whales

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Whales Have a Unique Way to Avoid Choking
Whales Have a Unique
Way to Avoid Choking
new study
Jan 24, 2022 3:19 PM CST

Whales Have a Unique Way to Avoid Choking

Researchers say an 'oral plug' seals off airways from water during lunge feeding

(Newser) - Researchers say they've figured out what has long been a mystery about certain whales—how they keep from choking when taking in massive amounts of water while feeding. The answer? An "oral plug" at the back of their throats that shifts into place to seal off and protect...

After 3 Years, Mystery of Whale Postcards Is Solved

Attorney Matthew Strugar was the subject of a friendly prank for 3 years

(Newser) - If anyone deserves to get a postcard from a whale, it's Matthew Strugar, a civil rights attorney who made headlines several years ago by suing SeaWorld on behalf of the animals. The case, while unsuccessful, served the larger purpose of raising awareness about conditions and cemented Strugar's role...

Big Whales Eat a Whole Lot More Than We Thought
Big Whales Eat a Whole
Lot More Than We Thought
in case you missed it
Nov 7, 2021 5:10 PM CST

Big Whales Eat a Whole Lot More Than We Thought

We're talking up to 50M calories a day—the equivalent of about 80K Big Macs

(Newser) - It's no surprise that big whales are big eaters, but we may have underestimated just how much the largest varieties are actually consuming. According to new research, baleen whales—which include such species as humpbacks and blue whales—ingest three times more than we previously thought, with some able...

Man Swallowed Whole by Whale Is Doing Much Better Now

Michael Packard was diving for lobsters when he got gulped down off of Provincetown, Mass.

(Newser) - The Cape Cod Times calls Michael Packard's tale a "truly biblical" story, but for the 56-year-old Massachusetts man, he just considers it an incredibly lucky one. Packard, a lobster diver who's been working out of Provinceton for four decades, tells CBS Boston he was about 45 feet...

Teen in Coma After 'Headbutt' From a Whale

Family describes freak accident off Australia's east coast

(Newser) - They were, in a word, unlucky. A young Aussie fisherman is fighting for his life, and another is recovering from a concussion after a breaching whale fell on their boat Sunday. "They had no warning, and no time to react," family members say in a statement, per CNN...

Research Points to Reasons Right Whales Are Shrinking

A full-grown whale now is 3 feet shorter than one 40 years ago

(Newser) - When an Atlantic right whale is fully grown these days, it's about 3 feet shorter than a full-grown whale was in 1980. Research published Thursday in Current Biology indicates scientists have an idea why that is, NPR reports. A big reason for the whales' impaired growth is that they'...

Destroyer Docks in San Diego With 2 Dead Whales on Hull

Australian navy says it is 'disheartened'

(Newser) - A disturbing find was made as a Royal Australian Navy destroyer docked in San Diego on Saturday: Two dead whales—one of them as long as a tractor-trailer—had been stuck to its hull, CNN reports. The endangered fin whales, one 65 feet long and the other 25 feet, became...

The Whales Are Endangered. And Hugging?

North Atlantic right whales were filmed in late February

(Newser) - Were these whales really hugging—or was it just a fluke? Drone video of two critically endangered North Atlantic right whales swimming in Cape Cod Bay shows the animals appearing to embrace one another with their flippers. Wildlife photographer Brian Skerry and scientists from Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution and the...

'It's Like Seeing a Camel at the North Pole'

Wayward whale is spotted in the River Thames

(Newser) - Two tales of two very different animals being sought by wildlife officials:
  • Thames whale: A young minke whale was lost far from home Monday, trapped in the Thames River upstream of London landmarks after it escaped from rescuers overnight, per the AP . Maritime authorities were trying to recapture the whale
...

After Seeing This Sight 4 Times, Concern Mounts

Gray whales found dead in San Francisco Bay Area in 9 days

(Newser) - Four dead gray whales have washed ashore San Francisco Bay Area beaches in the last nine days, with experts saying Friday one was struck by a ship. They were trying to determine how the other three died. "It’s alarming to respond to four dead gray whales in just...

For This Endangered Species, an 'Encouraging Sign'

Scientists: N. Atlantic right whales gave birth this winter in larger numbers since 2015

(Newser) - North Atlantic right whales gave birth over the winter in greater numbers than scientists have seen since 2015, an encouraging sign for researchers who became alarmed three years ago when the critically endangered species produced no known offspring at all. Survey teams spotted 17 newborn right whale calves swimming with...

For These Gray Whales, a Troubling Trend Continues
3 Unwanted Letters for
Gray Whales: U-M-E
new study
Jan 31, 2021 11:30 AM CST

3 Unwanted Letters for Gray Whales: U-M-E

'Unexplained mortality event': Scientists worry about prolonged spike in deaths

(Newser) - Back in 2019, scientists reported an alarming spike in the number of deaths of gray whales along the Pacific Coast. Now, a new study in the Marine Ecology Progress Series journal confirms the trend continued through 2020. In what they term an "unusual mortality event," researchers have counted...

Remains Help Scientists Confirm New Whale Species

There are fewer than 100 Rice's whales living

(Newser) - A dead whale that washed up in Florida’s Everglades National Park in 2019 has helped researchers confirm the existence of a new species of the marine mammal that lives in the Gulf of Mexico, Fox23 reports. In the 1990s, per NPR , scientists discovered a small whale population living in...

Unique Song Reveals New Population of Blue Whales
Never-Before-Heard Song
Leads to Ocean Discovery
in case you missed it
Dec 27, 2020 8:00 AM CST

Never-Before-Heard Song Leads to Ocean Discovery

Researchers find new population of blue whales in Indian Ocean

(Newser) - Researchers studying whales in the western Indian Ocean were stumped. They recorded a whale song never heard before, one described as a "slow, bellowing ballad" by the New York Times . After some underwater sleuthing, they report a happy discovery in the journal Endangered Species Research: The song belongs to...

Scientist Who Spotted Whales: 'Chills Up and Down My Spine'

3 specimens spotted in Mexico thought to be unknown species of beaked whale

(Newser) - When three beaked whales surfaced next to Jay Barlow's boat, he was excited. He and his colleagues had traveled north of Mexico's remote San Benito Islands to search for the elusive whales, which spend most of their time at depths of 3,000 feet. "It's very...

Pilot Whales Have Tricky Way to Fool Enemies
Clever
Pilot Whales
Fool Their
Rivals
new study
Dec 7, 2020 10:50 AM CST

Clever Pilot Whales Fool Their Rivals

Study suggests they mimic killer whales

(Newser) - Pilot whales in southern Australia appear to have developed a nifty technique for fooling rival killer whales—they pretend they're killer whales themselves. Researchers studied the calls of long-finned pilot whales in the region and found that the creatures mimic their larger rivals, reports ScienceDaily . In their study at...

Lobster Traps May Pose Risk to Much Bigger Creatures

Advocates ask government to ban vertical lines to save endangered right whales

(Newser) - It may not be the first threat that comes to mind on endangered whales, but conservation groups say certain lobster traps pose a serious risk and should be immediately banned, reports Courthouse News Service . Advocates filed an emergency petition on Wednesday asking the federal government to ban traps that have...

It&#39;s Been 50 Years Since Highway Workers Blew Up a Whale
They Blew Up a Dead Whale.
It Didn't Go as Expected
in case you missed it
Nov 15, 2020 1:00 PM CST

They Blew Up a Dead Whale. It Didn't Go as Expected

'For the blast blasted blubber beyond all believable bounds'

(Newser) - Oregon is celebrating a special anniversary on Thursday: the 50-year commemoration of when highway workers there blew up a dead whale. Per the Willamette Week , a 45-foot, 8-ton sperm whale washed up on the shores of Florence in late 1970, and on Nov. 12, the state's highway division decided...

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...

Whale's Deep Dive Stuns: 'Not Supposed to Be Able to Do This'

Cuvier's beaked whale goes under for a record 3 hours, 42 minutes without coming up for air

(Newser) - It's a mystery how Cuvier's beaked whales go so long without a gulp of air. Based on its body size and metabolism, scientists originally thought the whale would need to resurface every 33 minutes. But one beaked whale just went seven times as long underwater—3 hours, 42...

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