Dear Marmamers, My co-authors and I are pleased to announce our new publication in *Ethology*: Synchrony, leadership, and association in male Indo-pacific bottlenose dolphins (*Tursiops aduncus*) Laura M. McCue, William R. Cioffi, Michael R. Heithaus, Lynne Barrè, & Richard C. Connor https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/eth.13025 Please take care of yourselves and each other during this difficult time. Abstract Male Indo‐pacific bottlenose dolphins in Shark Bay, Western Australia, have converged with humans in the formation of nested male alliances and the use of synchrony in alliance behavior. Further, the strength of association among allied male dolphins varies and the stability of alliances correlates with the rate that males consort with estrus females (and is thus a possible indicator of dominance). To examine the possibility that synchrony reflects alliance association strength and dominance relationships, we analyzed videotapes from focal follows of two groups of males that reflect the range of alliance size and the strength of association between individuals in the population. We examined two variables: *leadership* during synchronous behaviors, based on which animal in a synchronously surfacing pair surfaced first, and the *degree of synchrony*, based on temporal differences in synchronous surfacing. We predicted that closer associates would exhibit a greater degree of synchrony and that one dolphin in a dyad would consistently lead. Contrary to our predictions, the degree of synchrony was inversely related to strength of association within alliances. This surprising result suggests that individuals with less secure bonds may strive more to achieve synchrony. We found no evidence of leadership during synchronous surfacing or between synchrony and other behavioral variables. Proximate mechanisms for synchronous behavior, such as entrainment and mutual motor imitation (“the mirror game” paradigm), may inhibit leadership in this context. Our results show that synchrony during surfacing is not a useful behavior to examine for dominance relationships in wild dolphins but it may be a useful tool to examine variation in alliance relationships. Thank you, Laura McCue NOAA Fisheries West Coast Region mccue.laura@gmail.com