Dr Saana Isojunno
Senior Research Fellow
Research areas
I study animal ecology to understand what drives individual flexibility and resilience to cope with environmental stressors and change. Within this, I am interested in how individuals manage uncertainty, risks and resources in foraging and predator-prey contexts. I have focused on free-ranging marine mammals, which as long-lived species in dynamic marine environments often rely on individual plasticity to respond to environmental change.
For my PhD and postdoctoral research so far I’ve focused on how and why cetaceans respond to whale-watching and navy sonar, using bioacoustics and bio-logging as tools with a focus on quantitative methods. I run a project about killer whale predation of seals in Scotland, looking at the interaction both from the prey risk-taking and predator foraging point of views (ECOPredS website).
Ultimately, I aim to translate my research into evidence for conservation practice. In the future, I hope to integrate a longer-term view on individual life histories (e.g., juvenile growth, survival) in my research to better answer the "so what" question of conservation behaviour and physiology.
Read more about my work at my research-outreach website.
PhD supervision
- Grace Edmondson
Selected publications
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Behavioral Response Research Review
Harris, C. M., Isojunno, S. & Thomas, L., 26 Feb 2025, (Unpublished) 39 p.Research output: Book/Report › Commissioned report
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Open access
Behavioural response thresholds for the assessment of noise impact on Antarctic marine mammal species
Darias-O'Hara, A. K., Booth, C. G., Erbe, C., Isojunno, S., Janik, V. M., Lucke, K., Southall, B. L., Tougaard, J., von Benda-Beckmann, A. M. & Verfuss, U. K., Sept 2025, In: Marine Policy. 179, p. 1-11 11 p., 106738.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
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Open access
Distance matters to sperm whales: behavioural disturbance in response to both sonar received level and source distance
Wensveen, P. J., Isojunno, S., Kvadsheim, P. H., Lam, F.-P. A., Curé, C., von Benda-Beckmann, A. M. & Miller, P. J. O., 1 May 2025, In: Marine Pollution Bulletin. 214, 11 p., 117742.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
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Open access
Mapping relative risk to seabirds from offshore wind energy developments in Danish waters
Isojunno, S., Scott-Hayward, L., Lunde Pedersen, C., Thomsen, H., Chetcuti, J., Frederiksen, M., Bregnballe, T., Sterup, J., Nielsen, R. D., MacKenzie, M. & Krag Petersen, I., Jan 2025, Aarhus, Denmark: Aarhus University, DCE – Danish Centre for Environment and Energy. 101 p. (Technical report from DCE, Danish Centre for Environment and Energy; no. 331)Research output: Book/Report › Commissioned report
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Open access
Naval sonar induces an anaerobic swimming gait in beaked whales
Martín López, L. M., Isojunno, S., Cade, D., Colson, K., Paradinas, I., Miller, P. J. O., Fahlman, A., Hickmott, L. S. & Visser, F., 5 Nov 2025, In: Scientific Reports. 15, p. 1-13 13 p., 38686 .Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
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Open access
Changes in the distribution and abundance of common scoter and diver species in the Horns Rev I, II and III offshore windfarm areas, Denmark
Scott-Hayward, L., Krag Petersen, I., MacKenzie, M., Lunde Pedersen, C., Isojunno, S., Due Nielsen, R., Sterup, J., Thomsen, H. M. & Neergaard, R. S., 18 Nov 2024, Aarhus, Denmark: Aarhus University, DCE – Danish Centre for Environment and Energy. 115 p.Research output: Book/Report › Commissioned report
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Distribution and Abundance of four bird species in the Danish North Sea Energy Island Region: Report II. Report number: CREEM-2024-04. Provided to Aarhus University, Denmark, April 2024 (unpublished).
Scott-Hayward, L. A. S., MacKenzie, M. L. & Isojunno, S., Apr 2024, (Unpublished)Research output: Book/Report › Commissioned report
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Open access
Survey of birds for offshore windfarms in Danish waters: North Sea I
Krag Petersen, I., Thomsen, H. M., Scott-Hayward, L., Isojunno, S., MacKenzie, M., Alison, J., Pederson, C. L., Neergaard, R. S., Ortvad, T. E., Nielsen, R. D. & Sterup, J., 18 Nov 2024, Aarhus: Aarhus University, DCE – Danish Centre for Environment and Energy. 137 p.Research output: Book/Report › Commissioned report
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Open access
Habitat use of the northern bottlenose whale Hyperoodon ampullatus near Jan Mayen, North Atlantic
Woo, K. Y., Isojunno, S. & Miller, P. J., 7 Sept 2023, In: Marine Ecology Progress Series. 718, p. 119-136 18 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
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Integrated Regional Ecosystem Studies (IRES): Massachusetts, Rhode Island and New York Bight. Task 3, Wildlife and Offshore Wind (WOW): A Systems Approach to Research and Risk Assessment for Offshore Wind Development from Maine to the Carolinas.
Nowacek, D. P., Halpin, P., Murray, B. C., Williams, K., Rice, A., Kohut, J., Spiesberger, J., Southall, B., Thorne, L., Parks, S., Fuentes, M., Thomas, L., Rosenbaum, H., Mooney, T. A., Redfern, J., Haxel, J., Isojunno, S., Adams, E., Jensen, F. & O'Brien, O. & 2 others, , 2023Research output: Book/Report › Commissioned report