Queensland premier says he won’t protect whales ‘at the expense of one single human’
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Queensland’s premier said the state is “not for turning” on its plan to expand shark netting, and won’t put protecting whales “at the expense of one single human”.
A mother and baby humpback were discovered trapped in shark netting near Rainbow Beach on Saturday, the eighth and ninth whales to become entangled in nine days.
Continue reading...Incidents across northern Europe on 26 and 27 July have left scientists trying to understand why so many of the deep-diving whales have appeared
A series of strandings of one of the world’s deepest dwelling and most rarely seen types of whale in the last few days has left experts baffled over why they might have appeared in such numbers.
Beaked whales are used to deep ocean waters and are so rarely seen that some species have only ever been identified through dead specimens. But on 26 and 27 July there were reports from western Ireland, Orkney in Scotland and the Netherlands of these whales being stranded, raising concerns that human actions could be implicated in the animals’ deaths.
Continue reading...Whale is having a ‘full harbour experience’, says an expert aboard a maritime boat shadowing the supersized mammal
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An “inquisitive” humpback whale that wandered from its usual migratory route and into the centre of Sydney Harbour is causing “navigational challenges” for ferries and vessels as its tour of the world-famous harbour continues.
The sub-adult whale was spotted by commuters on a harbour ferry service near Fort Denison about 8am on Wednesday. It swam to Circular Quay – Sydney’s central ferry terminal – before moving east towards the defence base of Garden Island then to Watsons Bay and north to Balmoral Bay.
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Continue reading...Sprat fishing has disrupted the food chain and diverted humpback, minke and fin whales as well as dolphins
A whale-watching company has abandoned tours off Ireland’s southern Atlantic coast and declared the waters an empty, lifeless sea.
Colin Barnes, who ran Cork Whale Watch, announced he was closing the company because overfishing of sprat has disrupted the marine food chain and diverted humpback, minke and fin whales as well as dolphins.
Continue reading...Gasps from dockside crowd watching Bigg’s orca pod in event described as ‘once-in-a-lifetime experience’
A pod of orcas swam close to shore and amazed onlookers in Seattle by treating the whale watchers to the rare sight of the apex predators hunting a bird.
The pod of Bigg’s killer whales visited Elliott Bay and were seemingly on a hunt underwater just off Seattle’s maritime industrial docks. The pod exited the bay close to the West Seattle neighborhood across from downtown, where people were waiting to catch sight of them.
Continue reading...Attempt to refloat false killer whales was unsuccessful, forcing wildlife authorities to make difficult decision for safety and ‘welfare reasons’
Tasmanian authorities plan to euthanise 90 surviving false killer whales in a group of 157 animals that have stranded on a beach near Arthur River, on the state’s remote north-west coast.
Marine conservation experts including wildlife veterinarians arrived at the site on Wednesday morning, confirming 90 animals were still alive.
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Continue reading...Adrián Simancas encountered a humpback off Chile’s coast – but scientists say he was never at risk of being swallowed
Adrián Simancas had been paddling for two hours in the calm but icy seas of the Strait of Magellan, off the coast of Chilean Patagonia, when something massive emerged from the water and dragged him under.
“I saw dark blue and white colours before feeling a slimy texture brush against my face,” the 24-year-old told the Guardian. “I closed my eyes to brace for impact, but it was soft, like being hit by a wave.”
Continue reading...Scientists unsure what prompted juvenile whale to leave icy southern waters for warmer shallows, but ‘it may be a case of mis-navigation’
A young Antarctic minke whale has treated ferry passengers to a rare spectacle after surfacing beside a wharf to the south of Sydney.
Christine Hack, the manager of Cronulla and National Park Ferry Cruises, which manages the Cronulla ferry, said the whale began following the vessel as it approached Bundeena wharf at about 10am on Monday.
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Continue reading...Experts recorded 45 entanglements off Australia’s east coast in 2024 – but believe that’s ‘the tip of the iceberg’
At least 45 whales were entangled by fishing ropes and line on the east coast in 2024, and experts are calling for better management of fishing gear in Australia to prevent marine suffering.
Dr Olaf Meynecke, a marine scientist at Griffith University, said the issue of preventing whale entanglements was “largely ignored in Australia”.
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Continue reading...Experts say sighting of orca in Puget Sound with second deceased calf is ‘devastating’ for ailing population
An apparently grieving killer whale who swam more than 1,000 miles pushing the body of her dead newborn has lost another calf and is again carrying the body, a development researchers say is a “devastating” loss for the ailing population.
The Washington state-based Center for Whale Research said the orca, known as Tahlequah, or J35, was spotted in the Puget Sound area with her deceased calf.
Continue reading...Only seven spade-tooth whales have ever been documented, now work is beginning on a specimen that washed ashore in New Zealand in July
A spade-tooth whale – thought to be the world’s rarest whale species – is undergoing dissection in New Zealand, in the first ever examination of a complete specimen.
Spade-toothed whales are a type of beaked whale named for their teeth resembling the spade-like flensing blade once used to strip whales of their blubber. Just seven have been documented since the 1800s, with all but one found in New Zealand.
Continue reading...Director sets out to unmask the secret underwater agent known as Hvaldimir in new documentary
When a white whale, mysteriously kitted out with covert surveillance equipment, was first spotted in icy waters around Norway five years ago it seemed like an improbable chapter from a spy thriller. But working out the true identity and secret objectives of this beluga, nicknamed Hvaldimir by the Norwegians, quickly became a real-life puzzle that has continued to fascinate the public and trouble western intelligence analysts.
Now missing clues have surfaced that finally begin to make sense of the underwater enigma. The makers of a new BBC documentary, Secrets of the Spy Whale, believe they have traced the beluga’s probable path and identified its likely mission.
Continue reading...Most recent fatality marks 17th beluga to die at Niagara Falls, Ontario, aquarium since 2019
A fifth beluga has died at Canada’s Marineland, as questions mount over the future of both the controversial theme park and one of the world’s largest populations of captive whales.
The most recent fatality marks the 17th beluga to die at the Niagara Falls aquarium since 2019.
Continue reading...Animal rights groups had claimed beluga named Hvaldimir, which was found dead last month, had been shot
A beluga whale that rose to fame in Norway after its unusual harness prompted suspicions that the creature was trained by Russia as a spy died after a stick became stuck in its mouth, police have said.
The lifeless body of the whale, named Hvaldimir – a combination of the Norwegian word for whale and the first name of the Russian president, Vladimir Putin – was found floating in the sea on 31 August by a father and son fishing in Risavika Bay, southern Norway.
Continue reading...Hvaldimir rose to fame in Norway after his harness sparked suspicions he was Russian spy
Animal rights groups have said that gunfire killed a beluga whale that rose to fame in Norway after its unusual harness sparked suspicions the creature was trained by Russia as a spy.
The organisations Noah and One Whale said they had filed a complaint with Norwegian police asking them to open a criminal investigation.
Continue reading...Activists say Kennedy could’ve committed felony violation for allegedly driving with whale skull strapped to car roof
His independent White House campaign has fizzled, but the flow of bizarre stories of Robert F Kennedy Jr’s unorthodox handling of the carcasses of wild mammals has experienced no similar suspension.
An environmental group is calling for a federal investigation into the former presidential candidate for an episode in which he allegedly severed the head of a washed-up whale with a chainsaw – and drove home with it strapped to his car’s roof.
Continue reading...Operation to free young animal from ropes and buoys conducted ‘very carefully’
A humpback whale has been freed after being entangled in ropes in Sydney Harbour.
Jessica Fox, the second vice-president of volunteer organisation Orrca, confirmed the rescue late on Friday morning.
Continue reading...Queensland police say the man remained in his tinny after the whale hit him in waters near Coolangatta
A man has suffered serious injuries after being struck by a whale while in a tinny in waters near the border of Queensland and New South Wales.
Jetski riders off the coast of Coolangatta called emergency services just before 9am on Sunday when a whale reportedly collided with the man in his boat.
Continue reading...Pilot whale that beached itself in 1973 was infested with thousands of parasitic nematodes that may have eaten away at its blowhole
A vial of white parasitic worms left for decades in a Tasmanian museum may help solve a timeless mystery: why do whales strand themselves on beaches?
The worms were collected from the blowhole of a pilot whale that beached itself in 1973 and then stored in Launceston’s Queen Victoria Museum and Art Gallery.
Continue reading...Japanese government confirms it will allow whalers to catch and kill up to 59 fin whales, a species conservationists consider vulnerable
The Australian government is “deeply disappointed” by Japan’s decision to add the world’s second-largest whale species to the list of species its commercial whale hunters will target.
Tanya Plibersek, the environment minister, attacked Japan’s decision to hunt fin whales – the world’s second-longest whale and considered vulnerable.
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