Latest Monodontidae Stories

redOrbit Staff & Wire Reports - Your Universe Online The endangered beluga whales that make their home in Cook Inlet are not recovering, leaving federal conservation experts unsure as to why and fearing that the species may soon face extinction. According to the Associated Press (AP), a survey conducted by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) in June found that an estimated 312 belugas were living in the waters near Anchorage, Alaska -- a modest increase from...

Michael Harper for redOrbit.com – Your Universe Online If Willy the whale from the 1993 hit Free Willy were a Beluga, the film may not have been the success it was. Not only are Killer Whales a bit more majestic than Belugas (can you imagine a goofy, white whale soaring high above Jesse and leaping its way towards freedom?) but they’re also more recognized as the quintessential whale. All this is to say, if Willy had been Beluga, he could have learned how to mimic human speech and...

redOrbit Staff & Wire Reports - Your Universe Online An Atlanta-based aquarium is drawing criticism from animal rights advocates for their plans to import 18 beluga whales captured off the eastern coast of Russia. The Georgia Aquarium--acting on behalf of several other marine life centers--has applied for a federal permit to import Arctic beluga whales, claiming that they need the creatures so that they can breed them in captivity, study them, and educate the public about the...

A baby male beluga whale, discovered by a pair of Alaskan fishermen after it got separated from its mother shortly after its birth, remains under 24-hour care as marine mammal specialists from throughout the country continue to help nurse the newborn back to health. Staff members at the Alaska SeaLife Center research and rehabilitation center in Seward, Alaska -- where the calf is currently recovering -- told Mark Thiessen of the Associated Press (AP) that the whale is doing well....

Smithsonian scientists have recently described a new species of toothed whale that once lived in warm climates during the Pliocene era 3-4 million years ago. These whales may have possibly been a close relative to the modern day Beluga and Narwhal. Those happy looking whales, the Beluga and Narwhal, live exclusively in colder climates like the Arctic and sub-arctic. The challenge now for the scientists is to uncover the mystery of why the whales moved farther north when once they were...

Killer whales (Orcinus orca) are the top marine predator, wherever they are found, and seem to eat everything from schools of small fish to large baleen whales, over twice their own size. The increase in hunting territories available to killer whales in the Arctic due to climate change and melting sea ice could seriously affect the marine ecosystem balance. New research published in BioMed Central's re-launched open access journal Aquatic Biosystems has combined scientific observations with...

More than a hundred Beluga whales are trapped in frigid water surrounded by ice floes in the Chukotka region of Russia’s Far East, and risk death unless they are rescued soon, local authorities said. The flock of gentle whales was trapped in the Sinyavinsky Strait off the Bering Sea near the village of Yanrakynnot, a statement from the Chukotka Autonomous Region said, with local governor Roman Kopin calling for the government to send an icebreaker to the region to try and free them from...

Proof-of-Concept Study Published in Journal of Geophysical Research-OceansIn a research paper published online Saturday in the Journal of Geophysical Research Oceans, a publication of the American Geological Union (AGU), scientists reported the southern Baffin Bay off West Greenland has continued warming since wintertime ocean temperatures were last effectively measured there in the early 2000s.Temperatures in the study were collected by narwhals, medium-sized toothed Arctic whales, during...

New aerial survey techniques lead to increased narwhal estimatesImprovements in aerial survey methods have led to increased estimates of narwhal populations in the eastern Arctic, according to a paper published Arctic, the journal of the University of Calgary's Arctic Institute of North America.Previous estimates of narwhals were based on surface counts and covered part of their eastern Arctic summering range. They placed populations between 20,000 and 30,000. New estimates increase that...

The World Conservation Society in New York says while cancer touches the lives of many humans, it is also a major threat to wild animal populations. Cancer is one of the leading health concerns for humans, accounting for more than 10 percent of human deaths, said Dr. Denise McAloose, the WCS study's lead author and chief pathologist for its Global Health Program. But we now understand that cancer can kill wild animals at similar rates. The scientists said cancer is threatening the survival...