Peter Corkeron
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petercorkeron.bsky.social
Peter Corkeron
@petercorkeron.bsky.social
2K followers 360 following 550 posts
Marine ecologist & conservationist
US government whistleblower, hence underemployed
Adjunct at Griffith University
Been known to do stuff on dolphins and whales

My views are invariably mine
My site: aduncus.net
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petercorkeron.bsky.social
New paper
Exploring the biodiversity of cetacean communities along the western North Atlantic Ocean shelf-break
led by Samara Haver.

One finding:
"beaked whale species [were] the most significant driver of differences among cetacean communities"
🐳🌍🦑🧪
royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/...
From the figure legend: Figure 4. Conditional inference tree (Ctree) showing the partitioning effect of the presence of certain species (number of days per month) across 10 sites in the North Atlantic. Each Ctree node was restricted to a minimum sum of 60 weights and exceedance of a 0.95 test statistic. The size of the Ctree (depth) was not restricted, but the minimum sum of weights for each terminal node (numbered 1−9) was limited to 15. Each colour-coded site is labelled in the legend and ordered from north to south in order to latitude with a spectrum of colours from cool (blue) to warm (red). Beaked whale species represented all inner nodes except for one fourth tier node, which was sperm whales.
July 9, 2025 at 12:17 AM
petercorkeron.bsky.social
New paper on #rightwhale conversation by Cole & Brillant

www.int-res.com/articles/esr...
"...annual entanglement risk to right whales from the GSL snow crab fishery is estimated to have been reduced by approximately 62 ± 3% (mean ± SE) relative to pre-closure"
🐳🌍🦑
Figure from the paper. Caption text for the figure reads: Fig. 6. Estimated entanglement risk reduction (±SE) of the annual closure scenarios (2018–2021) among months (May– August) and among the annual detections of North Atlantic right whales (2018–2021). ANOVA indicated a significant effect among whale detections, closure protocols and months (F27,1920 = 13.69, p < 0.001). Post hoc differences (Student-Newman- Keuls test) within each month of the annual detections are indicated by different letters above each bar. Average annual monthly risk reduction (percent) is indicated below each ba
June 9, 2025 at 1:29 AM
petercorkeron.bsky.social
The Norwegian Polar Institute's vessel, Lance, that we were working off. Great ship. Amazing skipper. Harp seals in the foreground, including pups that we've spray painted because we'd tagged them. Let's see if anyone reads the alt text...
April 3, 2025 at 12:05 AM
petercorkeron.bsky.social
As Jan Mayen is now subject to 10% #tariffs from the USA, here's some images from the island, from when we popped in there in 2002.

"Popped in" means helicoptered off an icebreaker for a few hours.

The idea that Jan Mayen imposes #tariffs on the US - just wow.
Photo from the Jan Mayen museum, 2002. More plotting #tariffs from the island. From left, Ilse Van Opzeeland, Callan Duck, Peter Corkeron (aka me), Sofie Van Parijs, some random Norwegian guy stationed at the island whose name I don't know, another unknown Norwegian, and the back of Lotta Lindblom's head Nothing - apart from weather forecasts - is exported from Jan Mayen Jan Mayen International Airport, with #tariff plotters waiting for their aircraft (aka helicopter). 2002. Note the security Tore Haug, from the NOrwegian Institute of Marine Research, gloating over all the money he's gong to make from #tariffs from Jan Mayen 2002 image Jan Mayen International Airport at its busiest. Squirrel helicopter taking off, no doubt full of #tariff stuff Actually, just some of us going back to the icebreaker
April 2, 2025 at 11:59 PM
petercorkeron.bsky.social
I wonder if the Four other Eyes have planned for living through the first act of Johnny English Strikes Again, but all their clandestine staff being unmasked due to US incompetence.
If they hadn't before, I guess they have now.

Geography teachers! Assemble
#signalgate
#FiveEyes
Movie poster for Johnny English Strikes Again, the third of that series. Image of Rowan Atkinson and Olga Kurylenko in spy-esque poses. Atkinson looks more competent in the image than the current crop of fools using Signal... He's more competent in the movie, for that matter. #signalgate
March 25, 2025 at 4:21 PM
petercorkeron.bsky.social
A new paper:
Habitat utilization by beaked whales in the western North Atlantic Ocean using passive acoustics

Different ecological communities of beaked whales determined by combining 2 different passive acoustics techniques

In @meps-ir.bsky.social now
www.int-res.com/articles/mep...
🐳🌍🦑
A figure making one of the main points of the paper - From the figure caption Fig. 4. Classification tree of the proportion of beaked whale species detection events from the towed hydrophone arrays with covariates bathymetry (Bathy), sea surface temperature (SST), salinity, and chlorophyll. Each node is labeled at the top left of each bar followed by the total number of beaked whale events (N) in that node. Beaked whale species are represented by colors
February 13, 2025 at 3:43 PM
petercorkeron.bsky.social
Why do I find this hard to believe...
Screen grab of a Bluesky account, purportedly of Elon Musk. Text calls for "hardcore software engineer" types to send on code to an email address.
January 17, 2025 at 10:08 PM
petercorkeron.bsky.social
And speaking of #rightwhales dying much too young - another toddler reported by NOAA as entangled:

Entangled North Atlantic Right Whale 5132 Off North Carolina
www.fisheries.noaa.gov/national/end...

Born in 2021, he'll probably be dead before he's 4.
🐳🌍🦑
Young North Atlantic right whale with fishing gear wrapped around him. The way his mouth is tied with rope it looks like he can't feed. From the website - "On December 16, 2024, an aerial survey team from the Clearwater Marine Aquarium Research Institute saw an entangled North Atlantic right whale approximately 60 miles east of the Outer Banks, North Carolina. The whale was identified as right whale #5132, a juvenile male born in 2021. He was last seen gear-free in October 2024 in the Bay of Fundy. #5132 has several lines crossing over and wrapping his head and mouth. Two buoys are attached to the line. There is also a single line trailing from the whale, which extends approximately 100 feet behind the flukes.
December 20, 2024 at 9:29 PM
petercorkeron.bsky.social
I've uploaded an old report to my @researchgate.bsky.social page. It's about a trip I made as a student to northern Torres Strait chasing up reports of #humpback #whales there.
www.researchgate.net/publication/...

Image is a friend who helped.
@woodesmusic.bsky.social you'll recognize
🐳🌍🦑
🧵1/
Image from Mer Island 1987. Back of Robert Graham looking out over glassy, still ocean.
December 11, 2024 at 3:38 PM
petercorkeron.bsky.social
The feeling that goes with trying to warn about the resurgence of whaling as a genuine threat for whale conservation.

Bonus setting in Iceland
Image of the John Snow character from Game of Thrones looking cold and miserable in the Night's Watch. Bonus in this context, set in Iceland
December 6, 2024 at 5:06 PM
petercorkeron.bsky.social
Statement from @awionline.org on the recent decision on whaling by the Iceland's caretaker PM - awionline.org/press-releas...

If this is allowed to proceed, fin whales and minkes will be killed again.

Dead whale photo from the link replaced with our dog
As the image of the dead whale from the press release wasn't something everyone needs to see more of, here's our dog, Star. Hard to overdo the doodle images...
December 6, 2024 at 3:20 PM
petercorkeron.bsky.social
New paper:

Humpbacks kick back in Hervey Bay...
www.frontiersin.org/journals/mar...

Another paper from the work led by Trish & Wally Franklin of the Oceania Project.

Boring image from the paper replaced - details in the alt text.
🐳🌍🦑
Boring image from the paper replaced with one from my friends Pete & Cassie at Blue Dolphin Tours Image shows two people on the stern of a catamaran waving at a humpback whale who appears to be waving right back at them. Image lifted from https://www.bluedolphintours.com.au/tours/whale-watching-tours-hervey-bay/
December 5, 2024 at 4:18 PM
petercorkeron.bsky.social
For those who came in late...

Redoing the wordcloud of the titles of my papers.

From scholargoggler.com, thanks to @morinryan.bsky.social
🐳🌍🦑
A word cloud derived from the titles of Peter Corkeron's list of papers on Google Scholar. From scholargoggler.com
November 21, 2024 at 3:14 PM
petercorkeron.bsky.social
No-one's done it yet...

I guess it's still early in Australia
The Wiggles performing at the MCI Center, November 8, 2007 with the new yellow Wiggle, Sam Moran. Photo by Anthony Arambula https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Wiggles_2007_Lineup.jpg CC-BY-3.0; Released under the GNU Free Documentation License.
November 12, 2024 at 7:29 PM
petercorkeron.bsky.social
More on Icelandic #whaling
grapevine.is/news/2024/11...
🐳🌍🦑

The image associated with the article I link to is of a whale being dismembered. It's disgusting.

So instead, our dog.

Just be aware that the image associated with the article is quite confronting.
The image associated with the article I link to is of a whale being dismembered and is disgusting. So instead, our dog
November 12, 2024 at 7:04 PM
petercorkeron.bsky.social
Meanwhile, in the whale world...

North Atlantic #rightwhale and calf seen in Maine waters

How many times does a #rightwhale have to be seen or heard in Maine waters before it's accepted that they're there?

Well designed science-for-management would have addressed this question earlier.
🐳🌍🦑
Text from the tweet with the images - Guess who was seen yesterday in Maine waters? Hint: 🦋🐋🐋 North Atlantic #RightWhale "Butterfly" (Catalog #1425) and her calf were spotted 15 miles SE of Jonesport, Maine by the Aquarium's #AndersonCabotCenter For Ocean Life aerial survey team! 📸: NEAq; NMFS permit #25739
July 3, 2024 at 5:35 PM
petercorkeron.bsky.social
Another #rightwhale calf likely dead

www.fisheries.noaa.gov/national/end...
🐳🌍🦑

"The North Atlantic right whale Road to Recovery describes our comprehensive efforts to address threats to the species and monitor recovery progress."

Seems the Road to Recovery needs some roadwork.
Image of a right whale female with calf. Image caption from the linked site: North Atlantic right whale Skittle and her calf. Credit: Clearwater Marine Aquarium Research Institute, taken under NOAA permit #26919. Aerial survey funded by the Army Corps of Engineers.
May 17, 2024 at 11:57 AM
petercorkeron.bsky.social
Another entangled #rightwhale found.

www.fisheries.noaa.gov/national/end...

"He was ... most recently seen gear-free in Cape Cod Bay in March 2024." Must be New England gear.

It's April and we're already at 3 years' worth of the "acceptable limit" of observed deaths and injuries from US gear
🐳🌍🦑
From the website Entangled male North Atlantic right whale #4143 was seen swimming approximately 50 miles south of Block Island, Rhode Island. Photo Credit: NOAA Fisheries. Taken under NOAA permit #24359
April 12, 2024 at 11:22 PM
petercorkeron.bsky.social
New paper on #rightwhales

TL;DR - all entanglements can affect whether female right whales calve. To improve their calving output, all entanglements have to end. When it comes to calving, there's no such thing as a "minor" entanglement.

Congratulations Dr Josh Reed.
🐳🌍🦑
Figure 4 from the paper. Probability estimates that juvenile female North Atlantic right whales start calving, given entanglements. Posterior distributions for yearly recruitment into the breeding cohort by entanglement severity score (no reported entanglement (green), minor (blue), moderate (pink) and severe (beige)). Box plots show the mean and spread of the estimates.
March 13, 2024 at 1:06 PM
petercorkeron.bsky.social
At least this poor whale calf is finally out of its misery

www.fisheries.noaa.gov/national/end...
🐳🌍
Caption from NOAA site - Juno (catalog #1612) and calf about 20 nautical miles off Sapelo Island on February 1, 2024. Georgia DNR/NOAA permit 24359.
March 4, 2024 at 11:21 PM
petercorkeron.bsky.social
Great paper

Right whale calving is a third-power problem

"The effects of decreasing mean body size on reproductive performance are another concerning indication of the worsening prospects for this species"
🐳🌍
Figure 1 from the paper. Individual calving probability in available years over the study period (a), length of reproductive females at reproductive opportunities (b) and estimated cubic effect on the asymptote of calving probability (c). In (a,b), each thin grey line corresponds to the time series for one female, while the thick coloured line and ribbon indicate the posterior mean and 95% credible interval across females. In (c), the green line and ribbon represent the posterior mean and 95% credible interval.
February 28, 2024 at 5:01 PM
petercorkeron.bsky.social
And there's another dead #rightwhale, off Georgia.

Yearling female, Pilgrim's calf from last season.

Photo credit: Clearwater Marine Aquarium Research Institute, taken under NOAA permit 24359. Funded by NOAA Fisheries and Georgia DNR

Kudos to NOAA for releasing this information quickly
🐳🌍
A dead right whale floating about 20 miles offshore of Tybee Island, Georgia on February 14, 2024. Two sharks swim close by. Credit: Clearwater Marine Aquarium Research Institute, taken under NOAA permit 24359. Funded by NOAA Fisheries and Georgia Department of Natural Resources.
February 15, 2024 at 6:21 PM
petercorkeron.bsky.social
Finally, definitive proof that #rightwhales die from entanglement in Maine lobster gear.

www.fisheries.noaa.gov/national/end...

Image caption:
One section of rope with purple zip tie nub that was entangled on North Atlantic right whale #5120.
Credit: NOAA Fisheries
🐳🧪🌍
One section of rope with purple zip tie nub that was entangled on North Atlantic right whale #5120. Credit: NOAA Fisheries
February 14, 2024 at 8:49 PM
petercorkeron.bsky.social
For those who came in late...

A wordcloud of the titles of my papers.
🐳🧪
February 9, 2024 at 2:56 PM
petercorkeron.bsky.social
Right whale update - www.fisheries.noaa.gov/national/end...

From the link, image is
Credit: Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution/Michael Moore NOAA Permit # 24359

Kudos to #NOAAFisheries for providing this image

Further details via the link if you're interested
🌍🦑
Whale peduncle showing rope embedded. Second image annotated to show the rope and a tow strap
February 1, 2024 at 4:27 PM