What’s happening in the world under the sea (and sometimes in the stars), with our cetacean brothers & sisters
It’s a strange marine phenomenon: humpback whales actively defend other marine mammals like seals and grey whales from orca attacks, according to a new study. But while some people might call it a rare example of interspecies altruism, the study also found that these attacks are likely a survival behaviour due to orcas’ tendency to feed…
Did you see The Whale? This is Luna (the killer whale in the story) in a minute vid, imitating a boat motor…..
For this story, you need to click here to both read it & more importantly, hear it, and to hear Noc the Beluga whale’s speech….wow!
From Miyoko Sakashita, Oceans Director, Center for Biological Diversity (posted in the Huffington Post): Whales, dolphins and other marine mammals in the Pacific just caught a huge break: A federal judge this week invalidated a plan allowing the U.S. Navy to conduct dangerous and disruptive war games that the government admitted would cause about 9.6 million…
There are ongoing reminders that for all the wonders of the world we see & feel, we sometimes miss the ones right under our noses. Or next to us. Or next to our boat. Here’s the story. Photo by Eric Smith.
First – the blue whales – they’re back!!!!! California blue whales, the largest animals on Earth once driven to near extinction by whaling, have made a remarkable comeback to near historic, 19th-century levels, according to a University of Washington study released on Friday. The recovery makes California blue whales – which study authors say now…
This is a fascinating story about a juvenile beluga whale who suddenly began to imitate human speech. Echo? Repeating? Higher intelligence? An attempt at communicating with people? All that….? Here’s the story about Noc, from Smithsonian.com.
It’s the time of year when the salmon are around, so the Southern Resident killer whales come to San Juan around now & hang out for much of the summer. When they came yesterday, a number of local wildlife photographers headed to the west side of the island and captured some pictures to share… here’s…
If it’s against the law to abuse cats & dogs (and children), then that shows humans understand what’s right & wrong. Brother & sister dolphins in prisons…more abuse. It’s easy – set them free. SOSdolphins from Fundación FAADA on Vimeo.
Thirty metres long, blue whales are immense…and they travel great distances. Except for these…they (far as any people know) hang around Sri Lanka & don’t appear to go anywhere. With only 10K left worldwide, they are on most countries’ endangered list, and their recovery from whale hunting is going slowly. This video is an exploration…
How do they know that Granny, the killer whale in J pod in the San Juan Islands who is estimated to be 103 years old is that old? Here is Monika’s tribute post to her when she turned 100 that explains that (which is cool) as well as offering insight why we all love her…