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.
Scientists have known that humpback whales have a trick or two when it comes to finding prey at the bottom of the ocean, but how they locate a meal at night with little or no light has remained a mystery.
A new study has analyzed the importance of specific auditory cues that the creatures emit as they search the deep ocean for prey. 'Humpback whales are known to cooperate with others to corral prey near the surface,' said Professor Susan Parks of Syracuse University. “Recent studies suggest they may cooperate [with each other], when feeding on bottom prey, as well”, she added.
About 50 baleen whales live in an underwater canyon off the Florida Panhandle, making them the only resident baleen whales in the Gulf of Mexico, have long been classified as Bryde's whales. Several other baleen species visit the Gulf, but this group is the only one known to live there year-round and new tests have now shown that these whales are unlike any other of their species. Their genetic makeup makes them different enough to be considered a distinct subspecies of Bryde's — or a new species altogether.
In a world-first, the public is getting the opportunity to assist monitoring shark movements off the Western Australia coast in a bid to reduce the number of attacks. The Department of Fisheries has updated its Sharksmart website, which will digitally map all reported shark sightings from the public, surf lifesavers and other agencies.” We want to give beachgoers the latest information so they can make informed decisions about their water use," said Lisa Clack, manager of the department's shark response unit.
A new study in the journal Plos One has revealed blue whales assemble for long periods in the busy shipping lanes off California, raising concerns about collisions between vessels and the endangered cetaceans.
“It’s an unhappy coincidence,” said study leader Ladd Irvine, a marine mammal ecologist at Oregon State University. “The blue whales need to find the densest food supply. There’s a limited number of those dense places, and it seems as though two of the main regular spots are crossed by the shipping lanes.”
