Category Archives: Cetaceans

Stranded beluga whale removed from Seine river in France as part of rescue attempt

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After nearly six hours of work, the 800kg cetacean was lifted from the river by crane and placed on a barge

The beluga whale stranded in the River Seine in northern France has reportedly been removed from the water early on Wednesday in the first stage of an ambitious rescue operation.

After nearly six hours of work, the 800-kilogram (1,800-pound) cetacean was lifted from the river by a net and crane at around 4am (0200 GMT) and placed on a barge under the immediate care of a dozen veterinarians.

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Beluga whale stranded in Seine to be given vitamins

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Apparently underweight whale swimming towards Paris is refusing food and seems skittish, say French authorities

French authorities were planning on Saturday to give vitamins to a beluga whale that swam way up the Seine, as they raced to save the malnourished cetacean that is refusing food.

The apparently underweight whale was first spotted Tuesday in the river that flows through Paris to the Channel. On Saturday it had made its way to about 70km (44 miles) north of the French capital.

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US drafts new speed limits on shipping to help save endangered whales

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Fewer than 340 North Atlantic right whales remain and vessel strikes are among the biggest threats to the species

Vessels off the US east coast must slow down more often to help save a vanishing species of whale from extinction, the federal government said.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration made the announcement via new proposed rules designed to prevent ships colliding with North Atlantic right whales.

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Whale watching season starts early as humpback population bounces back

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Not long ago, the humpback was almost wiped out, now its numbers are booming in what conservationists say is a ‘wonderful success story’

People across Australia’s east coast are catching an earlier than expected first glimpse of breaching humpback whales as they migrate north, and scientists say the reason why is a conservation success story.

Whale watchers were treated to a spectacular show in Sydney on Monday as two humpback whales surged from the water metres from their boat. Dr Wally Franklin, director of the Oceania Project, said sightings have also been reported off the coast of Merimbula, Byron Bay, Tweed Heads, the Gold Coast and Hervey Bay, as the whales journey north from the Antarctic to the Great Barrier Reef.

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Ailing orca stuck in France’s River Seine to be lured to sea using drone with loudspeakers

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A drone emitting orca sounds will be used in attempt to guide the animal, whose health is fast deteriorating

An orca lost in France’s River Seine is to be guided back to sea using sounds made by the species under a last-ditch plan to save the animal’s life.

The local prefecture said it would monitor the animal, also known as a killer whale, from a distance with a drone while emitting orca communications in an attempt to guide it back to the sea, following a meeting with national and international scientists, including marine mammal specialists.

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Rejection of Arctic mine expansion bid offers hope for narwhal population

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Conservationists and Inuit community relieved at decision on Canadian iron mine that threatened ‘extirpation’ of cetacean

The expansion of an iron ore mine in the Arctic that would have increased shipping and led to the “complete extirpation of narwhal” from the region has been blocked.

After four years of consultations and deliberations, the Nunavut Impact Review Board rejected a request from Baffinland Iron Mines Corp asking to significantly increase mining on the northern tip of Baffin Island in Nunavut, Canada. The area is home to one of the world’s richest iron ore deposits, and the densest narwhal population in the world.

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Killers confronted: humpback whale turns on orca pod in rare encounter

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Footage shows five-year-old humpback in Canadian waters stalking and ambushing group more used to role of attackers

An aggressive humpback whale appeared to turn the tables on a pod of orcas off the Canadian coast, stalking then ambushing the group that more usually would have been attacking it.

The rare occurrence took place on the Salish Sea between British Columbia and Washington state and was witnessed and recorded by enthralled tourists on a whale-watching trip.

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Stranding of three whales in Corfu raises alarm over seismic testing for fossil fuels

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While cause remains unconfirmed, green groups fear the three whales could be the ‘tip of iceberg’ with many more animals hurt

Environmental groups have linked the beaching of three whales in Corfu to seismic testing for oil and gas in the waters off the Greek island.

Two Cuvier’s beaked whales were found stranded at Arillas and Agios Gordios beaches on the west of the island on 20 February. A third beaked whale ran ashore on Agios Gordios beach the day after.

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The squit and the whale: can artificial faeces revive the ocean ecosystem?

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A scientific experiment hopes to restore vital nutrients to the ocean by using fake excrement that would once have been produced by the endangered mammal

In a few weeks an international group of scientists will launch an unusual marine research project. They will dust the surface of the Indian Ocean with artificial whale faeces.

The aim of this excremental experiment is straightforward. It is to determine if it is possible to reboot marine ecosystems that have been starved of nutrients and in the process restore dwindling fish populations. It is also hoped the project will help in the battle against the climate crisis.

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Second of five whales brought from Canada to US aquarium dies

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Female was receiving intensive care for multiple health issues but died early Friday morning, and a male beluga died in August

The second of five whales brought from Canada to Connecticut’s Mystic aquarium last year for research purposes has died.

The aquarium announced on its website that the female had been receiving intensive care for the past several months for multiple health issues but died early Friday morning. A necropsy was to be performed to determine the cause of death.

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Iceland to end whaling in 2024 as demand dwindles

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Japan’s return to commercial whaling in 2019 has left few buyers for Iceland’s meat

Iceland, one of the only countries that still hunts whales commercially, along with Norway and Japan, plans to end whaling from 2024 as demand dwindles, the fisheries minister has said.

“There are few justifications to authorise the whale hunt beyond 2024,” when current quotas expire, Svandis Svavarsdóttir, a member of the Left Green party, wrote in Morgunblaðið newspaper.

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Orcas recorded killing and feeding on blue whales in brutal attacks

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Research is first to document coordinated female-led pods ramming world’s largest animal and eating its tongue before it dies

From snatching sea lions off beaches to stunning fish with a strike of their tails, orcas are renowned for their highly specialised hunting techniques passed down over generations. Now, for the first time, killer whales have been recorded hunting the planet’s largest animal – the blue whale – in coordinated and brutal attacks.

Female-led pods of killer whales, also known as orcas, have been recorded killing and eating blue whales in three separate attacks off the coast of Australia since 2019, according to a paper published in Marine Mammal Science.

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Plastic beads could make nets more visible to cetaceans, scientists say

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Beads add hardly any extra weight to fishing gear and could save thousands of lives, it is claimed

Simple plastic beads could save the lives of some of the thousands of porpoises and other cetaceans that get caught in fishing nets each year, scientists say.

Harbour porpoises use echolocation to find their prey and for orientation. However, their acoustic signals cannot pick up the mesh of a gillnet, and as a result they often become trapped.

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Japan’s whaling town struggles to keep 400 years of tradition alive

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The resumption of killing whales for profit for the first time in over 30 years is offering little cause for celebration

You don’t have to look far to find evidence of Wada’s centuries-old connection to whaling. Visitors to the town on Japan’s Pacific coast are greeted by a replica skeleton of a blue whale before entering a museum devoted to the behemoths of the ocean.

At a local restaurant, diners eat deep-fried whale cutlet and buy cetacean-themed gifts at a neighbouring gift shop. At the edge of the water stands a wooden deck where harpooned whales are butchered before being sold to wholesalers and restaurants.

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Shell to go ahead with seismic tests in whale breeding grounds after court win

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Judgment rules company can blast sound waves in search for oil along South Africa’s eastern coastline

Royal Dutch Shell will move ahead with seismic tests to explore for oil in vital whale breeding grounds along South Africa’s eastern coastline after a court dismissed an 11th-hour legal challenge by environmental groups.

The judgment, by a South African high court, allows Shell to begin firing within days extremely loud sound waves through the relatively untouched marine environment of the Wild Coast, which is home to whales, dolphins and seals.

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Mythic white sperm whale captured on film near Jamaica

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Type of whale immortalised in Moby-Dick has only been spotted handful of times this century

It is the most mythic animal in the ocean: a white sperm whale, filmed on Monday by Leo van Toly, watching from a Dutch merchant ship off Jamaica. Moving gracefully, outrageously pale against the blue waters of the Caribbean, for any fans of Moby-Dick, Herman Melville’s book of 1851, this vision is a CGI animation come to life.

Sperm whales are generally grey, black or even brown in appearance. Hal Whitehead, an expert on the species, told the Guardian: “I don’t think I’ve ever seen a fully white sperm whale. I have seen ones with quite a lot of white on them, usually in patches on and near the belly.”

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Nurdles: the worst toxic waste you’ve probably never heard of

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Billions of these tiny plastic pellets are floating in the ocean, causing as much damage as oil spills, yet they are still not classified as hazardous

When the X-Press Pearl container ship caught fire and sank in the Indian Ocean in May, Sri Lanka was terrified that the vessel’s 350 tonnes of heavy fuel oil would spill into the ocean, causing an environmental disaster for the country’s pristine coral reefs and fishing industry.

Classified by the UN as Sri Lanka’s “worst maritime disaster”, the biggest impact was not caused by the heavy fuel oil. Nor was it the hazardous chemicals on board, which included nitric acid, caustic soda and methanol. The most “significant” harm, according to the UN, came from the spillage of 87 containers full of lentil-sized plastic pellets: nurdles.

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Winter, celebrity dolphin given prosthetic tail, died of twisted intestines

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Clearwater Marine Aquarium mourns dolphin whose recovery after losing tail was chronicled in the film Dolphin Tale

Florida’s most famous dolphin, Winter, beloved by fans around the world and star of the movie Dolphin Tale, died of twisted intestines, according to necropsy results released by an aquarium on Saturday.

The dolphin’s intestines were in an area impossible to reach through surgery.

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Outcry over killing of almost 1,500 dolphins on Faroe Islands

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Many Faroese horrified by what Sea Shepherd group claims was largest such massacre in the islands’ history

• Story contains graphic image that some may find distressing.

Even the staunchest defenders of traditional whaling in the Faroe Islands have condemned the “cruel and unnecessary” massacre on Sunday of a superpod of nearly 1,500 dolphins, which were driven into shallow waters of the Skálabotnur beach on the island of Eysturoy and left writhing for hours before being killed.

The Sea Shepherd group, which has been campaigning to stop the traditional Faroese “Grind” hunt since the 1980s, has claimed Sunday’s hunt was “the largest single killing of dolphins or pilot whales in the islands’ history”, with more animals perishing than in an entire season at the infamous “Cove” at Taiji, Japan.

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Cape Cod: eight great white sharks seen feeding on humpback whale carcass

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  • Expert marvels at ‘biggest smorgasbord a shark could dream of’
  • Researchers monitor unusual humpback mortality event

For those aboard a recent whale watching cruise off Cape Cod, the decomposing carcass of a year-old humpback calf floating in the waters of the Stellwagen Bank national marine sanctuary made for a heartbreaking sight.

Related: Experience: I was attacked by two sharks at once

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