Dr Tom Montgomery
@drtomontgomery.bsky.social
Marine biologist. USA based; work mainly in Americas & Arctic regions.
I specialize in marine mammals, predominantly cetaceans, in a team of 16 international marine scientists.
I write about rare & endangered species, science and nature.
I specialize in marine mammals, predominantly cetaceans, in a team of 16 international marine scientists.
I write about rare & endangered species, science and nature.
#Ocean
Does anyone think our commercial fishing practices are sustainable?
Fundamental change is inevitable, and like the cop says, we can do it the easy or hard way.
It can start now, phased in sensibly, or a bit later, by catastrophic collapse.
Our stark choice.
Does anyone think our commercial fishing practices are sustainable?
Fundamental change is inevitable, and like the cop says, we can do it the easy or hard way.
It can start now, phased in sensibly, or a bit later, by catastrophic collapse.
Our stark choice.
June 10, 2025 at 3:30 PM
#Ocean
Does anyone think our commercial fishing practices are sustainable?
Fundamental change is inevitable, and like the cop says, we can do it the easy or hard way.
It can start now, phased in sensibly, or a bit later, by catastrophic collapse.
Our stark choice.
Does anyone think our commercial fishing practices are sustainable?
Fundamental change is inevitable, and like the cop says, we can do it the easy or hard way.
It can start now, phased in sensibly, or a bit later, by catastrophic collapse.
Our stark choice.
#Ocean
What have we done?
A whale-watching company in Ireland has closed down permanently because huge trawlers have left nothing but "an empty, lifeless sea."
All the dolphins and humpback, minke & fin whales have disappeared, leaving nothing left to watch.
Source in 🧵
What have we done?
A whale-watching company in Ireland has closed down permanently because huge trawlers have left nothing but "an empty, lifeless sea."
All the dolphins and humpback, minke & fin whales have disappeared, leaving nothing left to watch.
Source in 🧵
May 31, 2025 at 5:18 AM
#Ocean
What have we done?
A whale-watching company in Ireland has closed down permanently because huge trawlers have left nothing but "an empty, lifeless sea."
All the dolphins and humpback, minke & fin whales have disappeared, leaving nothing left to watch.
Source in 🧵
What have we done?
A whale-watching company in Ireland has closed down permanently because huge trawlers have left nothing but "an empty, lifeless sea."
All the dolphins and humpback, minke & fin whales have disappeared, leaving nothing left to watch.
Source in 🧵
#Tigers
Twenty years of unimaginable hell.
Mental & physical torture in her concrete prison on a tiger farm in Thailand.
Abused as a breeding machine to provide cubs for tiger tourism & illegal trade in tiger body parts.
This is where those tiger cubs tourists delight in petting come from.
Twenty years of unimaginable hell.
Mental & physical torture in her concrete prison on a tiger farm in Thailand.
Abused as a breeding machine to provide cubs for tiger tourism & illegal trade in tiger body parts.
This is where those tiger cubs tourists delight in petting come from.
May 17, 2025 at 8:49 AM
#Tigers
Twenty years of unimaginable hell.
Mental & physical torture in her concrete prison on a tiger farm in Thailand.
Abused as a breeding machine to provide cubs for tiger tourism & illegal trade in tiger body parts.
This is where those tiger cubs tourists delight in petting come from.
Twenty years of unimaginable hell.
Mental & physical torture in her concrete prison on a tiger farm in Thailand.
Abused as a breeding machine to provide cubs for tiger tourism & illegal trade in tiger body parts.
This is where those tiger cubs tourists delight in petting come from.
There is only one organization in the world dedicated to the Binturong.
They do important work, inc teaching locals why it's against their interests to kill them for their skins, to eat, for TCM, or to trap as pets.
They are desperate for urgent support if you can help:
abconservation.org/en/
4/4
They do important work, inc teaching locals why it's against their interests to kill them for their skins, to eat, for TCM, or to trap as pets.
They are desperate for urgent support if you can help:
abconservation.org/en/
4/4
May 4, 2025 at 5:43 PM
There is only one organization in the world dedicated to the Binturong.
They do important work, inc teaching locals why it's against their interests to kill them for their skins, to eat, for TCM, or to trap as pets.
They are desperate for urgent support if you can help:
abconservation.org/en/
4/4
They do important work, inc teaching locals why it's against their interests to kill them for their skins, to eat, for TCM, or to trap as pets.
They are desperate for urgent support if you can help:
abconservation.org/en/
4/4
We are utter fools to wipe out species which disperse seeds which restore the forests we destroy.
They have never been more important for the planet and mankind.
Source: Binturong ecology and conservation in pristine, fragmented and degraded tropical forests
cambridge.org/core/journal...
🧵3/4
They have never been more important for the planet and mankind.
Source: Binturong ecology and conservation in pristine, fragmented and degraded tropical forests
cambridge.org/core/journal...
🧵3/4
May 4, 2025 at 5:43 PM
We are utter fools to wipe out species which disperse seeds which restore the forests we destroy.
They have never been more important for the planet and mankind.
Source: Binturong ecology and conservation in pristine, fragmented and degraded tropical forests
cambridge.org/core/journal...
🧵3/4
They have never been more important for the planet and mankind.
Source: Binturong ecology and conservation in pristine, fragmented and degraded tropical forests
cambridge.org/core/journal...
🧵3/4
Few animals suffer in more ways at the hands of humans than the binturong (Arctictis binturong).
Facing national extinctions, not only from massive deforestation in SE Asia, but throughout their range they're eaten, skinned for fur, killed for TCM, trapped for zoos & trafficked as pets.
🧵2/4
Facing national extinctions, not only from massive deforestation in SE Asia, but throughout their range they're eaten, skinned for fur, killed for TCM, trapped for zoos & trafficked as pets.
🧵2/4
May 4, 2025 at 5:43 PM
Few animals suffer in more ways at the hands of humans than the binturong (Arctictis binturong).
Facing national extinctions, not only from massive deforestation in SE Asia, but throughout their range they're eaten, skinned for fur, killed for TCM, trapped for zoos & trafficked as pets.
🧵2/4
Facing national extinctions, not only from massive deforestation in SE Asia, but throughout their range they're eaten, skinned for fur, killed for TCM, trapped for zoos & trafficked as pets.
🧵2/4
#Asia
This is a tragic image from Facebook advertising this binturong for sale as a 'pet'
They are long-lived wild animals, completely unsuitable as pets, as our homes are not a forest, nor are we nocturnal, & imprisonment, deprivation of mate & family is cruel & decimating numbers in wild.
🧵1/4
This is a tragic image from Facebook advertising this binturong for sale as a 'pet'
They are long-lived wild animals, completely unsuitable as pets, as our homes are not a forest, nor are we nocturnal, & imprisonment, deprivation of mate & family is cruel & decimating numbers in wild.
🧵1/4
May 4, 2025 at 5:43 PM
#Asia
This is a tragic image from Facebook advertising this binturong for sale as a 'pet'
They are long-lived wild animals, completely unsuitable as pets, as our homes are not a forest, nor are we nocturnal, & imprisonment, deprivation of mate & family is cruel & decimating numbers in wild.
🧵1/4
This is a tragic image from Facebook advertising this binturong for sale as a 'pet'
They are long-lived wild animals, completely unsuitable as pets, as our homes are not a forest, nor are we nocturnal, & imprisonment, deprivation of mate & family is cruel & decimating numbers in wild.
🧵1/4
Source:
Chinese pangolins facilitate ecological restoration in burned forest sites.
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Chinese pangolins facilitate ecological restoration in burned forest sites.
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
April 30, 2025 at 6:51 AM
Source:
Chinese pangolins facilitate ecological restoration in burned forest sites.
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Chinese pangolins facilitate ecological restoration in burned forest sites.
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
#Pangolins
Chinese pangolins facilitate ecological restoration in burned forest sites.
They are ecosystem engineers: a year after forest fire, birds, animals & plants had all benefited significantly from pangolin activity.
We're wiping out those who can help save us.
Research paper in 🧵
Chinese pangolins facilitate ecological restoration in burned forest sites.
They are ecosystem engineers: a year after forest fire, birds, animals & plants had all benefited significantly from pangolin activity.
We're wiping out those who can help save us.
Research paper in 🧵
April 30, 2025 at 6:51 AM
#Pangolins
Chinese pangolins facilitate ecological restoration in burned forest sites.
They are ecosystem engineers: a year after forest fire, birds, animals & plants had all benefited significantly from pangolin activity.
We're wiping out those who can help save us.
Research paper in 🧵
Chinese pangolins facilitate ecological restoration in burned forest sites.
They are ecosystem engineers: a year after forest fire, birds, animals & plants had all benefited significantly from pangolin activity.
We're wiping out those who can help save us.
Research paper in 🧵
#Antarctica
Gentoo penguin chicks getting by with help from their friends.
Whilst the parents go out to sea to catch food, they survive by huddling together for warmth and protection from predators.
Gentoo penguin chicks getting by with help from their friends.
Whilst the parents go out to sea to catch food, they survive by huddling together for warmth and protection from predators.
April 26, 2025 at 9:09 AM
#Antarctica
Gentoo penguin chicks getting by with help from their friends.
Whilst the parents go out to sea to catch food, they survive by huddling together for warmth and protection from predators.
Gentoo penguin chicks getting by with help from their friends.
Whilst the parents go out to sea to catch food, they survive by huddling together for warmth and protection from predators.
#Vietnam
Delacour's langur: gentle leaf and flower eaters, who regenerate forests by spreading seeds.
Critically endangered, only~200 left in the wild.
Hunted to brink of extinction for traditional medicine and their habitat destroyed by deforestation and limestone quarrying for cement.
Delacour's langur: gentle leaf and flower eaters, who regenerate forests by spreading seeds.
Critically endangered, only~200 left in the wild.
Hunted to brink of extinction for traditional medicine and their habitat destroyed by deforestation and limestone quarrying for cement.
April 23, 2025 at 5:58 AM
#Vietnam
Delacour's langur: gentle leaf and flower eaters, who regenerate forests by spreading seeds.
Critically endangered, only~200 left in the wild.
Hunted to brink of extinction for traditional medicine and their habitat destroyed by deforestation and limestone quarrying for cement.
Delacour's langur: gentle leaf and flower eaters, who regenerate forests by spreading seeds.
Critically endangered, only~200 left in the wild.
Hunted to brink of extinction for traditional medicine and their habitat destroyed by deforestation and limestone quarrying for cement.
What American tourists don't see on safari - the unimaginable squalor of bushmeat & risk of zoonotic disease.
So much talk of national security, but global disease threatens us all - and this U.S. administration is putting everyone in danger.
This excellent thread explains why:🧵
So much talk of national security, but global disease threatens us all - and this U.S. administration is putting everyone in danger.
This excellent thread explains why:🧵
March 28, 2025 at 9:17 PM
What American tourists don't see on safari - the unimaginable squalor of bushmeat & risk of zoonotic disease.
So much talk of national security, but global disease threatens us all - and this U.S. administration is putting everyone in danger.
This excellent thread explains why:🧵
So much talk of national security, but global disease threatens us all - and this U.S. administration is putting everyone in danger.
This excellent thread explains why:🧵
#Climate
An albatross chick lies dying in wet mud on Bird Island.
The tall nest was specially constructed to protect them, but we’ve warmed the world.
Winds are now stronger, so the chicks are blown out of their nests.
A bird who lives on the wind is now dying by the wind.
An albatross chick lies dying in wet mud on Bird Island.
The tall nest was specially constructed to protect them, but we’ve warmed the world.
Winds are now stronger, so the chicks are blown out of their nests.
A bird who lives on the wind is now dying by the wind.
February 11, 2025 at 1:10 PM
#Climate
An albatross chick lies dying in wet mud on Bird Island.
The tall nest was specially constructed to protect them, but we’ve warmed the world.
Winds are now stronger, so the chicks are blown out of their nests.
A bird who lives on the wind is now dying by the wind.
An albatross chick lies dying in wet mud on Bird Island.
The tall nest was specially constructed to protect them, but we’ve warmed the world.
Winds are now stronger, so the chicks are blown out of their nests.
A bird who lives on the wind is now dying by the wind.
#StormÉowyn
We can take refuge from extreme weather in our homes, but most wildlife suffers the full force.
Seabirds are particularly vulnerable; puffins die in their thousands in powerful storms.
A warming world is littered with their battered bodies.
We can take refuge from extreme weather in our homes, but most wildlife suffers the full force.
Seabirds are particularly vulnerable; puffins die in their thousands in powerful storms.
A warming world is littered with their battered bodies.
January 24, 2025 at 10:51 AM
#StormÉowyn
We can take refuge from extreme weather in our homes, but most wildlife suffers the full force.
Seabirds are particularly vulnerable; puffins die in their thousands in powerful storms.
A warming world is littered with their battered bodies.
We can take refuge from extreme weather in our homes, but most wildlife suffers the full force.
Seabirds are particularly vulnerable; puffins die in their thousands in powerful storms.
A warming world is littered with their battered bodies.
#Wildlilfe
A property developer near Dublin, Ireland buried alive a family of badgers in their sett.
Many tons of clay and large tree trunks were piled on top of their home, leaving them no chance of escape.
He appealed his conviction and walked free. 🧵1/
A property developer near Dublin, Ireland buried alive a family of badgers in their sett.
Many tons of clay and large tree trunks were piled on top of their home, leaving them no chance of escape.
He appealed his conviction and walked free. 🧵1/
January 19, 2025 at 1:18 AM
#Wildlilfe
A property developer near Dublin, Ireland buried alive a family of badgers in their sett.
Many tons of clay and large tree trunks were piled on top of their home, leaving them no chance of escape.
He appealed his conviction and walked free. 🧵1/
A property developer near Dublin, Ireland buried alive a family of badgers in their sett.
Many tons of clay and large tree trunks were piled on top of their home, leaving them no chance of escape.
He appealed his conviction and walked free. 🧵1/
#Brazil
A Giant armadillo showing her superb excavating tools.
>150 burrows dug each year provide homes & refuge for an astonishing 80 recorded species.
Hunted for meat & claws, with shrinking habitat, they are increasingly rare.
Their loss to the ecosystem and biodiversity would be incalculable.
A Giant armadillo showing her superb excavating tools.
>150 burrows dug each year provide homes & refuge for an astonishing 80 recorded species.
Hunted for meat & claws, with shrinking habitat, they are increasingly rare.
Their loss to the ecosystem and biodiversity would be incalculable.
December 14, 2024 at 3:50 PM
#Brazil
A Giant armadillo showing her superb excavating tools.
>150 burrows dug each year provide homes & refuge for an astonishing 80 recorded species.
Hunted for meat & claws, with shrinking habitat, they are increasingly rare.
Their loss to the ecosystem and biodiversity would be incalculable.
A Giant armadillo showing her superb excavating tools.
>150 burrows dug each year provide homes & refuge for an astonishing 80 recorded species.
Hunted for meat & claws, with shrinking habitat, they are increasingly rare.
Their loss to the ecosystem and biodiversity would be incalculable.
#Biodiversity #Extinction
On the left: the problem.
On the right: the solution.
When a species is wiped out, they won't care; we are the losers, and we need to start cherishing and protecting our fellow inhabitants of this planet as a priority, not an afterthought.
Money won't bring them back.
On the left: the problem.
On the right: the solution.
When a species is wiped out, they won't care; we are the losers, and we need to start cherishing and protecting our fellow inhabitants of this planet as a priority, not an afterthought.
Money won't bring them back.
December 4, 2024 at 5:02 AM
#Biodiversity #Extinction
On the left: the problem.
On the right: the solution.
When a species is wiped out, they won't care; we are the losers, and we need to start cherishing and protecting our fellow inhabitants of this planet as a priority, not an afterthought.
Money won't bring them back.
On the left: the problem.
On the right: the solution.
When a species is wiped out, they won't care; we are the losers, and we need to start cherishing and protecting our fellow inhabitants of this planet as a priority, not an afterthought.
Money won't bring them back.
What soybeans are used for:
77% of global soy is fed to livestock for meat & dairy production.
Most of the rest is used for biofuels, industry or vegetable oils.
Just 7% of soy is used directly for human food products, such as tofu, tempeh & soy milk.
77% of global soy is fed to livestock for meat & dairy production.
Most of the rest is used for biofuels, industry or vegetable oils.
Just 7% of soy is used directly for human food products, such as tofu, tempeh & soy milk.
December 2, 2024 at 3:36 PM
What soybeans are used for:
77% of global soy is fed to livestock for meat & dairy production.
Most of the rest is used for biofuels, industry or vegetable oils.
Just 7% of soy is used directly for human food products, such as tofu, tempeh & soy milk.
77% of global soy is fed to livestock for meat & dairy production.
Most of the rest is used for biofuels, industry or vegetable oils.
Just 7% of soy is used directly for human food products, such as tofu, tempeh & soy milk.
#Wildlife
A maned wolf drowned in a new soybean irrigation canal in Brazil.
Three generations of the family were later found also drowned.
Extensive scratch marks were seen where they’d frantically tried to escape, but the slippery plastic canal liner made it impossible.
A maned wolf drowned in a new soybean irrigation canal in Brazil.
Three generations of the family were later found also drowned.
Extensive scratch marks were seen where they’d frantically tried to escape, but the slippery plastic canal liner made it impossible.
December 2, 2024 at 3:34 PM
#Wildlife
A maned wolf drowned in a new soybean irrigation canal in Brazil.
Three generations of the family were later found also drowned.
Extensive scratch marks were seen where they’d frantically tried to escape, but the slippery plastic canal liner made it impossible.
A maned wolf drowned in a new soybean irrigation canal in Brazil.
Three generations of the family were later found also drowned.
Extensive scratch marks were seen where they’d frantically tried to escape, but the slippery plastic canal liner made it impossible.
#Brazil #Ocean
Millions of seahorses are not the only casualties of shrimp trawlers; here is another tragic victim:
The Groovebelly Stingray (Dasyatis hypostigma).
A fascinating species, numbers have plummeted ~ 80% in the past 30 yrs.
Industrial bottom trawling is ravaging marine ecosystems.
Millions of seahorses are not the only casualties of shrimp trawlers; here is another tragic victim:
The Groovebelly Stingray (Dasyatis hypostigma).
A fascinating species, numbers have plummeted ~ 80% in the past 30 yrs.
Industrial bottom trawling is ravaging marine ecosystems.
November 29, 2024 at 11:25 AM
#Dolphins
Weeping tears of blood:
Franciscana (Pontoporia blainvillei) suffer severely as they live close to human activity along the coasts of Brazil, Uruguay & Argentina.
Trawlers destroy their prey & toxic chemicals pollute their world.
This dolphin died in a fishing net.
2/2
Weeping tears of blood:
Franciscana (Pontoporia blainvillei) suffer severely as they live close to human activity along the coasts of Brazil, Uruguay & Argentina.
Trawlers destroy their prey & toxic chemicals pollute their world.
This dolphin died in a fishing net.
2/2
November 27, 2024 at 11:39 AM
#Dolphins
Weeping tears of blood:
Franciscana (Pontoporia blainvillei) suffer severely as they live close to human activity along the coasts of Brazil, Uruguay & Argentina.
Trawlers destroy their prey & toxic chemicals pollute their world.
This dolphin died in a fishing net.
2/2
Weeping tears of blood:
Franciscana (Pontoporia blainvillei) suffer severely as they live close to human activity along the coasts of Brazil, Uruguay & Argentina.
Trawlers destroy their prey & toxic chemicals pollute their world.
This dolphin died in a fishing net.
2/2
#Rio
My team & I are back in Brazil, where the highly-threatened Franciscana dolphins struggle to survive.
Every year thousands die in gillnets, and orphaned newborns need round-the-clock care.
🧵1/
My team & I are back in Brazil, where the highly-threatened Franciscana dolphins struggle to survive.
Every year thousands die in gillnets, and orphaned newborns need round-the-clock care.
🧵1/
November 27, 2024 at 11:39 AM
#Rio
My team & I are back in Brazil, where the highly-threatened Franciscana dolphins struggle to survive.
Every year thousands die in gillnets, and orphaned newborns need round-the-clock care.
🧵1/
My team & I are back in Brazil, where the highly-threatened Franciscana dolphins struggle to survive.
Every year thousands die in gillnets, and orphaned newborns need round-the-clock care.
🧵1/
#Birds
There used to be millions—now African penguins are on the brink of extinction—and it's all our fault.
They could be gone in less than 4,000 days.
In this link there's a petition to sign to protect their food sources effectively (takes 5 seconds):
birdlife.org/news/2024/11...
There used to be millions—now African penguins are on the brink of extinction—and it's all our fault.
They could be gone in less than 4,000 days.
In this link there's a petition to sign to protect their food sources effectively (takes 5 seconds):
birdlife.org/news/2024/11...
November 22, 2024 at 9:12 PM
#Birds
There used to be millions—now African penguins are on the brink of extinction—and it's all our fault.
They could be gone in less than 4,000 days.
In this link there's a petition to sign to protect their food sources effectively (takes 5 seconds):
birdlife.org/news/2024/11...
There used to be millions—now African penguins are on the brink of extinction—and it's all our fault.
They could be gone in less than 4,000 days.
In this link there's a petition to sign to protect their food sources effectively (takes 5 seconds):
birdlife.org/news/2024/11...
You'll be glad to hear this bear was rescued, treated for injuries, and set free, but habitat destruction, hunting for TCM, killing mother bears for cubs for the pet trade & human/bear conflict as we encroach into their native territory means their numbers are decreasing.
November 19, 2024 at 10:06 AM
You'll be glad to hear this bear was rescued, treated for injuries, and set free, but habitat destruction, hunting for TCM, killing mother bears for cubs for the pet trade & human/bear conflict as we encroach into their native territory means their numbers are decreasing.
#HabitatDestruction
A young sloth bear torn by barbed wire, a snare gripping his left forelimb.
We are making life impossible for wildlife.
We act as if we only need livestock for our survival.
Species are not passively being lost; we are actively exterminating them.
A young sloth bear torn by barbed wire, a snare gripping his left forelimb.
We are making life impossible for wildlife.
We act as if we only need livestock for our survival.
Species are not passively being lost; we are actively exterminating them.
November 19, 2024 at 8:34 AM
#HabitatDestruction
A young sloth bear torn by barbed wire, a snare gripping his left forelimb.
We are making life impossible for wildlife.
We act as if we only need livestock for our survival.
Species are not passively being lost; we are actively exterminating them.
A young sloth bear torn by barbed wire, a snare gripping his left forelimb.
We are making life impossible for wildlife.
We act as if we only need livestock for our survival.
Species are not passively being lost; we are actively exterminating them.