Understanding changing ocean ecosystems through the lens of marine predators

We are living in a time of unprecedented global environmental change, with marine ecosystems undergoing rapid transformations due to climate variability, oceanographic shifts, and human activities. Marine predators such as cetaceans (whales, dolphins, and porpoises) and seabirds play a crucial role in these ecosystems, integrating ocean processes across space, time, and trophic levels. As such, studying their distribution, behavior, and habitat use provides valuable insights into ecosystem health and change. In this seminar, I will share case studies from research in Aotearoa New Zealand and the Northern California Current. I will discuss how interdisciplinary approaches—including at-sea surveys, oceanographic sampling, passive acoustic monitoring, and distribution modeling—can be integrated to enhance our understanding of marine predator ecology while also assessing the impacts of environmental change on marine ecosystems.