Beluga whales visiting Alaskan river earlier, in greater numbers

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."

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'via Blog this'

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The blue whale in the red sea

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'

An increase in the number of irrawaddy dolphins in the Mekong

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...

Killing whales for pet food

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

Whales and other cetaceans

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