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Open research questions in Marine animal studies overview

529 gap statements mined from Marine animal studies overview papers in our 7.9M-paper local library, which holds 2,252 papers on the topic — drawn mostly from each paper's own stated research gap, future-work, challenge and limitation notes, and its abstract. The ones listed below are a selection still marked open; each names the study that raised it, with a DOI link where the paper has one.

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What the literature leaves open

  • Although the energetic consequences estimated in this study represent theoretical scenarios and remain to be empirically quantified, the relative loss in foraging efficiency compared with undisturbed periods is evident, and thus, the risk of repeated feeding disruptions during a key foraging season should not be underestimated.

    Escalating competition in changing seas: baleen whales exploit killer whale prey herding · 2026 · DOI

  • On the other hand, a good nutritional status, recent ingested prey in the forestomach, lack of evidence of other diseases, marks of fishing gear, intravascular multiorgan gas bubbles, amputations or sharp incisions and ocular redness (hyphema) were significantly more frequent in establishing the diagnosis of bycatch.

    Bycatch in Cetaceans from the North-Western Mediterranean Sea: Retrospective Study of Lesions and Utility of Bycatch Criteria · 2025 · DOI

  • To enhance the reliability of acoustic monitoring in urban aquatic settings, future research should focus on developing hybrid indices that integrate multiple acoustic metrics, improving classification performance.

    Busy Urban Soundscape Underwater: Acoustic Indicators vs. Hydrophone Data · 2025 · DOI

  • The need to evaluate numerous parameters to provide a holistic appraisal of an animal's welfare state. The challenge of developing a comprehensive tool suitable for marine animals under human care.

    Dolphin-WET—Development of a Welfare Evaluation Tool for Bottlenose Dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) under Human Care · 2024 · DOI

  • The large number of acoustic recordings required the development of an automated detection algorithm. The varying quality of the recordings and the presence of background noise posed challenges for the detection algorithm. The limited information on the distribution and seasonality of the Omura's whale in Australia made it difficult to interpret the results.

    Distribution and Seasonality of the Omura’s Whale (Balaenoptera omurai) in Australia Based on Passive Acoustic Recordings · 2024 · DOI

  • The study highlights the need for improved environmental assessment methodologies to protect the dolphin habitat.

    Long-Term Variations in Habitat Use of Humpback Dolphins Due to Anthropogenic Activities in Western Pearl River Estuary · 2024 · DOI

  • There is a need to understand the effects of vessel traffic on dolphin behavior in the Tagus Estuary. The study aims to address the gap in knowledge on the impact of vessel traffic on common dolphins.

    The Effects of Vessel Traffic on the Behavior Patterns of Common Dolphins in the Tagus Estuary (Portugal) · 2024 · DOI

  • It also highlights the need for comparative studies of innovative behavior across species.

    Training the Concept of Innovate in Dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) Is Both Creative and Cognitively Stimulating · 2024 · DOI

  • Though there has been much documentation of short-term behavioral and physiological responses to disturbance caused by drones, the long-term ecological effects remain to be exhaustively explored.

    Impact of Drone Disturbances on Wildlife: A Review · 2025 · DOI

  • However, the technology has not been extensively explored at frequencies above a few hundred Hz due to certain limitations.

    Exploring the potential of distributed acoustic sensing for fish bioacoustics · 2026 · DOI

  • Because our recordings do not cover all hours of the day, a direct comparison with the Atwain data is limited.

    Passive acoustic detection of bearded seal vocalizations in the Southern Nansen Basin, Central Arctic Ocean · 2026 · DOI

  • Yet whale–whaler relationships remain poorly understood and are increasingly compromised under the triple planetary crisis of climate change, biodiversity loss and pollution.

    Climate Change, Local Harvests and Marine Contamination: A Perspective on Cetacean Populations and Coastal Whaling Communities · 2026 · DOI

  • When empirical bycatch data are limited, risk‐based assessments offer a valuable tool for identifying areas where marine mammals and fisheries are most likely to interact.

    Mapping Seasonal Interaction Risk Between Harbour Porpoises and Gillnet Fisheries to Inform Management Thresholds · 2026 · DOI

  • Although protected under European legislation, monitoring and mitigation efforts in Ireland remain insufficient to fully assess and address bycatch.

    Mapping Seasonal Interaction Risk Between Harbour Porpoises and Gillnet Fisheries to Inform Management Thresholds · 2026 · DOI

  • Future research should focus on fine‐scale, site‐specific data collection, including benthic habitat mapping, water quality monitoring, prey availability and spatial risk assessments, to improve understanding of ecosystem functioning in dolphin hotspots.

    Persistent Hotspots and Seasonal Habitat Use of Indo‐Pacific Bottlenose Dolphins ( Tursiops aduncus ) in an Urban Marine Protected Area · 2026 · DOI

  • Little is known about how these interactions vary with intrinsic factors such as age, a key knowledge gap.

    Effect of fishing effort on the foraging behaviour of adult and immature Black-browed Albatrosses Thalassarche melanophris · 2026 · DOI

  • We also performed assay validations for DHEA(S), as this hormone has not been assessed in keratin.

    What normal used to be: Longitudinal adrenal, reproductive, and thyroid hormone profiles from four bowhead whales during a period of Arctic stability · 2026 · DOI

  • This field report presents several observations and lessons learned from an Inuit hunt to demonstrate that there are many different research topics that future field campaigns could strive to investigate more fully in collaboration with hunters. We undertook boat-based observations that differed from classic marine surveys because our boat was relatively stationary.

    Inuit hunt as a platform for observing narwhals (Monodon monoceros) in Inglefield Bredning (Kangerlussuaq), Greenland · 2026 · DOI

  • Our field observations, although limited to a single specimen, seem to confirm the limited range of movements of Weddell seals for foraging, as we saw it returning and resting in the same place after hunting for a month or more.

    Fish prey of the Weddell seal Leptonychotes weddellii from coastal waters off the Kyiv Peninsula (Antarctica) · 2026 · DOI

  • However, transcriptome studies of cetacean blubber have been limited by the high lipid and structural fibre content of this tissue, which typically yields low-quality RNA that is not suitable for sequencing.

    Optimized methods for obtaining sequencing-quality RNA from blubber of free-ranging cetaceans collected under field conditions · 2026 · DOI

  • Further scientific validation of the indicators is needed, - Investigation of the impact of water and air temperatures on dolphin behaviour and health, - Study of the effects of aggression on dolphin…

    Dolphin-WET—Development of a Welfare Evaluation Tool for Bottlenose Dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) under Human Care · 2024 · DOI

  • Further research on the function of Omura's whale vocalisation, - Further research on whether Omura's whale vocalisation is a male-only trait or associated with different behaviours or seasons, - Further research of acoustic data with genetic observations to determine if there are different acoustic populations of Omura's whales around…

    Distribution and Seasonality of the Omura’s Whale (Balaenoptera omurai) in Australia Based on Passive Acoustic Recordings · 2024 · DOI

  • Improved environmental assessment methodologies should be adopted in the planning and regulation of aquaculture activities, - Further research on the impact of anthropogenic activities on humpback dolphin habitats is needed, - Studies on the effects of aquaculture expansion on dolphin habitats should be…

    Long-Term Variations in Habitat Use of Humpback Dolphins Due to Anthropogenic Activities in Western Pearl River Estuary · 2024 · DOI

  • Given our limited data, it is not possible to differentiate between the direct effects of warmer habitats on thermoregulation versus the indirect effect…

    Metabolic rates and water influx of free-ranging bottlenose dolphins in Sarasota Bay, Florida · 2026 · DOI

  • No behavioral responses (movement or avoidance) but increased stress…

    Impact of Drone Disturbances on Wildlife: A Review · 2025 · DOI

Most-cited papers in Marine animal studies overview

Most recent work

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This page shows what the Marine animal studies overview literature already flags as unresolved. To narrow it to your specific question, search the Research Gap Finder: the search is free with a free account and lists the papers closest to your topic first. Unlocking that topic (50 credits, charged once) fills the comparison table from our 7.9M-paper local library and writes the gaps from its rows.

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Open questions raised by papers listed on this page include: (1) Yet whale–whaler relationships remain poorly understood and are increasingly compromised under the triple planetary crisis of climate change, biodiversity loss and pollution (“Climate Change, Local Harvests and Marine Contamination: A Perspective on…”, 2026); (2) Little is known about how these interactions vary with intrinsic factors such as age, a key knowledge gap (“Effect of fishing effort on the foraging behaviour of adult and immature…”, 2026); (3) To enhance the reliability of acoustic monitoring in urban aquatic settings, future research should focus on developing hybrid indices that integrate multiple acoustic metrics, improving classification performance (“Busy Urban Soundscape Underwater: Acoustic Indicators vs. Hydrophone Data”, 2025); (4) Though there has been much documentation of short-term behavioral and physiological responses to disturbance caused by drones, the long-term ecological effects remain to be exhaustively explored (“Impact of Drone Disturbances on Wildlife: A Review”, 2025); (5) There is a need to understand the effects of vessel traffic on dolphin behavior in the Tagus Estuary (“The Effects of Vessel Traffic on the Behavior Patterns of Common Dolphins in…”, 2024). 529 gap statements have been mined from Marine animal studies overview papers in our 7.9M-paper local library, which holds 2,252 papers on the topic; the gaps come from whichever of those papers state one. They are mostly the research gaps the authors state and the papers' abstracts, plus future-work, limitations and challenges passages. The ones listed below are a selection still marked open; each names the study that raised it, with a DOI link where the paper has one, so you can read the original claim in context.

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