Gray whale sighted off New England 200 years after species’ Atlantic extinction

Scientists confirm cetacean’s presence but cite impact of climate change which has made North-west Passage ice-free in summer

Scientists have confirmed the presence of a whale off New England that went extinct in the Atlantic Ocean two centuries ago – an exciting discovery, but one they said that illustrates the impact of climate change on sea life.

Researchers with the New England Aquarium in Boston found the gray whale while flying 30 miles south of Nantucket, Massachusetts, on 1 March. The whale, which can weigh 60,000 pounds (27,215kg), typically lives in the northern Pacific Ocean.

Continue reading...

Single orca seen killing great white shark off South African coast

Attack on juvenile is thought to be first known time a lone orca has hunted down a great white

It is a smash and grab that has stunned scientists: in less than two minutes, a killer whale attacked and consumed a great white shark before swimming off with the victim’s liver in its mouth.

Experts say the event off the coast of Mossel Bay in South Africa offers new insights into the predatory behaviour of orcas.

Continue reading...

Killer whales trapped in drift ice off Japan’s Hokkaido coast escape

Pod of orcas in north Japan freed themselves as gaps between the ice grew, officials say

A pod of killer whales trapped by drift ice off the coast of Hokkaido, Japan’s northernmost main island, have apparently safely escaped, officials have said.

The orcas were initially spotted by a fisher who reported them to officials in the town of Rausu, on the north-east coast of Hokkaido, on Tuesday morning.

Continue reading...

California dazzled by ‘extremely rare’ killer whale sightings off southern coast

A group of 10 orcas has been seen leaping into the air to catch prey, delighting watchers and experts for the past two weeks

Experts and whale watchers have been dazzled by a series of orca sightings off the southern California coast that are being described as “extremely rare”.

A group of 10 whales – including a calf just a few months old – has been spotted for the past two weeks off the coast of southern California, between Oxnard and San Diego. Images from social media show the giant creatures leaping into the air to catch dolphins and coming within feet of boats full of eager viewers.

Continue reading...

Scores of dead whales found on Tasmanian beach in ‘confronting scenes’

Cause of mass stranding of 34 pilot whales on Freycinet Peninsula unclear as authorities say they are unable to remove carcasses

Thirty-four whales were found washed up across a beach on Tasmania’s east coast on Tuesday in what was described as a “confronting” and “devastating” scene.

While out training on a boat, local guide Chris Theobald came across an “overnight mass stranding” of more than 30 pilot whales at Bryans beach near the southern end of the Freycinet Peninsula.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup

Continue reading...

Bolsonaro under investigation for ‘harassing’ humpback whale

Man resembling Brazilian ex-president seemingly spotted on a jetski about 15 metres from distressed mammal

Federal police are investigating Brazil’s former president, Jair Bolsonaro, for yet another suspected misdeed: “harassing” a humpback whale while taking a public holiday spin on his jetski.

Bolsonaro’s anti-environmental policies earned him the nickname “Captain Chainsaw” during a four-year administration characterised by soaring destruction of the Amazon. But the far-right ex-president’s latest suspected environmental offence reportedly occurred in the waters off Brazil’s south-eastern coastline near the town of São Sebastião.

Continue reading...

Newly discovered whale species could have been heaviest animal ever

Fossils found in Peru from extinct species show it may have had body mass of 85-340 tonnes – heavier than blue whales

The fossilised bones of an ancient creature that patrolled coastal waters 40m years ago belong to a newly discovered species that is a contender for the heaviest animal ever to have existed on Earth.

Fossil hunters discovered remnants of the enormous and long-extinct whale in a rock formation in the Ica desert of southern Peru. Fully grown adults might have weighed hundreds of tonnes, researchers believe.

Continue reading...

Australia news live: rental pressure ‘most concerning’ aspect of inflation picture, Jim Chalmers says

Follow live news updates today

The minister for sport and aged care, Anika Wells, says her focus is on people in sport, not the infrastructure, following the announcement Victoria was pulling out of hosting the Commonwealth Games.

Wells has told ABC Radio she was not warned by Victorian premier, Daniel Andrews, ahead of time about the decision, and found out along with the rest of the country when he stood up to make the announcement.

I care for our athletes. I think that that dream of competing on home soil for your country is one of the most potent dreams that motivate our high performance athletes and possibly our kids as well to go from from playground to podium.

But given how many events that Australia does already have on the green and gold runway and the World Cups – we’re hosting four Women’s World Cups across the next five years, including the one that is on right now – as long as we have opportunities for people to go from playground to podium.

Governments continue to make decisions that disregard or contradict the Agreement.

… Overall progress against the priority reforms has been slow, uncoordinated and piecemeal.

Here is potential for the proposed Voice to the Australian Parliament (as well as state and territory representative bodies), together with current treaty processes and justice commissions, to strengthen accountability for matters covered by the Agreement.

But regardless of the outcomes of these processes, governments will still be responsible for adopting a fundamentally new way of developing and implementing policies and programs that affect Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, as they have committed to do in the Agreement.

Continue reading...

Race to save almost 50 pilot whales after same number die in mass stranding on WA beach

Rare footage of mammals grouping offshore before they beached east of Albany sets event apart from previous strandings, experts say

More than 50 of the long-finned pilot whales stranded on a Western Australian beach have died, despite an overnight vigil by wildlife experts.

“Sadly 51 [pilot] whales have died overnight after a mass stranding at Cheynes Beach,” the Parks and Wildlife Service said on Wednesday morning in an update on social media.

Continue reading...

Grey whales seen seeking human help to remove parasites

Captain of tourist boat from Baja California, Mexico, says grey whales return repeatedly for ‘grooming’

Grey whales have learned to approach whale-watching boats to have parasites removed by human beings, it has been claimed.

Video footage documenting the behaviour in the Ojo de Liebre lagoon, off the coast of Baja California, Mexico, shows a grey whale having whale lice picked off its head by the captain of a small boat. “I have done it repeatedly with the same whale and others,” Paco Jimenez Franco told a US news site. “It is very exciting for me.”

Continue reading...

Greens refer PwC to Nacc; yes campaign holds voice events across the country – as it happened

This blog has closed

Myroshnychenko says Ukraine war can’t get any worse

On the mutiny by Yevgeny Prigozhin and his wagner mercenary group, Myroshnychenko says he is reluctant to get into speculation about “palace intrigue” in Russia.

We haven’t seen any major impact in the battlefield as the mutiny was unfolding, Russians sent on shelling Ukrainian cities sending missiles, heavy battlefields on the frontlines. Definitely the reputation of Vladimir Putin was dented. His leadership was challenged. And in a country like Russia is really extraordinary to see it happening. Putin is running the country as a thug so pretty much a gangster country and all these thugs and somebody revolts all of a sudden, this is already kind of bizarre.

I don’t think anything can be worse, right? Can it get any worse? Look, Russians have deployed 150,000 people in Ukraine – occupied 20% of the land. They just shell us on a continuous basis, killing and raping and murdering people. Can it get any worse? I don’t think so.

I think any support for Ukraine will be very good investment into the restoration of the rules-base international system.

Something which is so important for every Pacific nation because if you can allow a bigger power to curse a smaller power – and you don’t fight back and you let that happen, that sends a wrong signal especially to your neighbours, to countries that depend so much on your support to be sovereign and to make their own decisions and not to be influence bid bigger powers.

Continue reading...

Skin disease in orcas off North American coast concerns scientists

Lesions found on 99% of southern resident orcas studied on Pacific north-west coast

Scientists studying an endangered population of orcas resident off the Pacific north-west coast of Canada and the US have recorded a “strong increase” in skin lesions on the animals’ bodies, which they believe is owing to the decreasing ability of their immune systems to deal with disease.

The lesions appear on the whales as grey patches or targets, or black pin points. Some resemble tattooed skin. Their presence on the animals’ graphically black and white bodies is “increasing dramatically”, according to Dr Joseph K Gaydos of the SeaDoc Society at the school of veterinary medicine at the University of California, lead author of the scientific paper.

Continue reading...

Is that you, Migaloo? Tourist captures video of familiar-looking whale over Great Barrier Reef

Second sighting of white whale off Queensland’s coast within weeks has ocean watchers wondering if it could be famous humpback

The second sighting of a white whale off Queensland’s coast within weeks has ocean watchers wondering if it could be Migaloo, the elusive albino humpback who has not been seen in three years.

A tourist flying over the Great Barrier Reef filmed what appears to be a white humpback whale swimming north, as thousands of humpbacks make their annual migration from Antartica to warmer waters to breed.

Continue reading...

Humpback whale freed after gruelling eight-hour rescue mission in Australia

Deteriorating conditions and other whales in area south of Sydney hampered attempts, say rescuers

A humpback whale trapped in waters south of Sydney has finally been freed after a gruelling eight-hour rescue mission.

Rescue efforts began on Saturday morning after reports of a whale in distress off Five Islands near Port Kembla. Volunteer crews from Marine Rescue NSW and NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service were called to assist at about 8.30am.

Continue reading...

Young humpbacks ‘full of beans’ as whale-watching season takes off in Sydney

Up to 50,000 whales expected to pass Australia’s east coast during annual migration from Antartica to Great Barrier Reef

Carrie Davis describes seeing her first adult humpback whale of the season launching out of the water off the coast of Sydney last week as magical.

“It’s just this feeling of awe to see this fat whale of that size get all that body out of the water,” said Davis of Go Whale Watching in Sydney. “No matter how many times you see it, it always takes your breath away.”

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup

Continue reading...

Humpbacks spotted having whale of a time at underwater ‘day spa’ off Gold Coast

Griffith University researcher captures video of five whales doing ‘bizarre rolls’ on the sea floor as they exfoliate and socialise

Whales have been caught on camera enjoying a marine version of a day spa, returning to their favourite spot off the Gold Coast to scratch off itchy skin and parasites, and catch up with their cetacean buddies.

Griffith University whale researcher Dr Olaf Meynecke and his colleagues were trying to shed light on the behaviour of competing pods of humpbacks that use Gold Coast waters to rest, breed and socialise.

Continue reading...

Eight dolphins die in New Jersey stranding

Rescuers unable to save cetaceans after mass stranding event at Sea Isle City

Eight dolphins have died after being stranded on a beach in New Jersey, a rehabilitation center said.

According to the New Jersey-based Marine Mammal Stranding Center (MMSC), the pod of eight dolphins were caught in a “mass stranding event” in the state’s southernmost city, Sea Isle City, on Tuesday morning.

Continue reading...

Japan’s new whaling ‘mother ship’ being built to travel as far as Antarctica

Company says vessel’s construction will help ‘pass on our whaling culture to the next generation’

A Japanese company is building a new whaling ship designed to travel as far as Antarctica, sparking fears commercial operations could resume in the Southern Ocean.

Australia’s environment minister, Tanya Plibsersek, reaffirmed the Albanese government’s commitment to a global moratorium on commercial whaling, while Greenpeace condemned the practice as “brutal and unnecessary”.

Continue reading...

Swallowed fishing gear and plastic most likely cause of Hawaii whale’s death

Large volumes of traps, nets and marine debris in sperm whale’s intestinal tract highlight plastic pollution’s threat to wildlife

A sperm whale that washed ashore in Hawaii over the weekend probably died in part because it ate large volumes of fishing traps, fishing nets, plastic bags and other marine debris, scientists said on Thursday, highlighting the threat to wildlife from the millions of tons of plastic that ends up in oceans every year.

The body of the 56ft (17-meter) long, 120,000-pound (54,000kg) animal was first noticed on a reef off Kauai on Friday. High tide brought it ashore on Saturday.

Continue reading...

‘World’s longest river cruise’ could threaten endangered Ganges dolphin, experts warn

A luxury cruise has been hailed as the start of a new age of Indian tourism. But conservationists fear the impact of increased river traffic and pollution

The Indian prime minister, Narendra Modi, has officially launched the “world’s longest river cruise” from the city of Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh. The luxury voyage will last 51 days, travelling 3,200km via Dhaka in Bangladesh to Dibrugarh in Assam, crossing 27 river systems.

The three-deck MV Ganga Vilas, with 18 suites, is the latest venture in a trend for cruise tourism in India being promoted by the government. Modi hailed the cruise industry on the Ganges as a “landmark moment”, which will herald a new age of tourism in India.

Continue reading...