Home of the world’s largest biodiversity, the Brazilian Amazon is one of the main hubs for international wildlife trafficking. Every day, thousands of animals are taken from the rainforest to be sold in other parts of the country and abroad. Despite its key role in this illegal market, there is still a lack of information […]
Tag: dolphins
Hundreds of baby whales are washing ashore dead – and the suspected cause is horrifying
Hundreds of southern right whale calves have been washing up dead on the coastline of Peninsula Valdés, Patagonia, since June this year and experts are desperate to find out why. “The record of an unusually high number of dead southern right whale calves off the coast of Peninsula Valdés has generated deep concern throughout the community,” […]
Scientists listened to the rumbles of elephants on the African savannah. Here’s what they discovered
Roaming the open bush and scrublands of sub-Saharan Africa, African savannah elephants communicate with each other through low-frequency rumbles, often occurring in overlapping choruses. This cacophony of sounds can be tricky to analyse – but a new study now reveals its intricacies and purpose. The research was led by scientists from ElephantVoices and Earth Species Project, with collaborators from […]
Pakistan expands protected habitat for Indus River dolphin as recovery offers hope
Between 11 million and 16 million years ago, during the high sea levels of the middle Miocene period, the ancestors of the Indus River dolphin entered the muddy waters of what is the Indus Basin today. Over millennia, they adapted to their new environment through extraordinary evolutionary shifts, developing sophisticated echolocation while gradually losing their […]
World Dolphin Day: Reporting unusual behavior, threats and increased protections
Nine dolphin species, and several more subspecies and local populations, are currently critically endangered or endangered, according to the most recent assessment by the IUCN, the global wildlife conservation authority. September 12 marks World Dolphin Day, an awareness day created in 2022 by marine conservation nonprofit Sea Shepherd to bring attention to the threats that these highly intelligent […]
“Torpedo-shaped bodies, pointed snout and a jutting lower jaw packed with fearsome, sharp teeth – it has been known to attack swimmers…”
These fierce-looking, torpedo-shaped fish can be found in warm and tropical waters all round the world. Each of the 20 or so different species of barracuda are intimidating ocean predators, but it’s the great barracuda (Sphyraena barracuda) that strikes fear into the hearts of prey fish big and small. What do barracuda look like? One of the deadliest fish in the […]
Penguins and dolphins among nearly 400 Australian species under threat from bird flu as ‘true extent of disaster’ revealed
Almost 400 native Australian bird and mammal species have been assessed as being at a high risk – or worse – from the deadly H5N1 bird flu virus, a federal government assessment has revealed. Some of Australia’s most beloved animals – including species of penguins, fur seals, quolls, dolphins, more than 300 birds and the […]
“Honestly, truly beyond belief…” It was a humongous 7 miles long, 5 miles wide and made up of a staggering 100,000 individuals…
When several dolphin pods join together, it’s known as a super pod. These can have hundreds or even thousands of dolphins all dancing through the waves In 2013, wildlife watchers off the coast of San Diego, California, were blessed with an encounter so special they may have had to pinch themselves to believe it wasn’t […]