Marine Mammal Monitoring Research from 2014 to 2023: A Bibliometric Analysis of Collaboration, Technological Trends and Research Themes

Marine mammal monitoring research has expanded considerably alongside developments in acoustic, remote-sensing, telemetry, molecular, and computational approaches. This study used bibliometric analysis to characterise the structure and evolution of research published between 2014 and 2023. A total of 2586 peer-reviewed publications retrieved from the Web of Science Core Collection were analysed using CiteSpace to examine publication trends, collaboration networks, keyword co-occurrence, temporal clusters, and citation bursts. Annual publication output increased from 155 articles in 2014 to a peak of 362 in 2022, while collaboration networks revealed prominent research hubs across North America, Europe, Asia, and Oceania. Passive acoustic monitoring remained a persistent and highly connected theme, alongside habitat modelling, environmental impact assessment, and conservation research. Temporal and keyword analyses indicated increasing attention to machine learning, artificial intelligence, remote sensing, and environmental DNA, reflecting a broader movement towards automated and multimodal monitoring approaches. These patterns demonstrate an increasingly interdisciplinary research landscape but do not establish the effectiveness or operational uptake of individual technologies. Challenges remain regarding method-specific limitations, data integration, standardisation, validation, and geographical coverage. This study provides a quantitative basis for identifying major research themes and informing future methodological priorities.