Latest Whale Stories
The Bio Website EurekaMag.com publishes insights into all areas of biological science. The latest insights cover Drosophila which are small flies which have been been heavily used in research in genetics as a model organism genetics, cell-biology, biochemistry, and developmental biology, and Solar Flare which is a large energy release at the sun's surface. The insight into Killer Whale covers this toothed predatory whale belonging to the oceanic dolphin family. Mannheim, Germany...
A spectacular display of nature’s sometimes cruel cycle of life was witnessed by beachgoers at Blue Cliffs Beach in Tuatapere, New Zealand when orcas, also known as killer whales, forced a group of large sharks to swim into shallow waters or risk being eaten. One shark desperate to escape from the enormous beasts even beached itself on the sand and was filmed desperately flapping around in a bid to escape the whales, which were unable to move onto the sand, reports Rick Dewbury for Daily...
Whale watchers are saying that migrating gray whales are swimming through Southern California waters in record numbers this winter. The Los Angeles Times said on Wednesday that whale watchers at Point Vicente in Rancho Palos Verdes have recorded a record 163 sightings in December so far, which is the most that have been logged at this location in 28 years. At this time last year, observers logged 26 gray whales. The previous record saw 133 of the mammals in 1996. "I've seen some...
A group of infamously aggressive whale-hunting opponents say that they have tracked down and photographed hunters participating in Japan’s annual Antarctic whale hunt using an unpiloted drone aircraft to spot their ship. The Sea Shepherd Conservation Society said it was able to locate the Japanese ship the Nisshin Maru off the western coast of Australia over the weekend using the unmanned aircraft. Their plans to harass the whaling expedition were temporarily foiled, however, when...
Any diver returning from ocean depths knows about the hazard of decompression sickness (DCS) or "the bends." As the diver ascends and the ocean pressure decreases, gases that were absorbed by the body during the dive, come out of solution and, if the ascent is too rapid, can cause bubbles to form in the body. DCS causes many symptoms, and its effects may vary from joint pain and rashes to paralysis and death. But how do marine mammals, whose very survival depends on regular diving, manage...
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...
Japan’s whaling fleet left port this month to begin the research whaling season near the Antarctic. The fleet was accompanied by ships from the Japanese Fisheries Agency in hopes of repelling activists of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, The Telegraph is reporting. The United States, Australia and two other nations have urged both anti-whaling activists and the whaling fleet to avoid a repeat of violent clashes, warning of the risk of deaths and injuries. The four countries were...
Japanese whaling authorities said on Friday that they were suing the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society group to try and stop it from interfering in the annual whale hunt. This is the first move by Japan to attempt legal action against anti-whaling campaigners, who have used extreme methods against ships involved in the hunt. "Today, Kyodo Senpaku Kaisha and the Institute of Cetacean Research along with research vessels' masters filed a lawsuit against the Sea Shepherd Conservation...
YARMOUTH PORT, Mass., Dec. 6, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW; www.ifaw.org) is urging Japan to recall its whaling fleet which today left port for Antarctica to train its harpoons on around 1,000 whales. According to Japanese media reports, the country's whaling fleet is en route to the pristine Southern Ocean Sanctuary to kill up to 935 minke whales and 50 endangered fin whales, in defiance of global opposition and several...
Whales have long been known to communicate through sound patterns, songs and calls. However there remains much mystery as to what these sounds mean and if whales have distinct dialects. Marine researchers, in an attempt to learn what the communications might mean, must sift through fifteen-thousand hours of recordings to better understand the dialogue among these sea mammals and so have created the Whale Song Project (aka Whale FM), a whale-song identification project that Scientific...
Latest Whale Reference Libraries
Image Caption: Fossil of Feresa Attenuata, Shimonoseki Marine Science Museum KAIKYOUKAN, Japan. Credit: OpenCage/Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 2.5) The pygmy killer whale is widely distributed in tropical and sub-tropical waters worldwide. Regular sightings of this species occur off the coast of Hawaii and Japan, and also in the Indian Ocean near Sri Lanka and Lesser Antilles. In the Atlantic the pygmy killer whale has been seen off the coast of South Carolina and Senegal. This species swims in...
The Beluga Whale or White Whale (Delphinapterus leucas), is an Arctic and sub-arctic species of marine mammal. It is commonly referred to simply as the Beluga. The Beluga occurs in waters from 50° N to 80° N. There is also an isolated population which travels the St. Lawrence River estuary and the Saguenay Fjord. There is an endangered colony of Belugas in the Cook Inlet in Alaska as well. This small whale can grow up to 16 feet long and is larger than most dolphins, but smaller...
Sowerby's Beaked Whale (Mesoplodon bidens), also known as the North Atlantic/North Sea Beaked Whale, was the first beaked whale to be described. Its name, bidens, derives from the two teeth present in the jaw, now known to be a very common feature among the family. It is altogether a rather typical representative of the genus. Physical description Sowerby's Beaked Whale has a typical body shape for the genus, and is mainly distinguished by the male's dual teeth that are found very far...
The Pygmy Sperm Whale (Kogia breviceps) is one of three species of whale in the sperm whale family. They are not often sighted at sea and most of our understanding of the creatures comes from the study of washed-up specimens Taxonomy There has been debate and differing opinion as to the correct classification of the Pygmy and Dwarf Sperm Whales. The two were widely considered to be the same species, until 1966, when a scientist at the Smithsonian Institute definitively diagnosed them as...
The Orca or Killer Whale (Orcinus orca) is the largest member of the oceanic dolphin family Delphinidae. They are sometimes referred to as blackfish, a group including pilot whales, pigmy and false killer whales and melon headed whales. It is the second-most widely distributed mammal on Earth (after humans) and is found in all the world's oceans, from the frigid arctic regions to warm, tropical seas. It is also a versatile, deadly predator, eating fish, turtles, birds, seals, sharks and even...
