Researching animal behavior and evolution to understand resilience and vulnerability in changing ecosystems
Current Stories
NEW: Handbook of Marine Mammals (2026)
Read the Chapter on the Beluga Whale where Kim Shelden and Greg O'Corry-Crowe teamed up to write a detailed review of our current knowledge on this fascinating species including the most recent scientific discoveries
Read the full story by Shelden and O'Corry-Crowe (2026)
The Jerash Trilogy, Part 3: Who were the victims of the Justinian plague?
Male beluga whales target deep waters in summer when foraging in the Eastern Beaufort Sea
Genetic evidence that the world's first pandemic was caused by the plague
Use of autonomous wave gliders to characterize dolphin habitats along Florida's Atlantic coast
Localization and tracking of beluga whales in aerial video using artificial intelligence
Strategic sex: Alaska’s beluga whales swap mates for long-term survival
Read recent media:
Why Alaska beluga whales have swinging sex lives
Scientists take DNA from 623 beluga whales in Alaska. What they discover surprises them all
DNA tests reveal mysterious beluga family trees
Strategic sex: Alaska’s beluga whales swap mates for long-term survival
Podcasts:
NPR's Wait, Wait...Don't Tell Me - "Belugas are sexual clingers" Limerick (37:20)
talkRADIO with Paul Ross, Feb 6, 2026
Read the fully study by O'Corry-Crowe et al.
USF and FAU researchers solve 1,500 year old mystery: The bacterium behind the first pandemic
WEB lab part of international team that uncovers the complex evolutionary history of the plague
Use of tusks by narwhals,
Monodon monoceros, in foraging, exploratory, and play behavior
DNA from scat reveal that the seals in Iliamna Lake, Alaska are genetically divergent from marine populations