Scientific Publications from the Commission
The Commissioners, Committee of Scientific Advisors, and Commission staff are actively involved in scientific research that supports the Commission’s overall mission under the Marine Mammal Protection Act, and its strategic goals as outlined in the Commission’s Fiscal Years 2022-2026 Strategic Plan. A list of the Commission’s recent peer-reviewed publications follows, organized under priority topics:
Population Assessment and Health Surveillance
Gulland, F. M. D., J.D. Baker, M. Howe, E. LaBrecque, L. Leach, S. E. Moore, R.R. Reeves, P.O. P.O. Thomas. 2022. A review of climate change effects on marine mammals in United States waters: Past predictions, observed impacts, current research and conservation imperatives. Climate Change Ecology 3, 100054. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecochg.2022.100054
Braulik, G.T., B.L. Taylor, G. Minton, G. Notarbartolo di Sciara, T. Collins, L. Rojas-Bracho, E.A. Crespo, L.S. Ponnampalam, M.C. Double, R.R. Reeves. 2023. Red-list status and extinction risk of the world’s whales, dolphins, and porpoises. Conservation Biology 37. https://doi.org/10.1111/cobi.14090
A. Barratclough, S.H. Ferguson, C. Lydersen, P.O. Thomas, K.M. Kovacs. 2023. A review of circumpolar Arctic marine mammal health – A call to action in a time of rapid environmental change. Pathogens 12(7). https://doi.org/10.3390/pathogens12070937
Schwacke, L.H., L. Thomas, R.S. Wells, T.K. Rowles, G.D. Bossart, F. Townsend, M.Mazzoil, J.B. Allen, B.C. Balmer, A.A. Barleycorn, A. Barratclough, L. Burt, S. De Guise, D. Fauqier, F.M. Gomez, N.M. Kellar, J.H. Schwacke, T.R. Speakman, E.D. Stolen, B.M Quigley, E.S. Zolman, C.R. Smith. 2023. An expert-based system to predict population survival rate from health data. Conservation Biology 38(1). https://doi.org/10.1111/cobi.14073
Sandifer, P.A., B.W. Brooks, G. Canonico, E. Chassignet, B. Kirkpatrick, D.E. Porter, L.H. Schwacke, G.I. Scott, R.H. Kelsey. 2023. Observing and monitoring the ocean. In: L.E. Fleming, L.B. Alcantara Creencia, W.H. Gerwick, H. C. Goh, M.O. Gribble, B. Maycock, H. Solo-Gabriele (eds) Oceans and Human Health. Academic Press. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-323-95227-9.00026-9
Barratclough, A., R. Takeshita, L. Thomas, T. Photopoulou, E. Pirotta, P.E. Rosel, L.A. Wilcox Talbot, N.L. Vollmer, R. Wells, C.R. Smith, T.K. Rowles, S. Horvath, L. Schwacke. 2024 Estimating age and investigating epigenetic changes related to health across multiple bottlenose dolphin populations. Biological Conservation 293. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2024.110570
Gulland, F.M.D., M. Barbieri, S. Cleaveland, M. Gilbert, A.J. Hall, T.E. Rocke. 2024. Vaccination of endangered wildlife as a conservation tool: Hindsights and new horizons in the pandemic era. Biological Conservation 300. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2024.110842
Anthropogenic Threats Facing Marine Mammals
Sound
Guan, S., T. Brookens, J. Vignola. 2021. Use of underwater acoustics in marine conservation and policy: Previous advances, current status and future needs. Journal of Marine Science and Engineering 9(2). https://doi.org/10.3390/jmse9020173
Guan, S. and T. Brookens. 2021. The use of psychoacoustics in marine mammal conservation in the United States: From science to management and policy. Journal of Marine Science and Engineering 9(5). https://doi.org/10.3390/jmse9050507
Guan, S., T. Brookens, R. Miner. 2022. Acoustic characteristics from an in-water down-the-hole pile drilling activity. Journal of the Acoustical Society of America 151. https://doi.org/10.1121/10.0009272
Guan, S., T. Brookens, R. Miner. 2022. Kurtosis analysis of sounds from down-the-hole pile installation and the implications for marine mammal auditory impairment. JASA Express Letters 2, 071201. https://doi.org/10.1121/10.0012348
Guan, S. and T. Brookens. 2023. An overview of research efforts to understand the effects of underwater sound on cetaceans. Water Biology and Security 2, 100141. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.watbs.2023.100141
Guan, S., T. Brookens. 2023. Kurtosis analysis of down-the-hole pile installation sounds based on marine mammal auditory capabilities. In: A.N. Popper, J. Sisneros, A. Hawkins, F. Thomsen (eds) The Effects of Noise on Aquatic Life. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-10417-6_56-1
Southall, B.L., G.P. Donovan, R. Racca, R.R. Reeves, A.I. Vedenev, D.W. Weller, D.P. Nowacek. 2023. Data collection and analysis methods to evaluate potential impacts of seismic surveys and other marine industrial activities on baleen whales. Ocean and Coastal Management 245. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ocecoaman.2023.10679
Fishery and Vessel Interactions
Gulland, F., K. Dannil, J. Bolton, G. Ylitalo, R. Sanchez Okrucky, F. Rebolledo, C. Alexander-Beloch, R. Brownell, S. Mesnick, K. Lefebvre, C.R. Smith, P.O. Thomas, L. Rojas-Bracho. 2020. Vaquitas (Phocoena sinus) continue to die from bycatch not pollutants. Veterinary Record 187(7). DOI: 10.1136/vr.105949
Bogomolni, A.; O. Nichols; D.A. Allen. 2021. Community Science Approach to Conservation Challenges Posed by Rebounding Marine Mammal Populations: Seal-Fishery Interactions in New England. Frontiers in Conservation Science 2, 696535. https://doi.org/10.3389/fcosc.2021.696535
Bearzi, G. and R.R. Reeves. 2022. Marine mammals foraging around fishing gear or preying upon fishing catch and bait: it may not be “depredation”. ICES journal of Marine Science 79(8). https://doi.org/10.1093/icesjms/fsac173
R.R. Reeves. 2022. Cetacean conservation and management strategies. In: Notarbartolo di Sciara, G., Würsig, B. (eds) Marine Mammals: the Evolving Human Factor. Ethology and Behavioral Ecology of Marine Mammals. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-98100-6_1
Rojas-Bracho, L., B. Taylor, R.R. Reeves, A. Read, J. Barlow, G. Donovan, P.O. Thomas, F. Gulland, S.L. Mesnick, R.L. Brownell, A. Henry, J. Urban, T. Gerrodette. 2024. Mexico must save the vaquita from gill nets. Science 385(6708). DOI: 10.1126/science.adp5382
Bearzi, G., S. Bonizzoni, R.R. Reeves 2024. The trawl supremacy: hegemony of destructive bottom trawl fisheries and some of the management solutions. OceanCare, Wadenswil, Switzerland. 134 pp. ISBN 978-3-9535671-3-S
Harnish, A.E., R.W. Baird, S.D. Mahaffy, A.B. Douglas, M.A. Kratofil, J.F. Shaff, T. Cullins, S.H. Stack, J.J. Currie, and A.L. Bradford. 2024. False killer whales and fisheries in Hawaiian waters: Evidence from mouthline and dorsal fin injuries reveal ongoing and repeated interactions. Endangered Species Research 55. https://doi.org/10.3354/esr01374
Pollution
Marques, T.A., L. Thomas, C.G. Booth, L.P. Garrison, P.E. Rosel, R. Takeshita, K.D. Mullin, L. Schwacke. 2023. Population consequences of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill on pelagic cetaceans. Marine Ecology Progress Series 714. https://doi.org/10.3354/meps14323
Population Consequences of Multiple Stressors
Pirotta, E., L. Thomas, D.P. Costa, A.J. Hall, C.M. Harris, J. Harwood, S.D. Kraus, P.J.O. Miller, M.J. Moore, T. Photopoulo, R.M. Rolland, L. Schwacke, S.E. Simmons, B.L. Southall, P.L. Tyack. 2022. Understanding the combined effects of multiples stressors: A new perspective on a longstanding challenge. Science of the Total Environment 821. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.153322
Tyack, P.L., L. Thomas, D.P. Costa, A.J. Hall, C.M. Harris, J. Harwood, S.D. Kraus, P.J.O. Miller, M. Moore, T. Photopoulou, E. Pirotta, R.M. Rolland, L.H. Schwacke, S.E. Simmons, B.L. Southall. 2022. Managing the effects of multiple stressors on wildlife populations in their ecosystems: developing a cumulative risk approach. Proceedings of the Royal Society B 289(1987). https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2022.2058
Marine Mammals and Ecosystem Research
Kienle, S. S., M.E. Goebel, E. LaBrecque, R. Borras-Chavez, S.J. Trumble, S.B. Kanatous, D.E. Crocker, D.P. Costa. 2022. Plasticity in the morphometrics and movements of an Antarctic apex predator, the leopard seal. Frontiers in Marine Science 9. https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2022.976019
Leach, L., M. Simpson, J.R. Stevens, K. Cammen. 2022. Examining the impacts of pinnipeds on Atlantic salmon: The effects of river restoration on predator-prey interactions. Aquatic Conservation: Marine and Freshwater Ecosystems 32(4). https://doi.org/10.1002/aqc.3783
A. Barratclough, W.E. McFee, M. Stolen, A.A. Hohn, G.N. Lovewell, F.M. Gomez, C.R. Smith, D. Garcia-Parraga, R.S. Wells, C. Parry, R. Daniels, S.H. Ridgway, L. Schwacke 2023. How to estimate age of old bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus); by tooth or pectoral flipper? Frontiers in Marine Science 10. https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2023.1135521
Leach, L., J.R. Stevens, K. Cammen. 2024. Pinniped response to diadromous fish restoration in the Penobscot River Estuary. Frontiers in Conservation Science 5. https://doi.org/10.3389/fcosc.2024.1408982