whales

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Whale 'Struggled Fiercely' in Painful 5-Day Death

The poor creature had ingested 80 plastic bags

(Newser) - Going shopping today? Consider this: A whale died Friday in Thailand from having ingested 80 plastic bags weighing some 17 pounds, CNN reports. Thai officials say locals in Southern Thailand noticed the short-fin male pilot whale looking sick and floating oddly earlier this week, so government veterinarians and people from...

BP: An Oil Spill Would 'Boost' Local Economies

But Australia's regulators weren't convinced

(Newser) - Two years ago, BP applied to drill for oil off the Australian coast. Now government letters show that BP praised the "welcome boost" local economies could receive doing cleanup in an oil spill, the Sidney Morning Herald reports. Australia's National Offshore Petroleum Safety and Environmental Management Authority—or...

This 'Could Be the Beginning of the End' for Endangered Whale

No confirmed right whale births so far this year

(Newser) - The winter calving season for critically endangered right whales has nearly ended with zero newborns spotted in the past four months—a reproductive drought that scientists who study the fragile species haven't seen in three decades. Right whales typically give birth off the southeastern US coast between December and...

Over 140 Whales Die After Getting Stranded in Australia

'I've never seen anything like it'

(Newser) - At least 140 whales have died after becoming stranded on a beach overnight in Western Australia, the AP reports. Over 150 short-finned pilot whales were first spotted on the beach at Hamelin Bay by a fisherman on Friday morning. By Friday afternoon, all but 15 had died. According to the...

Scientists Teach Orca to Mimic Words
Orca Learns
to Mimic
'Hello,' Other 
Words
NEW STUDY
Jan 31, 2018 1:05 PM CST

Orca Learns to Mimic 'Hello,' Other Words

Nice job, Wikie

(Newser) - Orcas don't just wave and whistle. They also have the ability to mimic words like "hello" and "bye bye," as one killer whale has just proven. After discovering orca pods with unique "accents" in their communications—which naturally come in the form of whistles, calls,...

Scientists Getting Worried About Endangered Whale

No newborn right whales seen as calving season peaks

(Newser) - Scientists have yet to spot a single newborn right whale off the Southeast US coast seven weeks into the endangered species' calving season, the AP reports. It's the longest researchers have gone without a calf sighting since comprehensive surveys started in 1989.

Officials Fear Whale Facing Extinction

Rare right whales' numbers are dwindling after 17 died this year

(Newser) - Scientists are raising a red flag over the future of endangered right whales after a high number died in 2017. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) estimates that there are only about 450 North Atlantic right whales left after 17 were reported dead this year, according to Phys.org...

How Whale Rescuer Was Killed by Whale He'd Just Freed

'He probably didn't feel anything'

(Newser) - "He was really happy at his very last moment," Philip Hamilton tells the CBC . "I take some comfort in that." The research scientist was the only person not employed by Canada's Fisheries and Oceans department to witness the July 10 death of volunteer whale rescuer...

New Study Claims the Sun May Have Caused 29 Whales to Die

Researchers say changes to Earth's magnetic field may be to blame

(Newser) - In the first weeks of 2016, 29 sperm whales were found stranded and dead off the coasts of Britain, France, the Netherlands, and Germany, the BBC reports. The whales had been generally healthy, and scientists were confounded as to what had caused them to enter the dangerously shallow waters of...

These Whales Are Rarely Seen. Scientists Spotted 2

Pair of rare right whales photographed in Bering Sea

(Newser) - Federal researchers studying critically endangered North Pacific right whales sometimes go years without finding their subjects. Last weekend, they got lucky, per the AP . A research vessel in the Bering Sea photographed two of the animals Sunday and obtained a biopsy sample from one, says the National Oceanic and Atmospheric...

Cruise Ship Docks in Alaska, Makes Sad Find on Its Bow

A dead humpback whale

(Newser) - A cruise ship reached an Alaska port with a surprise on its bow: the carcass of a humpback whale. Per the AP , the Grand Princess, a 949-foot ship in the Princess Cruises fleet, pulled into Ketchikan Wednesday morning with the marine mammal lodged on its submerged, bulbous bow, a device...

After Whale Kills Man Who Rescued It, NOAA Reacts

US, Canada temporarily suspend right whale rescue operations

(Newser) - The US and Canada are suspending their official efforts to free North Atlantic right whales tangled in fishing lines after the death of a rescuer during an operation Monday. NPR reports former Canadian fisherman and whale rescue expert Joe Howlett had just cut a right whale free from fishing lines...

Innovative Whales Discover Easy New Food Source

Study finds humpbacks hang out near hatcheries to feast on young salmon

(Newser) - The hatcheries of southeast Alaska spend months raising juvenile salmon until they're ready for life on their own in the wide-open ocean. The big day comes, the young fish are released, and they're ... immediately eaten by a hungry whale that's been waiting for this exact moment. A...

Whale Kills Fisherman Who Rescued It

Canada's Joe Howlett had spent the past 15 years saving whales in trouble

(Newser) - Joe Howlett had just tapped into his extensive knowledge of knots to free yet another whale off the coast of New Brunswick on Monday, part of his job with Canada's Campobello Whale Rescue Team, and then: "Some kind of freak thing happened and the whale made a big...

Killer Whales Are Conceiving, but the Pregnancies Are Failing

Study says orcas on West Coast are struggling due to salmon supply

(Newser) - Endangered killer whales that frequent the inland waters of Washington state are having pregnancy problems because they cannot find enough fish to eat, according to a new study. Researchers analyzed hormones in excrement collected at sea and found that more than two-thirds of orca pregnancies failed over a seven-year period....

Alaska Fishermen Say Wily Whales Are Stealing Their Catch
Wily Orcas
Are Tormenting
Alaska Fishermen
in case you missed it
Jun 24, 2017 7:15 AM CDT

Wily Orcas Are Tormenting Alaska Fishermen

Whales are stealing thousands of pounds of their fish from boats

(Newser) - They're like pirates of sorts, but very, very large ones. Alaskan fishermen say they’re increasingly missing out on scores of fish they rely on to make a living because killer whales are making off with their catch. A few years ago, orca sightings in the Bering Sea were...

Little Mermaid Statue Doused With Paint ... Again

It appears to be a protest against hunting whales

(Newser) - Danish officials on Tuesday hosed down Copenhagen's famed Little Mermaid after the statue was found doused with red paint, the AP reports. On the ground in front of the statue was written in red, in English, "Denmark defend the whales of the [Faeroe] Islands"—likely a reference...

There&#39;s a Simple Reason Blue Whales Got So Huge
There's a Simple Reason
Blue Whales Got So Huge
new study
May 24, 2017 9:06 AM CDT

There's a Simple Reason Blue Whales Got So Huge

They pigged out on fish: study

(Newser) - Scientists think they've figured out why the biggest whales—those of the baleen variety, including blue whales—got so big. As they explain in a study in Proceedings of the Royal Society B , the researchers found that these behemoths didn't really become behemoths until about 4.5 million...

'Unprecedented' Orca Hunting Frenzy Caught on Film

In just seven days, the orcas have killed four whales in Monterey, California

(Newser) - A pod of killer whales off the coast of Monterey, California, has intrigued biologists by going on a frenzied hunting spree that’s killed four gray whales in just seven days. Nancy Black, a local marine biologist and co-owner of Monterey Bay Whale Watch, caught the latest attack on camera...

Baby Humpback Whales 'Whisper' to Their Moms

And that could be a sign of high intelligence

(Newser) - Baby humpback whales "whisper" to their mothers, according to a paper published Tuesday in Functional Ecology . And that could speak volumes about the intelligence of these aquatic giants. NPR reports scientists—for the first time ever—attached recording devices directly to humpback calves. "It's like a squeaky...

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