WHALES AHOY - DARWIN DAILY

Two more endangered right whale calves spotted off Massachusetts coast

Apr 15, 2019 (UPI)

The mini baby boom is good news for the endangered species. Scientists estimate there are only around 450 right whales living in the ocean. The two new whales w...

Plaques linked to Alzheimer's found in the brains of stranded dolphins

Mar 26, 2019 (UPI)

Analysis of the marine mammal brains also revealed the presence of BMAA, a toxin produced by cyanobacterial blooms. "We found β-amyloid plaques and damaged neu...

Dead whale in Philippines had 40 kg of plastic in stomach

Mar 18, 2019 (AFP)

Environmental groups have tagged the Philippines as one of the world's biggest ocean polluters due to its reliance on single-use plastic. That sort of pollution...

Critically endangered vaquita porpoise found dead in Mexico

Mar 14, 2019 (AFP)

Two patrol ships from the environmental group Sea Shepherd found the vaquita's badly decayed carcass Tuesday, trapped in a gill net in a protected marine reserv...

South African man escapes jaws of whale

Mar 11, 2019 (AFP)

The 51-year-old marine conservationist was swept into the mouth of a large Bryde's whale off the coast of the southern South African town of Port Elizabeth whil...

Blue whales 'hedge their bets' in search for food: study

Feb 25, 2019 (AFP)

They are in search of their favorite food, the tiny crustaceans known as krill. Scientists have long tracked the migration of the behemoths, which can weigh wel...

In Russia, a battle to free nearly 100 captured whales

Feb 22, 2019 (AFP)

Russia is the only country where orcas, or killer whales, and belugas can be caught in the ocean for the purpose of "education". The legal loophole has been use...

Iceland sets whaling quotas despite falling profits

Feb 20, 2019 (AFP)

Fisheries and Agriculture Minister Kristjan Thor Juliusson said late Tuesday whalers would be authorised to harpoon 209 fin whales and 217 minke whales annually...

Activists file suit to stop dolphin hunting in Japan

Feb 14, 2019 (AFP)

In drive hunting, fishermen force dolphins into a cove by beating on boats to disorient them. The panicked animals often get tangled in nets, suffocate and drow...

Environmentalists attacked on Mexico porpoise patrol

Feb 01, 2019 (AFP)

Attackers on high-speed boats threw Molotov cocktails and large rocks at the M/V Farley Mowat in the Gulf of California on Thursday, shattering windows and igni...

Rare Bryde's whale washes ashore in Everglades National Park

Feb 01, 2019 (UPI)

According to a Twitter post by Everglades National Park, the deceased whale was recovered on Wednesday and taken to Flamingo, the park's southernmost headquarte...

'A way of life': Japan's whalers back treaty withdrawal

Jan 31, 2019 (AFP)

Japan sparked outrage in December when it decided to withdraw from the International Whaling Commission, saying it would return to commercial whaling as part of...

Why do beaked whales return to Navy sonar range despite disturbances

Jan 30, 2019 (SPX)

For decades, the U.S. Navy has used high-powered sonar during anti-submarine training and testing exercises in various ocean habitats, including the San Nicolas...

For some whales, sonar may provoke suicidal behaviour: study

Jan 30, 2019 (AFP)

At first blush, the explanation laid out Wednesday by 21 experts in the Royal Society journal Proceedings B seems implausible. Millions of years of evolution ha...

Climate change pushing Orca whales to migrate north

Jan 28, 2019 (AFP)

Their favourite meal, herring, abounds, but climate change means both predator and prey must increasingly migrate further north. The clear and calm waters of Re...

Giant singers from neighboring oceans share song parts over time

Jan 09, 2019 (SPX)

The new research shows that two humpback whale populations in different ocean basins (the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans) in the Southern Hemisphere sing simi...

Canada's Trudeau raps Japan PM on whale hunt

Jan 08, 2019 (AFP)

According to a statement from his office, Trudeau said he "raised the important issue of whale conservation and committed to working with international partners...

Japan bolts whaling commission, but tensions may ease

Dec 28, 2018 (AFP)

Japan, which calls whaling part of its cultural heritage, said Wednesday it would withdraw from the seven-decade-old commission which since 1986 has banned comm...

Japan to resume commercial whaling after IWC withdrawal

Dec 26, 2018 (AFP)

The announcement comes after Japan failed earlier this year to convince the IWC to allow it to resume commercial whaling. Top government spokesman Yoshihide Sug...

Smiling at danger, China's finless porpoise fights to survive

Dec 20, 2018 (AFP)

A slick black back with no dorsal fin arches briefly above the water line before plunging back down. Such glimpses of the shy Yangtze finless porpoise, the only...