humpback whale

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This Humpback Whale Got a Much-Needed Rescue

'Hog-tied' juvenile in Alaska had gotten caught up in a 300lb crab pot, and lines

(Newser) - When Alaska fishermen dropped a 300lb crab pot in the waters close to Glacier Bay National Park, they were probably hoping to catch, well, crabs. What they got instead was a much bigger catch—though not in a good way. As NPR reports, the crab pot and its lines got...

Video Shows 3 Whales Breach at Same Moment

The very rare sight was captured off Cape Cod

(Newser) - A New Hampshire man celebrating his birthday on the ocean with his three daughters captured video of something so rare that even marine scientists are jealous—three humpback whales leaping from the water in near-perfect unison. "It was such an uplifting thing to see. Just incredible," Robert Addie...

Whale Makes 'Amazing' but Heartbreaking Journey

Humpback with broken back made 3.1K-mile trek from Canada to Hawaii but likely won't live long

(Newser) - It's a story both inspiring and heartbreaking, and one that marine wildlife experts have been monitoring with admiration and deep concern. For at least the last decade, a humpback whale named Moon has been on the radar of scientists at the Fin Island whale research station off of British...

More Dead Whales Are Turning Up on West Coast

At least 5 since mid-May, off of California and Canadian coasts

(Newser) - Scientists are probing the unexplained deaths of a fourth and fifth whale on the US and Canadian west coasts since mid-May. "Spike," a young female humpback first documented by scientists in 2018, was found washed ashore near Vancouver Island on Sunday, just a day after a male humpback...

Breaching Whale Slams Right Onto Boat
Humpback Whale Leaps,
Comes Down on Boat
video
May 19, 2022 2:50 PM CDT

Humpback Whale Leaps, Comes Down on Boat

It happened in Mexico on Saturday

(Newser) - Getting up close and personal with nature proved dangerous in Mexico's Sea of Cortez on Saturday, when a boat that apparently got too close to a humpback whale ended up nearly being taken down by the creature. 9News reports that tourists on nearby boats in Topolobampo Bay off Sinaloa,...

Humpback Whale Seems to Swallow Kayakers
Humpback Whale Seems
to Swallow Kayakers
in case you missed it
Nov 8, 2020 6:51 AM CST

Humpback Whale Seems to Swallow Kayakers

It was 'in my face, literally,' says Liz Cottriel

(Newser) - The kayakers were out on the water to see whales. They did not expect to swim with them. But that's what happened near California's Avila beach on Monday when a humpback whale breached the water's surface—immediately below Liz Cottriel and Julie McSorley. The friends from San...

Humpback Whale Escapes Crocodile-Infested River

Whale that made wrong turn appears to be no worse for wear

(Newser) - The last humpback whale remaining in a crocodile-infested Australian river is now safe. The whale, one of three that made a wrong turn and ended up in the river during their annual migration, returned to sea over the weekend, entering the Van Diemen Gulf. Authorities said Monday the whale appeared...

3 Lost Humpbacks Go Where Humpbacks Shouldn't Go

At least one remains in a crocodile-infested river in Australia

(Newser) - Three humpback whales made a wrong turn in Australia and ended up in a place where whales have never been seen before: a muddy, bendy river. That's bad. A little worse is that the river is named the East Alligator River, for good reason, reports the BBC . Two of...

She Got Sandwiched Between Whales, Is Recovering

Woman in Australia is injured while swimming with humpbacks

(Newser) - Swimming with seals is a thing. Swimming with whales? It's a far riskier prospect, as an Australian woman just found out. The 29-year-old suffered serious injuries—internal bleeding and fractured ribs—after getting sandwiched between two humpback whales off the coast of western Australia, reports 7News . She was swimming...

Family's Boat Collides With Humpback

Incident off the Alaska coast resulted in serious injuries

(Newser) - Several members of a family were left with severe injuries after their boat collided with a humpback whale off the coast of Juneau, Alaska, KTUU reports. The four boaters were outside of Auke Bay, on the west side of Coghlan Island, Saturday when the whale unexpectedly surfaced in front of...

Scientists Just Discovered a Quirk of Whale Songs
Scientists Just Discovered
a Quirk of Whale Songs
new study
Nov 26, 2018 5:17 PM CST

Scientists Just Discovered a Quirk of Whale Songs

Humpbacks sing an increasingly complex tune for years, then drop it for something simpler

(Newser) - Researchers studying the songs of humpback whales have discovered a quirk of the undersea music: The whales sing the same song for a few years, adding individual embellishments and making it increasingly complex all the while. And then, poof, they switch to a simpler tune and start the cycle over...

Cruise Ship Docks in Alaska, Makes Sad Find on Its Bow

A dead humpback whale

(Newser) - A cruise ship reached an Alaska port with a surprise on its bow: the carcass of a humpback whale. Per the AP , the Grand Princess, a 949-foot ship in the Princess Cruises fleet, pulled into Ketchikan Wednesday morning with the marine mammal lodged on its submerged, bulbous bow, a device...

Innovative Whales Discover Easy New Food Source

Study finds humpbacks hang out near hatcheries to feast on young salmon

(Newser) - The hatcheries of southeast Alaska spend months raising juvenile salmon until they're ready for life on their own in the wide-open ocean. The big day comes, the young fish are released, and they're ... immediately eaten by a hungry whale that's been waiting for this exact moment. A...

High Numbers of Humpback Whales Dying Off Atlantic Coast

And officials aren't sure what's causing it

(Newser) - Federal officials say humpback whales have been dying in unusually large numbers along the Atlantic Coast, the AP reports. According to the News Journal , the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Marine Fisheries declared it an "unusual mortality event," which is called when higher-than-normal numbers of marine mammals die...

Baby Humpback Whales 'Whisper' to Their Moms

And that could be a sign of high intelligence

(Newser) - Baby humpback whales "whisper" to their mothers, according to a paper published Tuesday in Functional Ecology . And that could speak volumes about the intelligence of these aquatic giants. NPR reports scientists—for the first time ever—attached recording devices directly to humpback calves. "It's like a squeaky...

New Habit of Humpbacks Puzzles Researchers

Scientists have spotted them in groups as big as 200 for first time

(Newser) - Humpback whales, which humans have long observed to be solitary creatures, are gathering in large groups to feed, and it's kind of astounding the scientists who study them. Typically living alone or in pairs, a group of 10 to 15 is considered big, but research crews have now spotted...

Humpbacks Save Other Animals From Orcas

The 'why' part is unclear

(Newser) - Whale researchers say they've collected enough evidence to make a remarkable assertion: Humpback whales deliberately save other creatures from killer whales. The scientists collected 115 accounts between 1951 and 2012, they write in Marine Mammal Science . Maine ecologist Robert Pitman got the idea for the survey after seeing an...

Southern California Plagued by Rotting 22-Ton Whale

Officials have given up on towing Wally out to sea

(Newser) - Wally the dead whale has apparently been washing up on beaches in southern California a lot more reliably than the swallows now return to Capistrano . The body of a dead humpback whale that turned up in Encinitas, northern San Diego County, is believed to be the same whale that has...

2 Humpbacks Saved From 'Enormously Painful' Fate

Caught in fishing lines off Mass., Calif. coastlines

(Newser) - A humpback whale off the coast of Gloucester, Mass., is lucky to be alive after a rescue team disentangled it from a slew of fishing lines, Massachusetts Environmental Police tell WCVB . The whale was first seen Wednesday morning, and by 7:30 that night, a Center for Coastal Studies team...

Humpbacks Are Late in Hawaii
 Humpbacks Are Late in Hawaii 
Jan 4, 2016 4:33 AM CST

Humpbacks Are Late in Hawaii

It could be a sign of success, experts say

(Newser) - December usually marks the start of humpback whale season in Hawaii, but experts say the animals have been slow to return this year. The giant whales are an iconic part of winter on the islands and a source of income for tour operators. But officials at the Humpback Whale Marine...

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