Radiochemical assays of fish otoliths using the radioisotope pair Pb-210/Ra-226 have proven successful in determining the longevity of several long-lived fish species, but are unsuitable for determining ages less than about 3 yr. We tested the utility of the radioisotope pair Th-228/Ra-228 for determining the longevity of the four-winged flyingfish Hirundjchthys affinis of the eastern Caribbean. A new decay equation was developed for interpreting radioactivity in whole otoliths characterized by a nonlinear growth history. Assay results on both whole otoliths and otolith cores indicated that the mean age of adult flyingfish was about 1 yr, and significantly less than 2 yr. The Th-228/Ra-228 radiochemical dating technique appears to be well suited for age determinations of fish up to age 5.

Humpback whales Megaptera novaeangliae undertake extensive annual migrations, have complex migratory patterns, and have held several mammalian long-distance movement records. Here, we report on a whale known to feed in the Russian Far East that was sighted in breeding areas on either side of the North Pacific, the Mariana Islands and Mexico, in less than 1 yr (357 d apart). This is the longest published distance (11261 km great-circle route) between 2 unique sightings of a photo-identified humpback whale to date. To understand the context of this movement, we investigated records of whales that had been sighted in Russian feeding areas and Mexican breeding areas using historic and newly available photo-identification data. We found 117 humpback whales documented in both countries between 1998 and 2021, revealing a substantial increase from the only 11 matches that were previously known. These whales exhibited high site fidelity to Mexico, with one-third seen in multiple years, and up to 10 yr. However, we also found that they changed breeding areas more frequently than Mexico whales matched to other feeding areas, illustrating how the Mariana Islands-Mexico movement may have occurred. We document the first complete round-trip migrations between Mexico and Russia, a journey of >16400 km, the longest known migration of Northern Hemisphere humpback whales. Our data demonstrate regular trans-Pacific movements of humpback whales in the North Pacific, highlighting the importance of Mexico for the species ocean-basin-wide and the need for effective local management to aid in the conservation of multiple at-risk distinct population segments.