Dr. Thomas Jefferson’s main interests are the development of marine mammal identification aids and the systematics and population ecology of the more poorly known species of dolphins and porpoises. His work since receiving his PhD in 1995 has been related to conservation and management of marine mammals threatened by human activities. His current primary research focuses on the conservation biology of Indo-Pacific humpback dolphin (Sousa chinensis) and finless porpoise (Neophocaena phocaenoides) populations in Hong Kong and surrounding waters. He is also working on other projects looking at the systematics and ecology of these species throughout their ranges. In addition, he is involved in many other projects, including those on the conservation of the critically endangered vaquita (Phocoena sinus) and on the taxonomy and population ecology of common dolphins (Delphinus spp.). He has published over 200 books and papers on these animals.

• 1. Gray whale Eschrichtius robustus (Lilljeborg, 1861)2. Common minke whale Balaenoptera acutorostrata (Lacepede, 1804)3. Antarctic minke whale Balaenoptera bonaerensis (Burmeister, 1867)4. Bryde's whale Balaenoptera edeni (Anderson, 1879) and Rice’s whale Balaenoptera ricei (Rosel et al. 2021)5. Omura’s whale Balaenoptera omurai (Wada et al., 2003)6. Sei whale Balaenoptera borealis (Lesson, 1828)7. Fin whale Balaenoptera physalus (Linnaeus, 1758)8. Blue whale Balaenoptera musculus (Linnaeus, 1758)9. Humpback whale Megaptera novaeangliae (Borowski, 1781)10. Northern right whales Eubalaena glacialis (Muller, 1776) and Eubalaena japonica (Lacepede, 1818)11. Southern right whale Eubalaena australis (Desmoulins, 1822)12. Bowhead whale Balaena mysticetus (Linnaeus, 1758)13. Pygmy right whale Caperea marginata (Gray, 1846)