Maritime authorities in Spain have warned sailors off the coast of Galicia to give orcas a wide berth after a naval yacht lost part of its rudder following a brush with two of the whales and a similar incident left a French boat with minor damage. Both encounters took place hours apart on Sunday in […]
Tag: whales
Dolphin ‘drive hunting’ season begins in Wakayama whaling town
TAIJI, WAKAYAMA PREF. – This year’s dolphin-hunting season kicked off Tuesday in the whaling town of Taiji, in Wakayama Prefecture, using a traditional “drive-hunting” method that animal-rights groups at home and abroad say is cruel. The controversial hunting technique, in which fishermen herd dolphins and small whales into a cove where they can be killed […]
481 and counting: Norway’s whaling catch hits four-year high
Four hundred and eighty-one. That’s how many minke whales Norway has killed so far this year, according to new data released by the country’s Fishermen’s Sales Organization, or Råfisklaget. That’s 52 more than all of last year, and 76 more than the two years before that. What’s more, this year’s whaling season has yet to […]
Two beluga whales are transported from captivity in China to a new ocean refuge 6,000 miles away thanks to British charity
They are creatures who always seem to have a smile on their faces. And now, two beluga whales are sure to be feeling much happier thanks to British charity the Sea Life Trust. The whales, called Little Grey and Little White, have been freed from captivity in China to swim in the sea for the […]
Boaters Getting Too Close to Watch Orcas is Becoming Common Occurrence
Orca experts and local residents in Pierce County south of Seattle are getting frustrated with videos that show local boaters getting too close to orcas. Some orcas are required to dive to avoid boats and many boaters are moving quickly to watch orcas. Residents captured video and some told local news stations about this all […]
Three women injured swimming with whales in Australia in space of a week
A woman snorkeling on Ningaloo Reef, on the north-west coast of Western Australia, has become the third person to be injured by a humpback whale there in less than a week. The woman, Alicia Ramsay, 30, was flown to Royal Perth hospital with rib fractures on Thursday after being hit by the whale, which was […]
Sea turns red in Faroe Islands as 250 whales slaughtered in ‘barbaric’ hunt
Sickening pictures show the sea turning red with blood as dozens of whales are slaughtered in an annual ritual in the Faroe Islands. Activists have voiced their horror as the killings – a tradition believed to date back 1,000 years – got underway in spite of the Covid-19 pandemic. On the year’s first hunt, more […]
Silence is golden for whales as lockdown reduces ocean noise
In cities, human lockdowns during the coronavirus pandemic have offered some respite to the natural world, with clear skies and the return of wildlife to waterways. Now evidence of a drop in underwater noise pollution has led experts to predict the crisis may also be good news for whales and other sea mammals. Researchers examining […]