Whales and other cetaceans

It’s magic pic.twitter.com/OanRVV8ilp — DairyCowQueen👑 (@DairyCowQueen) July 7, 2018

Lennox Head: A white whale calf has been spotted moving along the NSW coastline. #7News pic.twitter.com/3SKoip3hGC — 7 News Sydney (@7NewsSydney) July 2, 2018

Ghastly photo taken on 27 June 2018 of blood pouring from a harpoon wound that killed a Fin whale in Iceland. So far 7 Fin whales have been killed out of the quota of 239. Fin whales are an endangered species & Iceland exports the meat to Japan where it often ends up in pet food. pic.twitter.com/9fVmRLkscZ — Quad Finn (@Quad_Finn) June 29, 2018

Heartbreaking news with an autospy revealing that a pregnant Pygmy Sperm Whale found at a Melbourne beach had ingested so much plastic that its stomach outflow was blocked. The whale could not be saved: https://t.co/9f1wZCW2HT #WorldOceansDay pic.twitter.com/JwabUFz3qa — Jenny Gray (@drjennygray) June 7, 2018

Facts about Indonesia's whale hunting tradition - Art & Culture - The Jakarta Post : Lembata regency in East Nusa Tenggara is known for its whale hunting tradition that has been passed down from one generation to another. ... The Lembata waters are part of the pod’s migration routes, which usually occurs from May to October. During that period, people in Lembata begin the rituals by reading nature’s signs about when the whales will come. The locals, who are mostly Catholics, also hold Mass in the beginning of the hunt. “It starts with a ceremony from April 29 to May 1 as the beginning of the procession,” said Apolonaris. Locals will hunt the whales using traditional boats that hold 10 to 20 people and are equipped with harpoons. When a whale comes close, some of the participants will jump into the water and use the harpoon. They do not use nets. “They don’t hunt whales every day,” Apolonaris told  kompas.com , adding that the hunting begins when the locals spot the whale’s s...

Beluga whales visiting Alaskan river earlier, in greater numbers: researcher | CBC News : "Cook Inlet beluga whales are swimming up the Kenai River earlier in the year and in greater numbers than previously estimated, according to new monitoring of the endangered species. Kim Ovitz, a fellow in the University of Alaska Fairbanks' Sea Grant program, began recording beluga activity in mid-March from six sites between the Kenai beach and Cunningham Park at river Mile 6.5, the Peninsula Clarion reported. Ovitz counted 367 whales in 66 days of observation, including 43 calves. "The belugas we're observing spend a considerable amount of time in the Kenai River," Ovitz said. "When I came down here I thought they'd mill in the mouth of the river and then leave, and that's definitely not the case." " 'via Blog this'

Huge Blue Whale Sighted in the Red Sea for the First Time | Smart News | Smithsonian : "On Tuesday morning, a fisherman off the coast of Eilat, Israel spotted something unexpected: a huge whale swimming along in the Red Sea. Experts were even more surprised to discover that the creature was a blue whale—marking the first time that the world’s largest mammal has been seen in the Red Sea, as Zafrir Rinat and Almog Ben Zikri report for Haaretz.  Two days after it popped up in Israeli waters, Egypt’s environment ministry announced that the animal had also been sighted in the Red Sea’s Gulf of Aqaba, according to Aham Online. The ministry revealed that the whale measures 24 meters (nearly 80 feet) long, and belongs to a subspecies known as the pygmy blue whale. Monitoring teams in the South Sinai and the Red Sea have been deployed to track the whale’s movements." 'via Blog this'

Whale dies from eating more than 80 plastic bags | Environment | The Guardian : "A whale has died in southern Thailand after swallowing more than 80 plastic bags, with rescuers failing to nurse the mammal back to health.  The small male pilot whale was found barely alive in a canal near the border with Malaysia, the country’s department of marine and coastal resources said.  A veterinary team tried “to help stabilise its illness but finally the whale died” on Friday afternoon. An autopsy revealed 80 plastic bags weighing up to 8kg (18lb) in the creature’s stomach, the department added." 'via Blog this'

122 Pregnant Whales Were Killed in Japan’s Latest Hunt. Was This Illegal? - The New York Times : "More than 120 pregnant female whales were among 333 killed during Japan’s recent annual summer hunt off the coast of Antarctica, according to a new report. The report, released by the International Whaling Commission this month, said 122 of the slaughtered minke whales were pregnant and 114 were considered immature. The last hunting season in the Antarctic for Japan ran from Dec. 8 to Feb. 28. Conservationists said the new report was further evidence that Japan was killing whales for commercial purposes under the guise of scientific research." 'via Blog this'

Faroe Islands: "Grindadrap" Kills Hundres Of Dolphins | HolidogTimes : "At the Faroe Islands, in Denmark, the annual hunting season is just about to begin. For this occasion, the residents of the archipelago take part in a barbaric practice known as the “grindadrap’, in other words, the slaughtering of  dolphins in the coastal area. The charity Sea Shepherd hopes to put an end to this ancestral traditions once and for all." 'via Blog this'

Dolphin 'happiness' measured by scientists in France - BBC News : "Scientists working with dolphins at a marine park near Paris have attempted to measure how the animals feel about aspects of their lives in captivity. In what researchers say is the first project to examine captivity "from the animals' perspective", the team assessed what activities dolphins looked forward to most. They found that the marine mammals most keenly anticipated interacting with a familiar human. The results, they say, show that "better human-animal bonds equals better welfare". The study, published in the journal Applied Animal Behaviour Science, was part of a three-year project to measure dolphin welfare in a captive setting." 'via Blog this'

Three more Sperm Whale wash up on #NewZealand beaches. This brings the total to 11. This now the 2nd largest #whale death in New Zealand history. The whales are all male and appear emaciated. pic.twitter.com/3RrYQjgC6p — Daniel Schneider (@BiologistDan) May 27, 2018

Lolita the orca was captured near Puget Sound in 1970 and transported to Miami's Seaquarium where she has been an exhibit ever since. Earlier this year members of the Lummi tribe believe that Lolita, who is also known as Tokitae, sent them "a message" asking them to bring her home. For the three months, six craftsmen of the Native American Lummi tribe sculpted a 175-year-old western red cedar tree into the likeness of the orca. This week they arrived at the Sequarium with their 16 foot totem pole. The Miami New Times   reports Kurt Russo, a friend of the tribe who helped transport the totem pole across the country from Washington state, explaining that “The blackfish in Lummi [are called] qwe lhol mechen, meaning ‘the people that live under the water'. In Lummi cosmology, they were and are people and family.” Russo, like many of his Lummi friends, believes the totem pole's arrival in Miami will help advocate for the orca's return to Washington. In 1970, ...

The whales are back! 🐋 This beauty was spotted by @sydneywhales yesterday, and marks the start of their annual migration https://t.co/dP6iLHQ32t pic.twitter.com/AEXRxdC2gJ — Australia (@Australia) May 24, 2018

There's a fascinating insight   in the current  Hakai Magazine  into how humpback whales - both in groups and solo - use sound to round up herrings for dinner. "When a group of humpbacks finds a school of herring, typically one whale dives and slowly circles the fish, releasing bubbles from its blowhole to form an ephemeral bubble net that corrals the fish. At the same time, another whale trumpets the feeding call. Trapped by the bubble net, the increasingly frenetic fish ball up. Once the feeding call stops, the whales swim up through the trapped herring, devouring them as they power to the surface." The article " The whale that dines along" gives examples of solitary whales using the same song sounds

Why Iceland is set to resume whaling despite international opposition Julia Jabour , University of Tasmania and Rachael Lorna Johnstone , University of Akureyri After a two-year pause in the fin whale ( Balaenoptera physalus ) hunt, Icelandic whaling company Hvalur hf. will resume whaling this summer , with a government-issued quota. Two factors help explain why Iceland and other countries are determined to hunt whales in defiance of international disapproval. The first is demand for the product; the second is Iceland’s interpretation of international law on whaling. Whale meat and its buyers Demand for whale meat appears to be stable in Iceland. Many reports suggest that Icelanders no longer eat whale meat in great numbers. Yet minke whale ( Balaenoptera acutorostrata ) meat is readily available in supermarkets and sells for the equivalent of A$29.80 per kilogram. Much of this is imported from Norway, indicating that there remains a strong domestic demand that is not being...

Ancient ancestors of modern baleen whales were toothy not-so-gentle giants A life-like reconstruction of Llanocetus denticrenatus , the second oldest “baleen” whale ever found. Carl Buell , CC BY-SA Felix Georg Marx , Monash University and Robert Ewan Fordyce The largest living whales – including the gigantic 30-metre blue whale – are fast predatory hunters that support their massive bodies by filtering large volumes of tiny prey from cool near-polar waters. They do this using baleen: plates of a tough substance hanging from their upper jaw. Evidence of early evolution of baleen whales remains both sparse and controversial, with several ideas competing to explain the origin of baleen-based bulk feeding . New evidence published today , based on our detailed analysis of a large, 34 million year old Antarctic fossil whale, Llanocetus denticrenatus (“yano-seetus” denticrenatus), shows that this whale was all gums and teeth, but had no bale...

Such majestic creatures! 🐬💦 Credit: Storyful pic.twitter.com/9sGNtoIQtK — NTD Inspired (@NTDInspired) February 21, 2018

Photo taken on Jan. 22, 2018 shows a finless porpoise swimming in the Poyang lake in east China's Jiangxi Province.  The Xinhua news agency reports that an auxiliary patrol brigade, among which many are former fishermen, began its mission in June 2017 to protect finless porpoises around the Poyang lake zone in the Jiangxi Province.  Finless porpoises are a freshwater animal. Around 1,000 of them are believed to live in the Yangtze River and a few lakes linked to the busy waterway.

Researchers from New Zealand's National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research believe they have heard the voices of two previously unrecorded species of whales. A study in the The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America describes two distinct beaked whale echolocation signals recorded in the Cook Strait region using passive acoustic technology. "These signals differ from previously described Ziphiid species clicks. A description of the time-frequency characteristics of the two signals is provided. Understanding the characteristics of these signals is necessary to correctly identify species from their echolocation signals and enables future monitoring of beaked whales using passive acoustics techniques." The New Zealand Herald   reports there were about 22 species of beaked whales globally, of which about 13 had been found in New Zealand, but very little is known about them. Sightings are rare because they are deep-diving animals that can spend more ...

How to Save an Orca Whale. The governor has assembled a task force to address WA's killer whale crisis. But saving our shrinking orca population is no small task. https://t.co/Nhd04R2BNo — Dam Sense (@damsnse) May 1, 2018

An earlier than anticipated whale migration season has triggered the removal of all five nets on Australia's NSW North Coast and an early end to the second shark net trial. The second trial of shark nets has been underway for almost five months at Lighthouse Beach (Ballina), Sharpes Beach (Ballina), Shelly Beach (Ballina), Seven Mile Beach (Lennox Head) and Evans Head Beach. Minister for Primary Industries, Niall Blair said his department had been monitoring the whale migration along the east coast and decided to end the trial earlier following the increase in whale sightings. “The risk of a whale being caught in the nets is unfortunately too high and therefore it is important we remove the nets a month early,” Mr Blair said. “Our SMART drumlines will remain in the water over the winter months and they’ve proven to be very effective at catching target sharks. “However, the weather is still warm and I know plenty of people are still enjoying our beaches each day. I encourage a...

There's a baby boom among humpback whales around Antarctica. Researchers found a high pregnancy rate in recent years, signaling that their numbers are recovering. https://t.co/duVgsbIVfr — The New York Times (@nytimes) May 2, 2018

There have only been eight blue whale sightings in southeast Tasmanian waters in the last six years so the Marine Conservation Program was naturally a little bit excited this week.

Some good news this week about the Irrawaddy dolphins of the Mekong River. A joint report from the Cambodian government and the World Wildlife Foundation tells how,  following decades of seemingly irreversible decline, the population is increasing. They report the number of dolphins in the region has risen from 80 to 92 in the past two years—the first increase since scientists began keeping records more than twenty years ago. The first official census in 1997 estimated that there were 200 Irrawaddy dolphins in the Mekong, a figure that fell steadily due to bycatch and habitat loss. By 2015, only 80 dolphins remained. The recent census showed that more dolphins are surviving into adulthood, and there’s been a significant drop in overall deaths. Nine calves were born this year, raising the number of dolphins born in the past three years to 32. Seng Teak, Country Director of WWF Cambodia, said the census had positive implications for the Greater Mekong region, wher...

The Washington Post  has today reported on the hazards threatening the critically endangered North Atlantic right whales. The report says: "... lately the imperiled animals have acted in strange and disturbing ways. They are having fewer calves; not a single newborn was seen this year. The whales are skipping favored feeding grounds and showing up in unusual places. And in the past 11 months, 18 whales have been found floating, dead — the worst mortality event since scientists began keeping records decades ago."

The whale killing season has just ended so what do the hunters of Taiji do? They hold a memorial service for the hunted whales. The Mainichi newspaper reports that around 100 people including fishermen attended the service on Sunday and offered incense in front of a monument shaped like a whale in a park in the town in Wakayama Prefecture. The memorial service is held every year in the park on a hill where an old whaling watchtower used to stand. "We will pass on the long history of the town connected with whaling to future generations," Taiji Mayor Kazutaka Sangen said in a message read on his behalf by town official Hironobu Ryono. ( From Wikipedia ) Taiji has drawn international criticism for its traditional drive hunting of dolphins and small whales. The open season on cetacean drive hunting, in which the animals are herded into a bay and killed, starts on Sept. 1 in Taiji. The season for drive hunting of dolphins lasts until the end of February, and the hunti...

Bloomberg Environment reports that while Mexico is increasing its efforts to protect the highly endangered vaquita porpoise by expanding its protected habitat, it still struggles to enforce fishing bans meant to keep the species alive. The push to expand the vaquita refuge area in the Gulf of California, which the Environmental Ministry announced April 20, is a last-ditch effort to save the rapidly disappearing porpoise, whose numbers have been reduced to about 30 mammals. The illegal capture of vaquitas is a side consequence of the poaching of another endangered fish—the totoaba—in the same waters. Totoaba are caught illegally with wide-sweeping gill net, which also sweep up vaquitas. Totoaba bladders command top prices in China because of their supposed medicinal properties

THE sighting of a humpback whale off the coast last week has sparked calls for the immediate removal of shark nets from our beaches, the Northern Star reports . Tweed Seasports owner Peter Comerford snapped a photo of the humpback last Thursday during a dive trip at Nine Mile Reef east of Fingal Head. Following the sighting Sea Shepherd has ramped up its calls for an end to the shark meshing program.

The San Juan Islander reports that half a million healthy juvenile Chinook salmon were released into the Salish Sea as part of the South Vancouver Island Anglers Coalition (SVIAC) and the Pacific Whale Watch Association (PWWA)'s "Feeding Our Endangered Orcas Initiative." The fish were delivered to Sooke, B.C. This multi-year program is intended to significantly increase large adult Chinook salmon in the Juan de Fuca Strait during the key pre-winter feeding time of local killer whales. The Southern Resident Killer Whales - J, K and L pods are endangered. Lack of food is one of the issues believed responsible for their declining numbers. Pollutants and noise from vessels are other top reasons for their decline according to NOAA. Last year 225,000 healthy Chinook salmon smolts were successfully released from their temporary holding enclosure in the Sooke Basin and are expected to return as large adults in 2020. In the future, increased quantities of Chinook smolts will ...

Livekindly reports that vegan celebrity, Kat Von D, is to support the international resistance, Animal Liberation Front, on stage in New York. The make-up artist and musician will be performing in the city alongside Iamx on April 21, 22, and 23. "Kat Von D took to Instagram today, urging her 6.5 million followers to pay attention to the vaquita, a porpoise species that is critically endangered, largely due to illegal fishing practices in the Gulf of California. “I can’t believe there are only approximately 12 of these beautiful sea creatures left alive! 😢 ,” Kat Von D wrote. “Like many other sea animals who unintentionally get caught in fishing nets, the Vaquita has fallen victim and is now on the verge of going extinct because of fishing. It crushes my heart and feels completely helpless at this point – and all I can do is strongly urge my friends and followers to please consider leaving fish off your plate. It’s the most effective form of activism one could do. #savethevaquit...

Horrified whale watchers film a squid fishing boat in Monterey Bay this week trap 3 Risso's Dolphins & 30 Sea Lions as bycatch in their purse seine net. The fishermen responded to the shouts from the whale watchers and the Risso's were removed from the net & returned to the ocean pic.twitter.com/wVUmhuC97Q — Quad Finn (@Quad_Finn) April 27, 2018

The  paper in the journal Marine Biodiversity Records   says that On 29 July 2017, a group of approximately 200 common bottlenose dolphins were observed together with approximately 70 false killer whales (Pseudorca crassidens) in waters of 16.5° C at 50° N during a pelagic seabird and marine mammal survey off the west coast of northern Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada. " This sighting represents the only occurrence of common bottlenose dolphins recorded in Canadian Pacific waters and, to our knowledge, is the most northerly record for this species in the eastern North Pacific. It is also the first sighting record of false killer whales in non-coastal waters in British Columbia, Canada. The occurrence of both species may be associated with a prolonged period of warming in offshore regions of the eastern North Pacific."

The Southern Resident killer whales are critically endangered and need our help. We are requesting that the federal government issue an emergency order to protect this endangered population of whales. #bcpoli #killerwhale #conservation https://t.co/3qBRSEWe7z — Raincoast Foundation (@Raincoast) April 19, 2018 The Southern Resident killer whales were recognized as endangered under Canada’s Species at Risk Act (SARA) in 2002. Despite this, and understanding why they’re endangered, the Federal Government has taken no action to date to reduce their threats. After a suite of deaths in recent years and no successful calves since 2015, only 76 Southern Resident killer whales remain. We are requesting an emergency order under SARA that outlines specific actions around two primary objectives: Increase the abundance of Chinook Salmon, (the Southern Residents’ primary food), through a suite of measures that include restricting the harvest of Chinook. Limit the noise and disturbanc...

Listen to the beautiful calls of these Norwegian orcas. Orca vocalizations are of three basic types: clicks, whistles & burst-pulsed signals. Clicks are used for navigation & object identification while whistles and burst-pulsed sounds are used primarily as communication signals. pic.twitter.com/wKd0ReNnCq — Quad Finn (@Quad_Finn) April 19, 2018

Icelandic whaling company Hvalur in June will get back into the hunt for fin whales after a two year suspension. The company stopped fin whaling when the Japanese stopped taking the catch because of new standards to measure levels of chemical pollutant PCB in whale meat. "We are going to resume commercial whaling because the Japanese bureaucracy seems to have loosened up and the Japanese authorities have listened to us," Hvalur chief executive Kristjan Loftsson told AFP. In addition, Hvalur said it plans to collaborate with researchers from the University of Iceland to develop medicinal products made of whale meat aimed at combatting iron deficiency—a condition that affects almost 30 percent of the global population, or two billion people, according to the World Health Organisation (WHO). Iceland's whaling season opens on June 10. Whalers this year have a quota of 161 fin whales, compared to 150 in 2017. In addition, Hvalur is entitled to use 20 percent of its...

A recent interview with the @travelchannel on my thoughts on swimming with Hawaiian spinner dolphins: Animals Up Close: A Guide To Ethical Dolphin Tourism https://t.co/7PS8VdB60a pic.twitter.com/oblaL7y1dA — Lars Bejder (@lbejder) April 15, 2018 Animals Up Close: A Guide To Ethical Dolphin Tourism Swimming with the dolphins in Hawaii is often of a big part of the traveler’s paradise dream, but is the practice really safe for animals? ...It’s important to understand that spinner dolphins, the kind found off the coast of Hawaii, have a very special routine. According to Bejder, they can find it distressing when their very particular schedules are disrupted. Much like humans, spinners have designated times and particular spaces for activities like eating, sleeping and socializing. Tourists who are unaware could accidentally barge into the wrong place at the wrong time inside the dolphin habitat, which could cause major stress for the entire pod. "What we're finding ...

The Mandurah Dolphin Rescue group this week were able to capture the 1.5 hour labour, the birth of the calf, the newborns first breaths and interactions between a dolphin mother and baby. Martin Van Aswegen from Murdoch University, part of a team working on the Mandurah Dolphin Research Project said, "In the wild, it is extremely rare to witness a free-ranging dolphin give birth, as the mothers will typically avoid humans and distance themselves, given the sensitive nature of the event and the vulnerability of the mother and calf." The mother is a well known dolphin to Mandurah researchers, who've named her "Squarecut". Researchers say her familiarity with the boats meant she was comfortable enough to give birth as both the researchers and cruisers watched on.  

Driftnets are banned in many countries and in international waters by the United Nations. California is the only state that still permits driftnet fishing. For every Swordfish caught in California waters with driftnets, 7 other marine animals are caught as bycatch. pic.twitter.com/C5Z2QRc8u0 — Quad Finn (@Quad_Finn) April 11, 2018 Horrific new video secretly filmed aboard a fishing boat off the coast of California reveals how marine animals, including protected species such as Dolphins & Sea Lions, are routinely trapped & killed as bycatch in driftnets. Driftnets are used by California's Swordfish fishery. pic.twitter.com/VD0lod2c3K — Quad Finn (@Quad_Finn) April 11, 2018

A dead sperm whale was found with 64 pounds of trash in its digestive system https://t.co/ZDX23KuY7W — Washington Post (@washingtonpost) April 11, 2018

A news release from the Australian Antarctic Division explains how scientists using underwater listening devices have made the first long-term recordings of sperm whale calls off East Antarctica, as the marine mammals hunt their prey. Division acoustician, Dr Brian Miller, and consulting ecologist Dr Elanor Miller, used custom-designed and built acoustic moorings to record the whale vocalisations over six years. They discovered thousands of hours of loud ‘usual clicks’, which have a regular beat that the whales use to echolocate prey such as fish and squid. “This is the first study to directly measure the seasonal presence and daily behaviour of sperm whales in Antarctica,” Dr Brian Miller said. “The recordings show that adult male sperm whales forage in Antarctic waters in summer and autumn, and depart the region once heavy sea ice sets in over winter. “We also found the whales predominantly foraged during daylight hours and were silent at night, possibly due to the ava...

Japanese lore: Bakekujira are the fused specters of all the killed whales returning from the dead to seek revenge. Once sighted, it brings famine, plague, fire, & disaster to the villages it hits. It is always followed by a host of eerie birds & strange fish. #FolkloreThursday pic.twitter.com/Dcrd37uvXs — AZ.i. Heron (@AziHeron) April 5, 2018 百物語怪談会 Hyakumonogatari Kaidankai Translated Japanese Ghost Stories and Tales of the Weird and the Strange The Tale of the Bakekujira One rainy night, something massive and white appeared off the coast of Okino Island, Shimane prefecture. Fishermen from the village watched it get closer and closer, and finally decided to take a rowboat out and see what it was. From its size, they knew it must be some sort of whale, but no one had seen a whale like that before. As they rowed out their boat, they saw the waters of the ocean glimmer with thousands upon thousands of fish, the likes of which they had never seen. As they neared the wh...

The Chicago Tribune reports: SAVANNAH, Ga. — The winter calving season for critically endangered right whales is ending without a single newborn being spotted off the southeast U.S. coast, a reproductive drought unseen for three decades that experts say brings the rare species a step closer to extinction. “It’s a pivotal moment for right whales,” said Barb Zoodsma, who oversees the right whale recovery program in the U.S. Southeast for the National Marine Fisheries Service. “If we don’t get serious and figure this out, it very well could be the beginning of the end.” Researchers have been looking since December for newborn right whales off the coasts of Georgia and Florida, where pregnant whales typically migrate each winter to give birth in warmer Atlantic waters. Trained spotters in airplanes who spend the season scouting the coastal waters for mother-and-calf pairs found nothing this season. They wrap up work Saturday.

From Laguna Niguel Patch: When Dana Point Whale Watching Captain Frank Brennan noticed these two gray whales, he sent up his drone for a better look at the magnificent creatures. What he found delighted even this old Salt. The two whales were circled by a pod of white-sided dolphins who seemed to be engaged in a game of tag. Though the dolphins swam around, the whales continued doing whatever it is that big gray whales do. "The pair of gray whales could care less about the pesky Pacific white-sided dolphin pod," Brennan said. "They could not be bothered."

The Canadian government is acting to protect the critically endangered North Atlantic right whale. Minister of Fisheries, Oceans and the Canadian Coast Guard Dominic LeBlanc announced that the government will be shutting the snow crab fishery early in the Gulf of St. Lawrence and pledging to temporarily close other snow crab fishing zones if a right whale is spotted in the area. “Following a devastating summer in 2017 and a worrying breeding season where no new calves were sighted this winter, we need to do everything we can to help ensure the survival of the species,” Mr. LeBlanc said. The Globe and Mail reports: The measures are the strongest move the federal government has made since the alarming discovery last summer of 12 dead right whales in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, a rich fishing and shipping area. An additional six right whale carcasses were also discovered in U.S. waters over the past year, bringing the cross-border death toll to 4 per cent. The right whale is considered ...

A few years back, the normally sleepy town of Taiji in Wakayama Prefecture was filled with activists furious with its traditional dolphin hunt, which was featured in “The Cove,” a 2009 Academy Award-winning documentary. But as the fury ebbs, the town is now betting its future on dolphins.     The Japan Times reports that now, the fury over “The Cove” is fading. The activists have largely stopped coming, and Taiji is spurning international criticism against its dolphin hunts with a number of bold initiatives. The town is pursuing projects like a new sister town relationship with a town in the Faroe Islands that also hunts dolphins; a five-year, nearly $15 million deal with Chinese aquariums to supply hundreds of live dolphins and training; and a bold initiative to convert a local bay into a massive dolphin pool. Dolphins and whales are hunted in several communities across Japan. The latest data from the Fisheries Agency show that in 2015, Taiji’s hunts captured 891 dolp...

Stanford University researchers have developed a new theory as to why whales are the size they are. "Many people have viewed going into the water as more freeing for mammals, but what we're seeing is that it's actually more constraining," said co-author Jonathan Payne, a professor of geological sciences at Stanford's School of Earth, Energy & Environmental Sciences (Stanford Earth). "It's not that water allows you to be a big mammal, it's that you have to be a big mammal in water -- you don't have any other options." In a press release outlining the publication of research in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences the Stanford team point out that although mammals that live in water share a similarly oblong body shape, they are not closely related. Rather, seals and sea lions are closely related to dogs, manatees share ancestry with elephants, and whales and dolphins are related to hippos and other hoofed mamm...

Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution scientist Mark Baumgartner said that to help the whales survive much longer, the rope Maine lobstermen use to tend their traps must be modified or even eliminated. And it's not just for the whales' sake. "I feel the industry is in jeopardy,” Baumgartner said.  Baumgartner was in Maine this month for the annual lobstermen's association meeting, to detail the whale's plight. If the lobster industry doesn't respond effectively, he said, the federal government will step in. "As the population continues to decline and pressure is put on the government to do something about it, then they're going to turn to closures, because that's all they'll have," he said.  In four separate summers, the latest in 2000, scientist Mark Baumgartner and colleagues tagged 18 North Atlantic right whales and used satellite telemetry to chart their movements. What they found surprised them: the whales ranged far more ...