Whales

Feeding performance of blue whales vary wide as a function of prey density and distribution, according to new research just published in Science Advances. Because rorqual whales are air-breathing divers that exhibit a high-cost feeding mechanism, they are under considerable pressure to optimize their foraging success by weighing oxygen use against possible energy gain. Blue whales, the researchers have found, follow a complex strategy of switching from conserving oxygen when prey quality is low, to intense foraging at the expense of oxygen when prey quality is high.

Scientists studying blue whales off California's coast discovered that blue whales modify the intensity of their efforts when hunting krill in order to conserve energy.

"We found that blue whales have a complex strategy of switching from conserving oxygen when prey quality is low, to intense foraging at the expense of oxygen when prey quality is high," said Elliott Hazen, research ecologist at the U.S. NOAA Fisheries' Southwest Fisheries Science Center and lead author of the study.

The basic role of Mx genes is to make proteins that fight viral infections such as HIV, measles and flu.

'We compared the whole-genome sequence of four toothed whales, a baleen whale and dozens of related mammals like cows and humans,' said Gill Bejerano, Ph.D., associate professor of developmental biology. 'When we looked carefully at the genome sequences, it was very clear that the Mx genes are completely messed up only in the toothed whales.'

The Japanese Government had submitted a plan named NEWREP-A for a revamped "research whaling" program for review by an expert panel of the International Whaling Commission. According to this plan, 333 minke whales would be killed annually over 12 years, meaning a total kill of 3,996 animals. This is on top of the nearly 10,000 whales already killed under its scientific permits.

very year from late April to August, humpback whales migrate north along Australia’s Pacific coast to the warm coastal waters of Queensland and the Coral Sea to mate and give birth. According to Geoffrey Ross, wildlife management officer and coordinator of the Marine Fauna Program for the NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) off Cape Solander south of Botany Bay, humpback whale migration periods are becoming longer annually as their numbers increase.

Operators claim new federal regulations meant to protect marine mammals could put them out of business. Wally Daudrich, president of the Beluga Whale Tourism Association and owner of the Lazy Bear Lodge in Churchill, Manitoba, claims rules prohibit boats from approaching belugas any closer than 50 metres.

A new eco-tourism project has just been launched on the spectacular coast of the White Sea, from the village of Chupa. Run by Vasily Efimov and Yulia Suprunenko, it offered tours of the sea coast and forest, seal and bird watching, and a trip to see the beluga whales of Nilma, for the first time this winter. The programs for this spring and summer will soon be announced.

According to Department of Conservation officials, at least 198 pilot whales had become stranded on the beaches of New Zealand's South Island. At least 24 of the whales have already died with Conservation officials and local volunteers scrambling to save the remaining individuals.

Scientists studying Baird's beaked whales have discovered they form long-term alliances. In findings published in the journal Marine Mammal Science, researchers who identified individual whales by scars on their bodies are calling for hunting of the species to be halted while more information is gathered about their complex social structure. Currently, they are hunted off northern Japan.