By analysing the teeth of five whales who died on Scottish shores in the past three decades, researchers created a ‘dental time machine’ – allowing them to reconstruct the life stories of the animals and identify one of the oldest male killer whales on record. The study, which relied on traces of radioactive fallout trapped in […]
Tag: marine mammals
“It was shocking.” Deep-sea scientists find unexpected creature 3,000ft below the ocean’s surface
A new study has found that reproductive female Antarctic krill actively use deep-sea hydrothermal vents as a habitat, suggesting these environments may play a role in the animals’ reproductive cycle. Researchers observed groups of the animals moving along mineral-rich fissures in the ocean floor, with every krill collected from the site found to be a […]
Scientists once thought it could only live for 70 years – turns out it’s double that. Here’s how they made the amazing discovery
Whales have some of the longest lifespans in the animal kingdom, with several whale species being recorded as living for more than 100 years. In the past, researchers have used several methods to measure the longevity of this these marine mammals. They count layers in their earwax, which increase year after year; they measure a chemical […]
Do whales grieve? Rare footage of humpback alongside stillborn calf suggests they might
One day last July, a newborn humpback whale calf lay motionless on the seafloor, just a kilometre off Australia’s Gold Coast. The encounter was captured through underwater video. For more than an hour, the mother repeatedly returned to the same spot, gently touching the calf with her head and pectoral fin and resting beside it […]
As Australia expands seismic testing, experts warn of profound effects on sealife
It was spring, 20 years ago now, but he remembers it clearly. On the deck of the Geco Resolution, wind tearing spray from the waves, Robert McCauley stood gazing out onto an ocean blackened by night. The ship had been firing seismic airguns all day, thunderous blasts punching through the water and into the seabed. Over […]
More than 13,000 seal pups die on remote Australian island amid bird flu outbreak
More than 13,000 seal pups have died on an Australian territory, as testing confirmed the spread of deadly H5N1 bird flu among penguins, seals and petrels on subantarctic islands. The mass mortality of southern elephant seal pups on Heard Island, about 4,000km south-west of Perth and 1,700km north of Antarctica, was observed by government scientists […]
Fisheries and climate research would be hit hard in Trump’s proposed budget
Physicist Stephen Volz had been working with colleagues at the U.S.’s National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration for nearly 10 years to produce a new generation of geostationary satellites — instruments that would provide critical observations about atmospheric conditions, climate patterns and weather. But when Donald Trump returned to office in January 2025, this long-term project […]
It’s as big as a Ford transit van, can reach speeds of 50kph and can detect blood from a gobsmacking 3 miles away…
The great white shark is the only extant species in the genus Carcharodon and the largest predatory fish in the world. Why are they called great white sharks? Great white sharks belong to the family Lamnidae, which also includes porbeagle sharks, salmon sharks and mako sharks, which are the fastest shark in the ocean. A type of mackerel […]