Fin whales (Balaenoptera physalus quoyi) of the Southern Hemisphere were brought to near extinction by 20th-century industrial whaling. For decades, they had all but disappeared from previously highly frequented feeding grounds in Antarctic waters. Researchers estimate that by the time whaling was banned in the 1970s over 700,000 fin whales had been killed.
For decades, Japanese whalers have known of the existence of a whale species that resembles the Baird’s beaked whale, but is smaller in size. It was only in 2019 that DNA samples taken from deceased whales were able to confirm their existence.
The new species was named Sato’s beaked whales, after researcher Hal Sato, who sent photos of deceased stranded individuals to Tadasu Yamada, curator emeritus at Japan’s National Museum of Nature and Science, in the early 2000s.
The vaquita is the world’s smallest marine mammal, measuring between four to five feet in length. A comprehensive survey conducted in 1997 counted 570 vaquitas, but today, 25 years on, a mere ten surviving vaquitas have been counted in the Sea of Cortez, the only place that the vaquita can be found.
The “whup” and “grumble” sounds recorded by hydrophones moored in the Vema Seamount in the Atlantic Ocean, 1,000km northwest of Cape Town in South Africa, suggest this location could be an important stop on the whales’ migration route to polar feeding grounds.
Scientists have discovered that the baleen plates of toothless whales can reveal how these mammals adapt to environmental changes over time. By examining the baleen plates, which held a chemical record of their feeding patterns, scientists could find out how changes in the whales’ feeding habits corresponded with the changing climate cycles.
After a study involving humpback and right whales in the Pacific and Indian Ocean, they published their findings in the Frontiers in Marine Science journal.
Along with Norway and Japan, Iceland is one of only a few countries that still hunt whales commercially.
However, demand for whale meat has decreased dramatically since Japan—Iceland's main market—resumed commercial whaling in 2019, after a 30-year ban. Commercial whaling was banned in a 1986 International Whaling Commission embargo, but Japan withdrew from the IWC in December 2018.
Project CETI is a nonprofit organisation applying machine learning and robotics to listen to and translate the communication of whales. The organisation is working to develop a deeper understanding of the complex system of communication that sperm whales use and share this understanding with the world.
How much do baleen whales eat every day?
Researchers have discovered that baleen whales actually eat an average of three times more food than previously thought. This in turn means that we have been underestimating their impact and contribution to ocean’s ecosystems.
This finding was shared in a paper in a recent issue of the Nature journal.
Can hunting by echolocation be as fast as hunting by sight?
As visual animals, we may find this a peculiar question—not so if one applies it to animals that hunt using echolocation, like bats, dolphins and whales. These animals emit clicking sounds and use the reflected echoes to determine the location of objects and other animals.
Can animals that hunt using echolocation lock onto their prey and track their movements, and how fast can they react? These were questions that an international team of researchers sought to answer.
Every winter the Silver Bank is home to the largest gathering of humpback whales found anywhere in the North Atlantic, and Conscious Breath Adventures is exceptionally positioned to lead visitors there.
The Silver Bank, part of the Sanctuary for the Marine Mammals of the Dominican Republic, is one of the few places on earth where swimming with humpback whales is officially sanctioned, permitted, and properly regulated.
