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Acknowledgements: We thank the School of Chemistry TCD, Science Foundation Ireland (SFI PI Awards 10/IN.1/B2999 and 13/IA/1865 to TG). TG would also like to thank the SFI funded AMBER Centre for financial support (SFI 12/RC/2278_P2). EPSRC EP/S009000/1 is acknowledged for support of Dr Niamh Willis-Fox., The synthesis and study of the lanthanide luminescent 2,3-bis(1,2,3- triazol-4-yl)picolinamide (btp) based hydrogels F1 and F2 is described where Tb(iii) or Eu(iii) are also used to crosslink the btp units within the polymers.

The population status of the harbor porpoise ( Phocoena phocoena ) in the Baltic Sea and adjacent regions is still not fully resolved. Here, we present a pilot study using the double digest restriction-site associated DNA sequencing (ddRAD-seq) genotyping- by -sequencing method on specimens from the Baltic Sea, eastern North Sea, Spain and the Black Sea. From a single Illumina lane and a set of 49 individuals, w e obtained around 6000 SNPs. We used these markers to estimate population structure and differentiation, and identified splits between porpoises from the North Sea and the Baltic, and within regions in the Baltic Sea (between the Belt Sea and the Inner Baltic Sea). The SNP analysis confirms population structure elucidated by previous mtDNA/microsatellite studies. We demonstrate the feasibility of SNP analysis on opportunistically sampled cetacean samples, with varying DNA quality, for population diversity and divergence analysis.

The North Atlantic fin whale (Balaenoptera physalus) undertakes long-distance annual migration between high-latitude summer feeding locations and low-latitude winter mating locations, like most of the baleen whales. By statistically comparing genotype profiles of mother-foetus pairs (n = 23) to that of the potential alleged father (n = 139) captured at the same feeding location in Iceland, we found a matching pairing of a mother-foetus captured in 2009 and a father captured in 2010. To our knowledge, the present study is the first one to detect a mother-foetus pair matching with an alleged father, caught at exactly the same feeding area one year later.