Leila Fouda
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leilafouda.bsky.social
Leila Fouda
@leilafouda.bsky.social
1K followers 1.6K following 37 posts
Ecologist. Interests: human impacts, species interactions, movement dynamics & animal behaviour. Postdoc @UNBSaintJohn working on North Atlantic right whale Conservation. She/Her/Hers

leilafouda.com
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leilafouda.bsky.social
North Atlantic right whale numbers estimated at 384. An increase in eight whales from last year - report today by the North Atlantic Right Whale Consortium. Slow population growth trend over the past four years gaining more than 7% of their 2020 population. 🦑🐋🧪🌍
www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...
Scientists say North Atlantic right whale population slowly increasing
Once hunted to the brink of extinction, the most venerable of the leviathans now numbers 384, up eight from past year
www.theguardian.com
October 21, 2025 at 7:28 PM
Reposted by Leila Fouda
petercorkeron.bsky.social
Another great paper on baleen whales & calving
🐳🌍🦑🧪
October 6, 2025 at 11:15 PM
Reposted by Leila Fouda
marinemammalsau.bsky.social
Our recent study in the #MarineEcologyProgressSeries
highlights how body size, condition, and human impacts shape the survival of right whales & why they are so vulnerable to prey limitation and disturbance 🐋

🔗 in thread

#Conservation #WhaleResearch #RightWhales #OceanHealth #MarineScience 🌐🌏🧪🌱
📸 Southern right whale: Fredrik Christiansen, Aarhus University 📸 North Atlantic right whale: Center for Coastal Studies, taken under NOAA permit #24359 👉 Link to paper: https://www.int-res.com/abstracts/meps/v768/meps14914
September 8, 2025 at 8:04 AM
leilafouda.bsky.social
New Paper: Perceived and observed biases within scientific communities: a case study in movement ecology - "Who conducts biological research, where they do it and how results are disseminated vary among geographies and identities." doi.org/10.1098/rspb... 🧪🌍 #bias #research #science #academia
Perceived and observed biases within scientific communities: a case study in movement ecology | Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences
Who conducts biological research, where they do it and how results are disseminated vary among geographies and identities. Identifying and documenting these forms of bias by research communities is a ...
doi.org
July 23, 2025 at 5:22 PM
leilafouda.bsky.social
"The myth of meritocracy...collapses under the financial sacrifices expected at every career stage... the hidden costs of ‘doing science’ are profound. These burdens disproportionately exclude those without generational wealth, compounded by race and gender. An important read #STEM #Academia 🧪
June 26, 2025 at 8:42 PM
Reposted by Leila Fouda
trevorabranch.bsky.social
Anyone interested in blue whales and want to apply for a Simons Fellowship (due 31 July)? Do let me know, I have some projects in mind.
www.simonsfoundation.org/grant/simons...
Simons Graduate Fellowships in Ecology and Evolution
The purpose of these awards is to provide support for students entering U.S.-based Ph.D. programs with a plan to perform research in ecology and evolution. While we will consider all projects in ecolo...
www.simonsfoundation.org
June 2, 2025 at 5:15 PM
Reposted by Leila Fouda
bas.ac.uk
The Penguin Book of Penguins!

Coming later this year: a beautifully illustrated book about the world’s most beloved bird, written by British Antarctic Survey’s Peter Fretwell @ptfretwell.bsky.social

What better day to reveal the cover the #WorldPenguinDay? ⬇️
April 25, 2025 at 2:13 PM
Reposted by Leila Fouda
charliejgardner.bsky.social
"The bill pretends that everything is tradeable. You can destroy an ancient woodland, as long as you deliver an 'overall improvement' in woodland cover, namely saplings in plastic tubes."

Reminder that the only way to replace a 200 year old tree is to plant a tree and wait 200 years
Labour’s great nature sellout is the worst attack on England’s ecosystems I’ve seen in my lifetime | George Monbiot
The horrifying planning bill, which rips up environmental protections, was drafted with CEOs in mind. We know because Keir Starmer told us, says Guardian columnist George Monbiot
www.theguardian.com
April 24, 2025 at 7:09 PM
Reposted by Leila Fouda
bas.ac.uk
Grab a coffee and find out how 18,000 years ago you might have spotted megabergs off the coast of the UK!
April 24, 2025 at 12:45 PM
Reposted by Leila Fouda
chillocean.bsky.social
NOAA just announced a long list of datasets that are going away🧪⚒️🌊: www.nesdis.noaa.gov/about/docume...
Download what you need asap and send comments to: ncei.info@noaa.gov
Notice of Changes
Notices of changes are formal public announcements of planned services changes to applications and other products.
www.nesdis.noaa.gov
April 17, 2025 at 12:44 AM
Reposted by Leila Fouda
whysharksmatter.bsky.social
New paper!

Social media for fisheries science and management professionals: How to use Bluesky and Instagram, and why you should.

This is the *first* paper in the peer reviewed scientific literature to explain how Bluesky works and how to use it for #SciComm 🧪🦑🐠

academic.oup.com/fisheries/ad...
Social media for fisheries science and management professionals: How to use Bluesky and Instagram, and why you should
ABSTRACT. Social media tools have revolutionized how people communicate with one another. A 2018 paper in Fisheries summarized the use of Twitter, Facebook
academic.oup.com
April 11, 2025 at 12:09 PM
leilafouda.bsky.social
Effect of oceanic conditions on humpback whale behaviour modelled. During migration whales engage in feeding & rely on environmental cues & memory of conditions to start migration to arrive at krill bloom. Unclear if whales will succeed tracking prey in changing climate doi.org/10.1038/s415... 🦑🐋🧪🌍
Migratory behaviour of humpback whales in the southeastern Pacific under climate change - Scientific Reports
Scientific Reports - Migratory behaviour of humpback whales in the southeastern Pacific under climate change
doi.org
April 3, 2025 at 1:38 PM
Reposted by Leila Fouda
biologicaldiversity.org
The Center and allies have moved to intervene in a lawsuit challenging a 2008 federal rule protecting North Atlantic right whales from speeding ships and other vessels.

Learn more: biodiv.us/4jzUEb9
Aerial view of a North Atlantic right whale swimming in blue ocean water with pieces of seaweed floating around.
April 2, 2025 at 6:02 PM
leilafouda.bsky.social
Movie Day in class today aka Timbits & Tissues. We aired Last Of The Right Whales as part of the conservation conversation. Sharing work done across the North Atlantic, by our lab & our many brilliant colleagues trying to save the North Atlantic right whale. #Whales #Conservation #NARW #Teaching 🐋 🌎
Students watching last of the right whales. Immediately at the front of the photo is a light turquoise yeti of coffee and a pile of tissues A large box of Timbits on top or a large box of tissues!
March 27, 2025 at 3:28 PM
Reposted by Leila Fouda
scrippsocean.bsky.social
⭐ A newly discovered sea star has been named after a group of children representing the latest generation of the Scripps family, who have supported Scripps Oceanography for over a century! 🌊 Meet the Scripps Cousins Wood-Dwelling Seastar, also known as the Caymanostella scrippscognaticausa.
Seastar Named for Youngest Cousins of Scripps Family
A seastar that specializes in living on pieces of wood that have fallen into the ocean is among the top 10 new marine species described by researchers in 2024. And in the case of this particular inver...
scripps.ucsd.edu
March 26, 2025 at 4:14 PM
Reposted by Leila Fouda
bas.ac.uk
Year-end scramble getting you down? ⏳

Applications for lots of our Antarctic #jobs are closing in the next week. They include vehicles manager at Halley, and Radio Operator and IT Engineer at Rothera Research Station.

These are jobs unlike any other, in one of the most beautiful places on Earth ⬇️
Seriously remote work, in Antarctica. The photo is of Halley Research Station, stretching into the distance on a flat white polar landscape, with the label 'Today's Office'
March 25, 2025 at 12:13 PM
Reposted by Leila Fouda
tkingfisher.com
Who wants some good news?

The overwintering monarch population, which had plummeted last winter, has doubled this winter! www.worldwildlife.org/stories/east...
Eastern Monarch Butterfly Population Nearly Doubles
The population wintering in central Mexico's forests occupied 4.42 acres, up from 2.22 acres during the previous winter.
www.worldwildlife.org
March 18, 2025 at 5:32 AM
Reposted by Leila Fouda
huwiceandstuff.bsky.social
Minke mania today! Minke #whales came to check us out! #biopole2
@bas.ac.uk @biopole.bsky.social
March 14, 2025 at 5:58 PM
Reposted by Leila Fouda
kaiamattioli.bsky.social
born too late to get a two Western blot Nature paper, born too early to be a science TikTokker, born just in time to start a postdoc during a global pandemic and look for faculty positions during a historic hiring freeze
March 10, 2025 at 4:32 PM
Reposted by Leila Fouda
astrokatie.com
There's a #LunarEclipse tonight! If you're in the dark region here, and if you have a view of the Moon at the right time, you'll see the eclipse. Check www.timeanddate.com/eclipse/luna... for more info and timings for the eclipse in your location. (Here on the East Coast, totality peaks around 3am.)
A map of where the eclipse will be visible. The darkened part of the map covers the entirety of North and South America and touches the western edge of Africa and Europe.
March 13, 2025 at 1:51 PM
Reposted by Leila Fouda
whysharksmatter.bsky.social
We ( @drcatmac.bsky.social and I) are writing a marine conservation science and policy textbook!

We'd love to include case studies of ocean conservation success stories, and we welcome submissions of ideas here: docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...

Please be clear and detailed!

🧪🦑🌎🐟
Call for submissions of ocean conservation success case studies.
March 11, 2025 at 1:40 PM
Reposted by Leila Fouda
ambonacolta.bsky.social
"Male blue-lined octopuses inject females with venom during mating to avoid being eaten by their partners"

🐙 Octopuses never cease to amaze me. Also perfect headline for the week of Gaga's new album
www.nature.com/articles/d41...

Refers to Chung et al here: www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Bad romance: male octopuses inject deadly venom into their mates
The paralysing toxin deployed by the male blue-lined octopus might help to protect him from being eaten.
www.nature.com
March 12, 2025 at 2:49 PM
Reposted by Leila Fouda
whalescientists.bsky.social
We recap the whole study here: whalescientists.com/the-great-wh...
The Great Whale Conveyor Belt: Earth's Largest Mammals Keep Oceans Thriving
Large whales operate what scientists have called “the Great Whale Conveyor Belt,” the largest long-distance nutrient transport on Earth.
whalescientists.com
March 10, 2025 at 4:35 PM
leilafouda.bsky.social
The great whale conveyor belt of pee, skin, dead bodies & poop!! Whales transport ~4,000 tons of nitrogen yearly to low-nutrient coastal areas in the tropics and subtropics. Species recovery might help to restore nutrient movement by whales in global oceans! doi.org/10.1038/s414...
🦑 🐋 🧪 🌍
Migrating baleen whales transport high-latitude nutrients to tropical and subtropical ecosystems - Nature Communications
Baleen whales migrate from high latitude feeding grounds to subtropical reproductive winter grounds, translocating limiting nutrients across ecosystems. This study estimates the latitudinal movement o...
doi.org
March 10, 2025 at 3:28 PM
leilafouda.bsky.social
So proud of @eubalaenagina.bsky.social and her next exciting steps at The Marine Mammal Center in California! I am really glad we got to overlap at UNB and I will be following along as you do more brilliant science! May we all continue to fight as hard as Gina does for the world and people around us
eubalaenagina.bsky.social Gina Lonati, PhD @eubalaenagina.bsky.social · Mar 4
In light of many friends and colleagues losing their jobs in the #biology sector, I have mixed feelings sharing the latest update in my life... 💙 (1/4)
March 5, 2025 at 5:09 PM