland have been up to this year in numbers!

#MarineSpatialPlanning #YearInReview #SustainableOceans #2024Highlights #ThinkUHI #uhishetland @mastscot.bsky.social

2 1 6

Reposted by Emily Hague 🐳

Paul Woods @paulwoods.io · Jan 7

Two weeks ago I said "hey we should use this crazy new map projection" and today there is python code! Showing here global vessel presence density (from AIS) using the spilhaus projection in a single view where you can see the whole ocean.

Global vessel presence map using Spilhaus projection

2 13 42

Emily Hague 🐳 @emily-hague.bsky.social · Jan 7

The vessel data in spilhaus map projection is EPIC! 😍🤯😁

1 1

Emily Hague 🐳 @emily-hague.bsky.social · Jan 1

The first day of 2025 🤍💚

1 11

Emily Hague 🐳 @emily-hague.bsky.social · Dec 31

Ending 2024 by closing one huge chapter of my life, ready to begin a new one! Today I finally completed a full draft of my PhD thesis! 😱😍🐳🐋 🥳 ready to begin a new postdoctoral position next week at the University of Highlands and Islands, on a project researching marine mammals around Shetland ☺️🐳🦭🐬

2 3 37

Reposted by Emily Hague 🐳

Luke Rendell @lrendell.bsky.social · Dec 21

🤯 "perhaps most great whales have an unrecognized potential for great longevity that has been masked by the demographic disruptions of industrial whaling. This unrecognized longevity has profound implication for basic biology and conservation of whales." Astonishing stuff.

Peter Corkeron @petercorkeron.bsky.social · Dec 20

New paper alert
Extreme longevity may be the rule not the exception in Balaenid whales
by @alaskaraven.bsky.social , Els Vermeulen, and me.

2 messages:
♀Southern rights could live much longer than we thought (10% >130);
♀North Atlantic rights' lives are truncated (10%>47)
🐳🌍🦑

Extreme longevity may be the rule not the exception in Balaenid whales

Whale life spans have likely been greatly underestimated.

www.science.org

1 12 46

Emily Hague 🐳 @emily-hague.bsky.social · Dec 13

doi.org/10.1578/AM.4...

Previously Undocumented Long-Finned Pilot Whale (Globicephala melas) Placental Expulsion in Coastal Waters of Shetland, United Kingdom

www.aquaticmammalsjournal.org

1 3

Emily Hague 🐳 @emily-hague.bsky.social · Dec 13

This is always a highlight of my year, where Scotland's marine mammal nerds get together to catch up and share all the latest goings on 🥰🐳🐬🦭

I'll be hosting an interactive stall there in the afternoon, watch this space for more info 👀🗺🐳🗣💙

Scottish Marine Animal Stranding Scheme @strandings.bsky.social · Dec 6

🌊The Marine Forum is back!🌊
We’re excited to announce that this year we will be at NMS, Edinburgh, on 1st March 2025! Organized by WDC and SMASS, this year’s theme, "Sea Change” will focus on the evidence and action we need to drive meaningful progress.

Tickets:
www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/wdc-smass-...

WDC & SMASS Marine Forum 2025

A day of talks & workshops focusing on citizen science data collected from across Scotland to aid the protection of the marine environment.

www.eventbrite.co.uk

9