Editorial stimulates thought on climate change and our ocean friends, while one article presents marine mammal population data from aerial surveys of the southern California bight. Another article documents a rescued orphaned manatee calf behavior in captivity versus what is seen in wild. Finally a valuable paper that presents data to standardize a body scoring system for short beaked dolphins, critical for examination of live and dead dolphins. The authors used live and dead stranded and dead bycaught short-beaked common dolphins (Delphinus delphis) from New England waters, and came up with a simple, practical body condition scoring system that has utility for all delphinid species.

Editorial raises the concept of ‘one health’. One article presents an amazing photo-documentation of a dolphin female and calf with severe skin damage recovering without human intervention. Another article is a review of substitute milk for rearing orphan manatee calves. There is an article on using mathematics to explore global relationships between pinnipeds and sharks as their predator. An article provides data on crustacean species of the genus Pennella, which are the largest mesoparasites known to infest cetaceans and marine bony fishes.

Editorial brings to our attention the role of individual species extinction on overall ecosystem health. An article identifies risks to Olive Ridley turtles who come ashore to lay eggs on northern shores of India. Another article focuses on challenges of monitoring sea horse population of South Carolina. One unique article focus on sex pheromones in blue crab, while another article examining roles of starvation periods and crushed conspecifics on foraging behavior of marine gastropod sea snail.

Editorial discusses important of instructions to authors. One article focuses on the stability of marine invertebrate coastal populations. Another article is on the critical topic of potential collisions between Japan-Korea fast ferries and whales. A clinically useful article on use of ultrasound and MRI in dolphins to help diagnose masses include tumors.

Editorial discusses role of the internet in drawing attention to plight of marine species. Articles include one detailing the vampire squid and another documenting competitive feeding behavior between a Dogfish Shark and a seal in Vancouver BC, Canada. An article covers whether orcas in captivity have increased vulnerability to mosquito transmitted viruses. An article on a photographic assessment of skin disorders in whales and dolphins off coast Iceland. Detailed article that describes how to conduct biomedical health assessments in wild manatee and using this as teaching tool.

Editorial discusses the sad reality of government apathy as a threat to marine animals. One article explores anthropogenic activities threatening endangered blue whales near Sri Lanka. Another article focuses on use of conservation genetic tools in analyzing manatee populations. Then the article that compares brevotoxin levels in West Indian manatee, bottlenose dolphin and double crested cormorants in southwest Florida is very informative.

Editorial discussed the role of education as a conservation tool for marine mammals. One article explores the human and environmental impacts on the critically endangered Taiwan Indo-Pacific humpback dolphin. Another article reports the movements of dolphins between South Carolina’s estuarine and coastal waters. Then the article which reports the first records of anomalously white Harbor Porpoises in the Pacific Ocean is a must read. A practical article on the prevention of eye problems in captive seals. The article regarding key facts from the Vaquita Workshop in 2011 is a nice overview.

One article seeks to clarify the controversy over taxonomy of finless porpoises. Another focuses attention on fin whales risks of vessel collisions in the north western Mediterranean Sea. The article, focused on the Sechura Bay in northern Peru, provides survey data suggesting this location serves both as a nursery, potential breeding ground and migratory reference for humpback whales.