Whales

Washington State Protects Their Killer Whales

Featured Image Credit: Island Adventures Whale Watching
By Sarah Sharkey

The Washington Senate has just passed a rule to create a safer environment for the endangered orcas that live in their waters. The senators voted to allow a speed limit of seven knots for vessels traveling within 400 yards of a killer whale.

Although, there is some forgiveness built into the rule for captains who can’t see the whales in rough seas or if the visibility is extremely low. Other than those instances, killer whales will now be protected by this speed limit. It is hoped there will be fewer incidences between boats and orcas in Washington waters from now on.

The orcas that reside in Washington State are critically endangered. This rule will help a little, but the real problem lies with high noise levels caused by shipping traffic and a decreasing supply of food. The Chinook salmon is vitally important to the southern resident whales that live here year-round.

Without a robust supply of this fish, this population of whales has been under intense stress. Once you add in the increased shipping traffic that creates deafening underwater noise that drowns out the killer whale’s communications to each other, it is no wonder that their population is declining. If something drastic is not done soon, these whales could be gone forever soon.

Learn more from our source here.

Whales

Dark Implications Of A Juvenile Humpback Whale’s Necropsy

Featured Image Credit: The Marine Mammal Center
By Laura O’Brien

The necropsy of a whale that washed up at Point Reyes beach on December 24th last year revealed disconcerting injuries. The 30-foot juvenile humpback had injuries on its mouth, the back of its neck, and its shoulder, which were consistent with entanglement. By the time the whale washed ashore, whatever had previously wrapped around the whale’s body had fallen off, and decomposition as well as bloating prevented experts at the Marine Mammal Center based in Sausalito from determining what the whale had become entangled in.

Unfortunately, there is so much man-made debris in the ocean that there is no way to guess with certainty what exactly injured the whale. In fact, the garbage “island” that is floating in the Pacific ocean is now about the size of the entire state of Alaska, which is the largest state in the US. Most of that massive environmental nightmare is fishing gear. Although the deceased whale that washed up on Point Reyes beach had been dead too long to determine if it died as a result of the entanglement, fishing gear is known to be responsible for countless marine-life deaths, often through entanglement or ingestion. Although many governments and companies are creating new regulations in an effort to address the issues that fishing debris causes, more action needs to take place. Conservationists and animal lovers must continue to demand that governments and companies take responsibility for protecting our oceans.

Learn more from our sources.

http://www.pressdemocrat.com/news/7894651-181/whale-that-washed-up-on?sba=AAS ,

http://fortune.com/2018/03/23/great-pacific-garbage-patch-pollution/ ,

https://news.nationalgeographic.com/2018/03/great-pacific-garbage-patch-plastics-environment/]

Trending Now

Underwater Footage Of Type D Orcas Taken For The FIRST TIME EVER

Featured Image Credit: Jean-Pierre Sylvestre
By Sarah Sharkey

One lucky group of passengers aboard a boat heading from Antarctica to South America encountered a pod of orcas. A sighting of orcas would make anyone’s trip a better one, but these were type D killer whales. The most elusive of the orcas that we all know and love.

Type D orcas were identified as a unique type of occur in 1955, but not much is known about them. Type D orcas not only look different than killer whales, but also are a genetically distinct group. It has not been determined if these whales are a subspecies or even a whole separate species.

One well equipped passenger had the quick thinking to submerge a camera into the icy water. The video they captured was the first ever of these orcas underneath the waves.

Image Credit: WDC, Whale and Dolphin Conservation

Why are there so many unknown questions to these mysterious orcas? According to specialists, it is nearly impossible to plan a trip around finding these animals. One reason is that there aren’t that many, but their habitat range is huge. The other reason is that these killer whales enjoy living their lives in areas with high winds and rough seas which makes it hard for even the most determined research vessel to study them.

Hopefully this new footage will shed some light on these amazing creatures.

Learn more from our source here.

Whales

Hungry Hungry Humpback: This Whale Went HAM On A Ball Of Anchovies

Featured Image Credit: Newport Coastal Adventure Video

Newport Coastal Adventure captured incredible aerial footage of a humpback whale absolutely dominating a tightly schooled ball of anchovies. This time of year, humpbacks can typically be seen feeding off the coast of Central California. However, the Southern California company not only used a drone to capture the feast but even managed to capture the formation of the bait ball beforehand.

The hungry hungry humpback, along with other marine mammals, was cruising nearby with a solid plan of attack called lunge feeding. Unfortunately for the anchovies, even though they were dedicated to their plan of defense, they proved to be no match for the behemoth. You can even see the humpback’s ventral pleats expand during the preliminary lunge and practically decimating the majority of the fish.

In actuality, every time the anchovies pulled together and formed a bait ball, it basically set them up as the perfect target for the whale’s next gulp. Captain Ryan Lawler told Grind TV, “We watched before our eyes as a school of about 2,000 anchovies were eaten until the very last one.” The capt. also added, “We saw at least a half dozen lunge feeds in a span of 15 minutes by this one whale, and then everything went back to normal.”

Check out adventure company’s AWESOME footage:

Want to read the story covered by GrindTV?

Trending Now

An Unusual Mortality Event Of Whales Is Happening In The Atlantic Right Now

Featured Image Credit: David G. Curran
By Sarah Sharkey

Three large whale species are in the midst of an unusual mortality event in the Atlantic Ocean. Three of the five total large whales that live in the Atlantic have been found dead on shore in usually high numbers in the last several months to a year.

Scientists are working hard to determine if these deaths are all linked or if they are simply coincidences. It is the first time that three unusual mortality events of three separate species have been happening at the same time, so the scientists at NOAA seem concerned by the recent events. The coordinator of NOAA’s Marine Mammal Health and Stranding Program, Teri Rowles, had this to say about the incidents

“We’re still going through the analysis to determine what might be the cause, and as we pull that information together across all the [species], then we’ll have a better idea if there is a common causal or contributing agent that can be driving those [deaths].”

Image Credit: Suzanne Thurman, Merr Institue

The deaths include minke whales, humpback whales, and the endangered North Atlantic right whale.

The most recent unusual mortality event was a bottlenose dolphin die-off in 2013-2015. That event was related to a disease. So far there is no evidence that the most recent events are related to a disease. Unfortunately, these deaths may just be the result of a negative human interaction.

Learn more from our source here.

News

Massive Whale Skull Found On Floridian Beach

Featured Image Credit: Jan Vangets
By Sarah Sharkey

A whale skull was found on Flagler Beach, FL earlier this month. The massive skull is so large that it took a team of multiple people and a stretcher just to move it out of the waves.

George Biedenbach, director of the conservation field station operated by the Georgia Aquarium in the nearby town of Marineland, Florida had this to say about the interesting find, “This, we are certain is a baleen whale.”

It is very rare for these skulls to be found because of the weight. “Normally these skulls actually sink. For this to have washed up on shore, it’s pretty unique in that regard.”

Image Credit: Ed Siarkowicz

At eight feet long and 400 pounds the skull took up the entire truck bed. For now, it the exact species is undetermined, but Biedenbach confirmed that it was the upper jaw of the whale. Jim Hain, the senior scientist at the Marineland Right Whale Project ventured a guess that it may be from a humpback or fin whale and that the skull likely came from a juvenile animal.

Biedenbach was able to say, “We’re pretty certain this is not a right whale which is a good thing because right whales are critically endangered.”

Eventually you may be able to see this skull on display at a museum one day, after it has been examined by researchers.

Learn more from our source here.

Guest Columns

Cetacean’s Love Scotland, And Who Can Blame Them?

Featured Image Credit: Dolphin Spirit
By Jessica Kittel

Scotland holds a certain appeal to many people. Whether it’s the romance of the Highlands, the tartan clothing, the plethora of redheads, or the swoon-worthy accent many people just love Scotland. Turns out cetaceans hold the same opinion!

Image Credit: Brian Wells

In the United Kingdom’s most recent National Whale and Dolphin Watch, Scotland had the most whale and dolphin sightings in the United Kingdom, as reported on home.bt.com. Forty three percent of the sightings that occurred during the survey were up in bonnie Scotland. Of the 6,500 cetaceans seen during the survey, England was a close second with 555 sightings, Wales came in third with 231 sightings however, and both were trumped by Scotland’s 608 sightings.

The National Whale and Dolphin Watch occurred between July 29^th and August 6^th and couldn’t have happened without the 2,500 people that volunteered to be apart of the survey. As with all citizen science, taking part in surveys such as this one is a great way to actively be involved in conservation efforts.

Image Credit: Rhona Clarke

Harbor Porpoises were seen 697 times during the survey making them the most common cetaceans seen in the UK. Bottlenose dolphins were seen 224 times and were the second most commonly seen cetacean during the survey. Orcas (aka killer whales) were also spotted during the survey.

If you want to see some cetaceans, looks like Scotland’s a good bet!

Learn more from our source here.

News

Whale Watchers Spot Floating Object In Ocean…And It’s Not What You Think It Is

Featured Image Credit: Pacific Whale Foundation
By Sarah Sharkey

Whale watchers in Hawaii recently saw something extremely unexpected, a humpback whale placenta. The giant floating white mass was goopy and strange looking, but an important discovery for humpback whale biologists.

Scientists who study these amazing whales have assumed that humpback whales travel to the waters surrounding Hawaii to give birth to their calves, but the actual evidence of this assumption has been limited.

Image Credit: Alex Kirkbride

Back in 1994, another humpback whale placenta was found near Hawaii and confirmed through hormone analysis. In a study published on the discovery of that placenta, it was measured to be about 1.2 to 1.5 meters long and the submerged part was roughly 2.4 meters long. The attached umbilical cord was 5 centimeters wide and 1.3 meters long. That giant placenta was attached to a humpback whale at birth. The documentation of these placentae is strong evidence that the humpback whales do indeed give birth in the waters surrounding Hawaii.

According to the Pacific Whale Foundation other than seeing the birth of a humpback whale, “Humpback whale placenta would perhaps be the next best evidence of the birthing process taking place.”

An amazing discovery that helps to support the long-supported assumption that humpback whales have their calves in the warm and beautiful waters near Hawaii.

Learn from our source here.

« Previous Page