WHALES AHOY - DARWIN DAILY

Researchers reveal first sightings of rare whales off New Zealand coast

Jul 12, 2016 (SPX)

For the first time in New Zealand waters an extremely rare grouping of Shepherd's Beaked Whales has been spotted from a University of Otago research vessel off ...

IWC demands action on rare New Zealand dolphin

Jul 11, 2016 (AFP)

The International Whaling Commission (IWC) has called on New Zealand to take urgent action to save the world's rarest dolphin from extinction, voicing "grave co...

Up to 50 pilot whales killed in Faroes: activists

Jul 06, 2016 (AFP)

A militant conservation group claimed Wednesday that up to 50 pilot whales have been killed in the first traditional whale hunt of the year in the Faroe Islands...

What does the sperm whale say

Jul 03, 2016 (SPX)

When a team of researchers began listening in on seven sperm whales in the waters off the Azores, they discovered that the whales' characteristic tapping sounds...

Dozens of pilot whales stranded in Indonesia, eight dead

Jun 16, 2016 (AFP)

Eight pilot whales have died after a mass stranding on the coast of Indonesia's main island of Java that sparked a major rescue operation, an official said Thur...

Dolphins to get coastal sanctuary in US

Jun 16, 2016 (AFP)

After years of research on dolphin behavior and under pressure from animal rights groups, the National Aquarium in Baltimore has decided to move the marine mamm...

Drone footage shows the secret life of rare whales

Jun 10, 2016 (AFP)

New Zealand researchers have captured stunning drone footage of endangered whales feeding off the Auckland coast, giving an unprecedented insight into the majes...

Harbour porpoises are skilled hunters and eat almost constantly

May 27, 2016 (SPX)

Harbour porpoises have sometimes been described as "living in the fast lane." Being smaller than other cetaceans and living in cold northern waters means that t...

Ban fishing to save world's smallest porpoise: WWF

May 17, 2016 (AFP)

The World Wildlife Fund urged Mexican authorities on Monday to ban all fishing in the upper Gulf of California to save the vaquita marina, the world's smallest ...

World's smallest porpoise nearer extinction in Mexico

May 14, 2016 (AFP)

Environmentalists warned Friday that Mexico's vaquita marina, the world's smallest porpoise, was close to extinction as the government reported that only 60 wer...

Antarctic whales and the krill they eat

May 13, 2016 (SPX)

The Western Antarctic sector of the Southern Ocean is the regular feeding ground of a large number of fin and humpback whales of the Southern Hemisphere. Around...

Study links baby dolphin deaths to BP oil spill

Apr 12, 2016 (AFP)

An unusually high number of baby dolphins were found dead in the Gulf of Mexico following the 2010 Deepwater Horizon disaster, and a study Tuesday blamed chroni...

Hard whale heads sink ships - or can they?

Apr 06, 2016 (SPX)

The idea that a sperm whale can use its massive head as a battering ram to sink ships has been hotly debated at least since Moby Dick was published in 1851. Uni...

France's Marineland accused of 'mistreating orcas'

Mar 27, 2016 (AFP)

Environmental campaigners said Sunday they were taking legal action against a French marine park, Europe's largest, over the treatment of its orca whales and ot...

Australia slams Japan Antarctic whale hunt

Mar 25, 2016 (AFP)

Australia on Friday branded Japan's killing of 333 whales "abhorrent", saying there was no scientific justification for the Antarctic hunt. The Japanese fleet s...

Japan court orders dolphin-hunt town to pay damages to Australian

Mar 25, 2016 (AFP)

An anti-dolphin hunting activist is being paid damages by a Japanese town made notorious by the Oscar-winning film "The Cove," after it refused to let her into ...

Japan fleet kills 333 whales in Antarctic hunt

Mar 24, 2016 (AFP)

Japanese whalers returned to port Thursday after an Antarctic hunt that killed more than 300 of the mammals, the government said. The fleet had set sail for the...

Bangladesh bans ships in rare dolphin sanctuaries

Mar 21, 2016 (AFP)

Bangladesh on Monday banned boats from sailing through a key southwestern river after a ship loaded with coal capsized, threatening the sanctuaries of rare dolp...

SeaWorld to stop breeding killer whales

Mar 17, 2016 (AFP)

Marine theme-park giant SeaWorld announced Thursday it will stop breeding orcas, also known as killer whales, and will no longer keep any of the giant sea creat...

Rare dolphin 'stampede' shocks whale-watchers

Mar 12, 2016 (UPI)

Whale watchers got a rare look at hundreds of dolphins during a dolphin "stampede" off the coast of Southern California. Whale watchers looking to catch a few g...