Dolphins' Hunting Tools Mostly Used by Females

(NEWSER) - A bottlenose dolphin that researchers have been tracking since 2003 follows a complex regimen when preparing a meal of cuttlefish, National Geographic reports. The female dolphin, caught on tape off the coast of Australia, first kills the squid-like creature, shakes it to remove indigestible ink, and then scrapes its catch on the seafloor to remove a pesky bone. Only then is it dinnertime. More»

1.6K whales, dolphins could face injury, hearing loss in year

(NEWSER) - The Navy's use of sonar and explosives could deal damage to some 1,600 marine mammals near California and Hawaii every year—a figure far higher than once believed. The whales and dolphins are at risk of hearing loss and other injuries, the AP reports. What's more, the explosives could accidentally kill up to 200 animals. An earlier study assessing the risk between 2009 and 2013 predicted that just 100 creatures could be hurt or killed. The new research is part of an environmental impact statement that considers the Navy's plans between 2014 and 2019. More»

Rash of strandings puzzles experts

(NEWSER) - Volunteers in Cape Cod are scrambling to deal with an unusual spate of dolphin strandings. A solitary dolphin was found stranded last Thursday and dozens more followed in the days after. Nineteen were treated and released but eight others couldn't be saved, and another 32 washed ashore already dead, MSNBC reports. More»

California researcher broke law with blubber, feds say

(NEWSER) - A renowned marine biologist has landed in hot water for giving blubber to killer whales. Nancy Black, who runs whale-watching tours in California's Monterey Bay, has been indicted by a grand jury on charges that she violated a federal law banning feeding or otherwise interfering with marine mammals in the wild, the San Francisco Chronicle reports. Her lawyer says all she did was attach a rope to a free-floating piece of blubber from a gray whale, killed earlier by orcas, in order to film killer whales eating. More»

Creature was 'right under our noses': researcher

(NEWSER) - For just the fourth time in more than a century, researchers have identified a new species of dolphin—and the Aussie scientists didn’t have to look far. Two dolphin populations in Australia, numbering about 150 in total, were once believed to be bottlenose dolphins; turns out they’re genetically different from any other species, CNN and Radio Australia report. “This animal has been living right under our noses for so many years,” says one of the researchers. More»