In an audacious twist on wildlife conservation, veterinarians are now making “house calls” to the majestic killer whales of the Pacific Northwest. Armed with drones and infrared cameras, a team of intrepid researchers is pioneering a novel approach to monitoring and potentially treating endangered orcas in the wild. Source: San Diego Zoo/YouTube The focus […]
Tag: Killer Whale
California dazzled by ‘extremely rare’ killer whale sightings off southern coast
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 […]
Toxic chemicals found in oil spills and wildfire smoke detected in killer whales
Toxic chemicals produced from oil emissions and wildfire smoke have been found in muscle and liver samples from Southern Resident killer whales and Bigg’s killer whales. A study published today in Scientific Reports is the first to find polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in orcas off the coast of British Columbia, as well as in utero […]
North Atlantic orcas reveal the troubling persistence of toxic ocean pollutants
With their shiny black tops and pure white undersides, the killer whales, or orcas, are the sleekest hunters in the ocean. But being apex predators comes with a great cost. Their bodies absorb the chemical pollutants that build up in the long chain of prey leading to their meals. Now, a recent study in Environmental […]
The sex lives of animals: three hours of foreplay – and mass orgies on the move
On a dark November afternoon at Southampton’s City Farm, the animals are going about their business. They are all rescues. Penny the pig, a clutch of former battery farm chickens, three pygmy goats and Salvatore the cane snake, so orange and shiny he looks as though he is glowing from within as he twines around […]
Scientists battling orcas sinking yachts tackle problem with heavy metal music
Sailors in the southwest of Europe are facing an unusual challenge – an increase in killer whale attacks on boats. Some have found a surprising solution to deter these attacks: playing loud heavy metal music through underwater speakers. In recent years, sailors in the region have been dealing with an unprecedented number of killer whale […]
Orcas Sink Forty-Foot Yacht During 45-Minute Attack
A group of orcas have sunk a yacht after an attack in the Strait of Gibraltar. The 40-foot yacht belonging to Polish tour company Morskie Mile had been sailing in the Strait of Gibraltar on October 31 when a pod of orcas surrounded it. The orcas proceeded to ram into the steering fin of the […]
Trainer’s horrific death as SeaWorld killer whale ‘tore his organs and bit his body’
A killer whale trainer died following a brutal attack that saw the mammal rip out his internal organs. Alexis Martínez was 29 when he died on Christmas Eve 2009 while training for his routine with Keto the orca at Loro Parque’s Orca Ocean in the Canary Islands. Keto had started acting unusually during a routine […]