Humpback whales have become well-known for their beautiful songs, but researchers have found that noise coming from ships is enough to make them shorten their songs, or stop singing altogether. While ocean noise has become a growing concern that’s expected to increasingly impact marine life, scientists from Ogasawara Whale Watching Association and Hokkaido University in […]
Tag: whale watching
POLL: Should Iceland be sanctioned for continuing to slaughter whales?
Iceland’s lone whaling company’s ongoing defiance of an international ban on commercial whaling is outrageous and offence enough as it continues to target endangered fin and minke whales, but now it’s reached a new low after having illegally slaughtered the first blue whale in decades. After a two year break from whaling, Hvalur hf announced […]
POLL: Should humpback whales be taken off the endangered species list?
Federal authorities are taking most humpback whales off the endangered species list, saying they have recovered enough in the last 40 years to warrant being removed. The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) said on Monday that nine of the 14 distinct populations of humpbacks would be removed, while four distinct populations remain listed as endangered […]
New York’s whales to be studied for the first time
The habits of New York’s little-understood whale population are to be fully analysed for the first time, with scientists hoping the new information will help protect the marine behemoths that navigate one of the busiest shipping areas in the world. An acoustic monitoring buoy has been deployed off the coast of Long Island to eavesdrop […]
Icelanders Don’t Like Whale Meat – So Why the Hunts?
When it comes to commercial whaling, Japan is in the limelight. The country has been widely accused of using a scientific research program as a guise for hunting hundreds of whales a year and selling their meat. Last year, an international court agreed that the program isn’t scientific and ordered Japan to shut it down—to […]
Video: Humpback Whales Cause Quite the Surprise As They Hunt for Herring
Each year, thousands of people embark on whale watching tours in hope of spotting the majestic humpback whale in the wild. These baleen whales—who engage in lively leaps and flips, enhanced by their thin flippers and blue-back coloration—can put on quite the show for onlookers, but there is something extra special about encountering these marine […]
Sea-kayaking with a minke whale – in pictures
While sea-kayaking in Neko Harbour in the Antarctic peninsula, Andrew Peacock captured an extraordinary sight: an inquisitive minke whale passing within arm’s-reach of the flotilla of kayaks. Best of all, he managed to capture the moment on camera. This article was written by Jonny Weeks for the Guardian UK.