Latest Marine mammals Stories
Trained rescuers from the Center will offer new "I Helped Save a Seal "“ U Can Too!" bumper stickers to those who notify them of a seal in need of help. Sausalito, Calif. (PRWEB) March 17, 2011 The arrival of the pupping season's first patient, an elephant seal nicknamed Second Day, is a timely reminder to Leave Seals Be and give them a second chance at life. Leave Seals Be is The Marine Mammal Center's public education campaign to remind people along the California coast not to pick...
Scientists have long been aware of a link between naval sonar exercises and unusual mass strandings of beaked whales. Evidence of such a link triggered a series of lawsuits in which environmental groups sued the U.S. Navy to limit sonar exercises to reduce risk to whales. In 2008, this conflict rose to the level of the US Supreme Court which had to balance potential threat to whales from sonar against the military risk posed by naval forces inadequately trained to use sonar to detect enemy...
Catalan researchers have studied the marine trophic network in Mauritania, on the north west coast of Africa, which is an extremely heavily exploited fishing area, as well as being home to two of the world's most threatened species of marine mammal "“ the monk seal and the Atlantic hump-backed dolphin. The results of the study show that industrial and traditional fishing activities along the coast are putting these mammals and local marine ecosystems at great danger.The researchers studied...
Genetics of net entanglement has implications for small cetacean conservationDolphins along coast of Argentina could experience a significant loss of genetic diversity because some of the animals that accidently die when tangled in fishing nets are related. According to a new genetic analysis published this week in the journal PLoS One, Franciscana dolphins that die as by-catch are more than a collection of random individuals: many are most likely mother-offspring pairs. This result, which...
The ordinary squid, Loligo pealii"”best known until now as a kind of floating buffet for just about any fish in the sea"”may be on the verge of becoming a scientific superstar, providing clues about the origin and evolution of the sense of hearing.In a hangar-like research building at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI), biologist T. Aran Mooney is exploring virtually uncharted waters: Can squid hear? Is their hearing sensitive enough to hear approaching predators? How do...
Two distantly related species of dolphin -- the Guyana and the Bottlenose -- often can be found socializing in waters off the coast of Costa Rica, according to a recent BBC report. Both species of dolphin make distinct sounds, but when they meet up, they change the way they communicate with each other by using a transitional language. It raises possibilities that the two species are communicating in some way. Details of the finding are published in the journal Ethology. It is not clear to...
A combination of the biology of marine mammals, mechanical vibrations and acoustics has led to a breakthrough discovery allowing scientists to better understand the potential harmful effects of sound on marine mammals such as whales and dolphins.An international team of researchers from San Diego State University, UC San Diego, and the Kolmården Zoo in Sweden has developed an approach that integrates advanced computing, X-ray CT scanners, and modern computational methods that give a 3D...
Scientists at Georgetown University, the National Aquarium and the University of Queensland are the first to extract DNA from dolphin blow (breath exhalations). The researchers found that blow-sampling, which involves collecting exhalations from the blowholes of whales, dolphins and porpoises, could be developed as a less invasive method for DNA collection. Their findings are explained in the Aug. 25 edition of the online journal PLoS ONE in an article titled "Thar She Blows! A Novel...
Nearly 60 pilot whales have died after becoming stranded on a beach in northern New Zealand, conservation authorities reported Friday.There were 73 total whales discovered on the beach mid-morning and the Department of Conservation's Carolyn Smith said the whales most likely beached overnight, which is why so many died before rescue operations were launched.Of the 73 pilot whales, 15 have survived, but are reported to be in "poor condition." Volunteers are making another attempt to rescue the...
The evolutionary mystery of menopause is a step closer to being solved thanks to research on killer whales. A study by the Universities of Exeter and Cambridge has found a link between killer whales, pilot whales and humans "” the only three known species where females stop breeding relatively early in their lifespan. Despite very different social structures between the three species, the research shows that in each case females become increasingly genetically related to those they...
Latest Marine mammals Reference Libraries
The marine otter (Lontra feline) is a member of the weasel family, and can be found in South America. It prefers a habitat in rocky coastal areas, with a range that includes the entire coastline of Chile and extends to southern Peru and Argentina. It has been found on the Falkland Islands, but individuals here do not represent a constant population. Unlike other species of otter, the marine otter chooses to live near waters with high winds and swells. It may use caves and crevices as dens,...
The crabeater seal (Lobodon carcinophagus) is a true seal that can be found around the whole of Antarctica. Its range also includes small areas in South America, New Zealand, Africa, and Australia. It resides on the pack ice zone for the entire year, even as it shifts seasonally, and prefers to stay in the continental shelf area in water with a depth of less than 1,968 feet. Because the populations are so wide spread and are sufficiently mixed, there have been no subspecies found. Because...
The Mediterranean monk seal (Monachus monachus) is a rare pinniped, or “fin-footed mammal” that can be found in areas of the Mediterranean Sea, as well as in the Atlantic waters of the Tropic of Cancer. Not much is known about the chosen land habitats of this seal, but until the 20th century, it could be seen relaxing or pup rearing on open beaches. It now dwells in underwater caves and caverns in order to escape human actions including tourism and expansion. The Mediterranean monk...
Profilicollis is a genus of acanthocephalan parasites that are found in crustaceans and shorebirds. Profilicollis parasites use decapod crustaceans as intermediate hosts and species of shorebirds as definitive hosts. The parasite first develops in mole crabs of North and South America. After it infects a mole crab, it becomes dormant until the crab is eaten by a suitable bird, such as a Surf scoter or Herring Gull. Once the parasite has passed through the stomach of the bird, it develops...
The Chinese white dolphin, otherwise known as the Indo-Pacific humpback dolphin, is a species of humpback dolphin that can be found in the waters of Southeast Asia. When breeding, they will travel to the waters around South Africa to Australia. There are currently two recognized subspecies of the Chinese white dolphin. The coloring of the Chinese white dolphin can vary due to age and location. When born, calves are actually black, but will change to grey, then pink with white spotting,...
