The endangered southern resident killer whale population isn’t getting enough to eat, and hasn’t been since 2018, a new University of British Columbia (UBC) study has determined. The animals have been in an energy deficit, averaged across spring, summer and fall, for six of the last 40 years—meaning the energy they get from food is […]
Tag: sea lions
A rare discovery of long-term memory in wild frog-eating bats
Frog-eating bats trained by researchers to associate a phone ringtone with a tasty treat were able to remember what they learned for up to four years in the wild, new research has found. The study acquainted 49 bats with a series of ringtones that attracted their attention, and trained them to associate flying toward just […]
Mammal-eating Orcas visit the Oregon coast
There’s been a lot of buzz about a group of Orca whales spotted off the Oregon coast this week. An expert on the predators says they are regular visitors, though sometimes hard to spot. Bob Pitman is a marine ecologist with Oregon State University’s Marine Mammal Institute at the Hatfield Marine Science Center in Newport. […]
Orcas observed killing blue whales in ‘biggest predation event on the planet’
Killer whales truly deserve their name. They’ve been observed taking down everything from sea lions to great white sharks. And now, for the first time, they’ve been observed attacking and killing the largest animals on earth: blue whales. Scientists writing in the journal Marine Mammal Science on January 21 recorded three incidents in which orcas […]
Town in Chile Visited by Masses of Sea Lions
The Chilean town of Tomé is being visited by hundreds of sea lions on their beaches, reported ABC News. The giant sea mammals have completely taken over their sandy sealines and a few have even ventured into the coastal town, stirring up a bit of trouble with local humans and dogs! While we don’t know […]
California shark attack: surfer survives great white bite near San Francisco
A surfer was severely injured in an attack by a great white shark off California on Saturday, one month after researchers found that numbers of the predator were growing in the region. The 35-year-old man was able to swim to shore at Gray Whale Cove beach close to San Francisco, where rescuers applied a tourniquet […]
New Zealand Closes Down Road to Help Sea Lion Take Care of Her Pup
Dunedin, New Zealand has some new traffic changes. The Dunedin City Council announced they would be closing down a segment of the road to help protect a sea lion and her new pup, according to PEOPLE. “We’ve closed John Wilson Ocean Drive to vehicles for the next month to allow some special residents to use […]
Mysterious California sea lion deaths linked to toxic synthetic chemicals
Sea lions in California had been dying of a mysterious cancer for decades. Now, scientists say they have finally uncovered the likely cause: toxic chemicals from industrial trash, pesticides and oil refinery waste. A team of mammal pathologists, virologists, chemists and geneticists have concluded that sea lions with higher concentrations of DDT, PCBs and other […]