Cruise Ship Impales Whale

Humpback is enmeshed in hundreds of feet of fishing line

(NEWSER) - Rescue teams are battling rough seas in an effort to save a young humpback whale tangled in hundreds of feet of heavy rope off the coast of Hawaii. A transmitter was attached to the rope after earlier efforts to free the whale failed, and the whale's position is being tracked by satellite. Marine experts have been working to rescue the whale since they were alerted to its plight by a tour boat on Tuesday. More»

Some 60K animals believed to be alive today

(NEWSER) - In attempt to determine whether the humpback whales still need to be saved, the government is reviewing the marine mammals' place on the endangered species list for the first time in a decade. The results look promising: “They appear to be coming back pretty strongly in most of the places we are studying,” a marine biologist tells the Wall Street Journal. Scientists believed more than 60,000 humpbacks are out there, up from less than 5,000 in the 1960s. More»

(NEWSER) - Researchers want to know what killed a rare whale found lodged on the bow of an Alaskan cruise ship docked in Vancouver. It took two tug boats to remove the impaled 70-ton middle-aged fin whale from the Sapphire Princess' bow, reports the Vancouver Sun. Tourists gathered to watch the gruesome spectacle. More»

Australian pressure leads Tokyo to call off humpback hunt

(NEWSER) - In its first-ever turnaround on whaling, the Japanese government has dropped its plans to hunt humpbacks. The about-face is a victory for Kevin Rudd, the new Australian prime minister, who had objected strenuously and ordered a patrol of the humpback hunt. Tokyo said, however, that the fleet currently en route to the Antarctic Ocean will hunt almost 1,000 whales of other species, including the giant fin whale. More»

'Deception' blasted as fleet sails for 'research'

(NEWSER) - As a Japanese whaling fleet churned to Antarctic waters, a furious New Zealand prime minister today blasted the "deception" of Japan's claim that the killing ships will conduct research rather than commercial whaling. It would be better "if the Japanese stayed home," said Helen Clark. The fleet will catch over 1,000 whales, reports the Sydney Morning Herald. More»