WHALES AHOY - DARWIN DAILY

N. Zealand beached whale crisis 'over' say rescuers

Feb 12, 2017 (AFP)

Whale rescuers were cautiously optimistic Sunday that the current wave of mass beachings in New Zealand was over, after hundreds of the creatures died after bei...

Fresh whale stranding on notorious New Zealand beach

Feb 11, 2017 (AFP)

Another 200 whales were stranded on a New Zealand coastline late Saturday, frustrating rescuers who had battled through the day and even defied a shark threat t...

Data on blue whales off California helps protect their distant relatives

Feb 10, 2017 (SPX)

Scientists know a great deal about blue whales off California, where the endangered species has been studied for decades. But they know far less about blue whal...

Mexico's vaquita porpoise close to extinction, 30 left

Feb 02, 2017 (AFP)

Mexico's vaquita marina is edging closer to extinction as scientists warned Wednesday that only 30 were left despite navy efforts to intercept illegal fishing n...

Humpback habitats off Madagascar revealed as energy exploration ramps up

Jan 06, 2017 (SPX)

How humpback whales use marine habitats off the eastern coast of Africa is only partially understood, and that has become a conservation concern as offshore ene...

New, complex call recorded in Mariana Trench believed to be from baleen whale

Dec 16, 2016 (SPX)

A sound in the Mariana Trench notable for its complexity and wide frequency range likely represents the discovery of a new baleen whale call, according to the O...

Baleen whale likely responsible for complex call recorded in Mariana Trench

Dec 14, 2016 (UPI)

Scientists believe a new, complex call recorded in the Mariana Trench was produced by a baleen whale. The call, dubbed the "Western Pacific Biotwang," was recor...

Whales in the wild: rare gem amid Thailand mass tourism

Dec 13, 2016 (AFP)

Piercing the water's surface with its almond-shaped mouth, a giant Bryde's whale opens wide for one, two, three seconds, gulping in anchovies as a boatload of a...

Anti-whaling activist fined for animal cruelty in Faroes

Nov 30, 2016 (AFP)

Anti-whaling group Sea Shepherd said Wednesday it planned to use a conviction against one of its members for breaching the Faroe Islands' animal welfare law to ...

Fossils reveal origins of filter feeding in baleen whales

Nov 30, 2016 (UPI)

Baleen whales are named for the long hair-like strands that hang from their mouth and filter food from the ocean. But baleen whales didn't always filter their f...

New forecast tool helps ships avoid blue whale hotspots

Nov 30, 2016 (SPX)

Scientists have long used satellite tags to track blue whales along the West Coast, learning how the largest animals on the planet find enough small krill to fe...

How to monitor global ocean warming - without harming whales

Nov 22, 2016 (SPX)

Most of the extra heat trapped by human-generated emissions is ending up in the oceans. But tracking the temperature of the world's oceans to monitor the change...

Narwhal echolocation beams may be the most directional of any species

Nov 11, 2016 (SPX)

Analysis of some of the first recordings of wintering narwhals showed that they may have the most directional sonar of any species, according to a study publish...

WHOI study reveals previously unknown component of whale songs

Nov 07, 2016 (SPX)

Researchers have known for decades that whales create elaborate songs, sometimes projecting their calls for miles underwater. A new study from the Woods Hole Oc...

Whaling: The hunters and the hunted

Oct 28, 2016 (AFP)

Thirty years into a moratorium on commercial whaling, hundreds of the marine mammals, some endangered, are killed every year -- some in open defiance of the ban...

Whaling watchdog concludes discordant meeting

Oct 28, 2016 (AFP)

The world's whaling watchdog concluded a typically discordant meeting Friday with defeats for both the pro- and anti-whaling camps, and the organisation's very ...

Genetic mutation in whale eyes may increase mortality risks

Oct 28, 2016 (SPX)

Scientists have found that a genetic mutation in the eyes of right whales that hampers their ability to see in bright light may make them more susceptible to fa...

Under fire, Japan defends whale hunts for 'science'

Oct 27, 2016 (AFP)

In the crosshairs of anti-whaling nations, Japan defended its annual Southern Ocean whale hunt, insisting it was gathering scientific data even as detractors ac...

World body moves to curtail Japan's 'science' whaling

Oct 27, 2016 (AFP)

The world's whaling watchdog moved Thursday to curtail Japan's annual whale hunt, conducted under scientific licence but blasted by critics as a commercial meat...

'Stinky whale' whiff wafts over whaling talks

Oct 26, 2016 (AFP)

Between explosive diplomatic quarrels and pressing animal welfare concerns, world whaling talks came up against an unusual challenge this week, that of "stinky ...