Dear colleagues, My co-authors and I are pleased to share our recent publication entitled “Validation of a Body Condition Scoring System for Indo-Pacific Humpback Dolphins (*Sousa chinensis*)”, published in *Marine Mammal Science*. Here is the link to the published article: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/mms.70121 Please find the abstract below. Do not hesitate to contact me if you would like to receive a PDF copy of the article (agathe.serres11@gmail.com). *ABSTRACT* Understanding the health of wild animals is crucial for conservation. Body condition scoring (BCS) is a useful tool to assess information on the nutritional state and health of individual animals. This study developed and validated a photograph-based BCS method for Indo-Pacific humpback dolphins (*Sousa chinensis*), a vulnerable coastal species facing multiple anthropogenic threats. Photographs from boat-based surveys in the Pearl River Delta, Beibu Gulf, and Leizhou Bay were used to create a two-point BCS scale based on the prominence of epaxial musculature in mid-section photographs. Reliability—including intrarater, interrater, test–retest reliability, and internal consistency—was evaluated through repeated photograph ratings by an experienced panel to ensure the robustness of the method. Construct validity was assessed by comparing body ratios derived from unmanned aerial vehicle footage with BCS scores assigned from photographs. While the proposed BCS scale may be expanded as more extreme cases (i.e. fatter or thinner individuals) are documented, the results demonstrate its reliability and biological relevance. This photographic BCS provides a valuable, non-invasive tool for monitoring the health and nutritional status of Indo-Pacific humpback dolphin populations and for informing conservation management strategies. All the best, Agathe Agathe Serres, Ph.D. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Assistant Researcher Marine Mammal and Marine Bioacoustics Laboratory Institute of Deep-Sea Science and Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences agathe.serres11@gmail.com agathe@idsse.ac.cn