Emma Luck

My husband and I recently visited Hokkaido, Japan. One of my favorite parts of the trip was discovering the delightful mascot of Wakkanai, Japan: Dashinosuke, a spotted seal that ate so much local kelp his limbs turned to seaweed 🦭

At the Neptune Islands, 12 years of observational + acoustic data show white sharks respond to killer whale presence with short-term avoidance, not long-term disappearance. Context matters. Killer whales aren’t always a driver of shark absence. 🔗 connectsci.au/wr/article/5...

Preprint: our systematic review of hybrids between blue whales and fin whales. There are 46 possible cases, of which 17 have been genetically confirmed (15 from the North Atlantic!) doi.org/10.22541/au....

And some terrestrial Costa Rican wildlife! Seeing a resplendent quetzal was AMAZING—they live only in cloud forests in parts of southern Mexico and Central America and can be difficult to spot! Certainly the most exquisite bird I’ve ever seen. The sloths and toucans are incredible too! 🦥

Starting off 2026 with new cetaceans! I am in Costa Rica and saw my first false killer whales a few days ago off the coast of Uvita 🇨🇷

Booming sea otters and fading shellfish spark values clash in Alaska

Wild map: all the places in the world where killer whales take fish from fishing activities, often right off hooks on lines By @emmaluck22.bsky.social et al. www.frontiersin.org/journals/mar...

Frontiers | A global review of operational fishery interactions with killer whales (Orcinus orca): dynamics, impacts, and management strategies

Accepted! I can’t wait to share more soon! 🤩

Some exciting news to share—I recently started a new position as an Alaska Sea Grant State Fellow! For the next year, I’ll be working with the Alaska Mariculture Alliance on policy and other topics related to Alaska’s budding mariculture industry 🌊 🦪🌱 alaskaseagrant.org/2025/08/alas...

The culprit of the mass seastar deaths in the Pacific was not a virus as thought, but a Vibrio bacteria strain www.washington.edu/news/2025/08...

Every now and then I catch my cat Sushi staring at photos of killer whales with remarkable intensity… They do say pets take after their owners!

Alaska's Rep. Nick Begich has proposed text that would drastically weaken the incredible Marine Mammal Protection Act. Cooper Freeman, the Center's Alaska director, explains why these changes would be terrible for Alaskans and the state's wildlife. 👇 www.adn.com/opinions/202...

An orca emoji is FINALLY on its way! 🎉 mashable.com/article/new-...

Last weekend was a delight—I observed my first bubble net feeding humpback whales and got to see the AD8s and AJs! (Resident pods of killer whales)

If anybody has recommendations for public policy/interdisciplinary PhD programs in Australia or New Zealand that accept international students, I am all ears 👀

A recent piece I made describing 4 different stocks/populations of resident killer whales found in the North Pacific Ocean! ⬇️

BREAKING: Scientists are staging a “science fair” in the lobby of a Congressional building to tell elected officials about the critical knowledge the US will lose because their research grants have been canceled.

Living in Alaska means having a constant panicky feeling in July because you can feel summer slipping away and you have not done nearly enough summer activities yet

New free book: "Marine mammal acoustics in a noisy ocean", looks like an incredible intro to how sound works in the ocean and an overview of some of the big outstanding questions and answers. By Erbe et al. link.springer.com/book/10.1007...

The administration's FY26 budget request for NOAA includes terminating the entire Sea Grant program. The Sea Grant Association will be sending this letter highlighting impacts in IL + IN to congressional delegations - please consider adding your name in support docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...

Yesterday I had some great encounters with killer whales! We saw the AT1 transients (Bigg’s) in the morning, and then found the AK6 matriline (residents) later in the afternoon. My first time seeing two killer whale subspecies in the same day!

My trip to Japan was a dream—northeastern Hokkaido is one of the most beautiful places I have ever been to.

Japan’s Shiretoko Peninsula is every bit as magical as I hoped it would be. Here are some resident killer whales we saw yesterday in Nemuro Strait!

Hello from Japan! 🇯🇵 Day 1 highlights included a visit to the Tokyo University of Marine Science and Technology. They have a fully articulated western gray whale and a North Pacific right whale, as well as various other skeletons and specimens.

My first, first-author paper is SUBMITTED! 🎉

Help contribute to marine research! ⬇️🦈

Master of Marine Policy: ✅ Onto the next adventure! 🌿🌊🐟🐋

Since there are animals and other stuff also sitting atop the sea floor that will die when you trawl up these nodules, maybe you should also consider environmental impacts.

Cuts to @noaa.gov have devastating impacts for the seafood and aquaculture industries and put our food and communities at risk. Loved this article from @mongabay.bsky.social about the real-world, real-time impacts of attacks on NOAA staff and funding: bit.ly/4irn6uw