whale

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Beached Sperm Whale Off Florida Couldn't Be Saved

The 44-foot male appeared underweight

(Newser) - A sperm whale that became famous after beaching itself on a sandbar along Florida's Gulf Coast died Monday, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission said in a statement. As the AP reports, police and wildlife officials began trying to free the male whale from the shallow sandbar off...

'Incredibly Rare' Whale Sighting Made Off East Coast

Gray whale went extinct in the Atlantic centuries ago

(Newser) - The gray whale went extinct in the Atlantic Ocean more than 200 years ago—so researchers from the New England Aquarium were more than a little surprised to see one off the coast of Nantucket on Friday. The whale was spotted by an aerial survey plane around 30 miles from...

Killer Whales Trapped Under Sea Ice Make a Break for It

Orcas off coast of Japan, spotted huddled together and bobbing in the waters, appear to have escaped

(Newser) - As a nation held its breath, so, too, did a pod of killer whales trapped beneath the ice off of the northern shores of Japan, bobbing their heads up and down from a small gap in the ice to breathe. Now, officials say the dozen or so orcas appear to...

This Humpback Whale Got a Much-Needed Rescue

'Hog-tied' juvenile in Alaska had gotten caught up in a 300lb crab pot, and lines

(Newser) - When Alaska fishermen dropped a 300lb crab pot in the waters close to Glacier Bay National Park, they were probably hoping to catch, well, crabs. What they got instead was a much bigger catch—though not in a good way. As NPR reports, the crab pot and its lines got...

Alleged Russian Spy Whale Turns Up in a New Country

Hvaldimir, first spotted off of Norway 4 years ago, is now in Swedish waters

(Newser) - In 2019, when a white beluga whale showed up off of Norway , experts suspected it was a spy whale that had defected from the Russian military. Scientists also feared the creature wouldn't be able to survive very long on its own after a lifetime in captivity—but now, four...

Japanese Vending Machines Now Dispensing Whale Meat

Conservationists are worried about the development

(Newser) - A Japanese whaling operator, after struggling for years to promote its products amid protests from conservationists, has found a new way to cultivate clientele and bolster sales: whale meat vending machines. The Kujira (Whale) Store, an unmanned outlet that recently opened in the port town of Yokohama near Tokyo, houses...

Whale Makes 'Amazing' but Heartbreaking Journey

Humpback with broken back made 3.1K-mile trek from Canada to Hawaii but likely won't live long

(Newser) - It's a story both inspiring and heartbreaking, and one that marine wildlife experts have been monitoring with admiration and deep concern. For at least the last decade, a humpback whale named Moon has been on the radar of scientists at the Fin Island whale research station off of British...

This Whale Sucks In an Astounding Amount of Microplastics

Blue whales, as well as other baleens, are ingesting millions of the tiny particles daily

(Newser) - Baleen whales —which include blue whales and humpbacks—are a type of whale that uses special filters instead of teeth to collect and eat small prey like krill and fish. Now, in a research first, scientists examining the consumption habits of these marine mammals have found they're...

At 'Hell's Gate,' Hundreds of Stranded Whales Languish

Half the whales beached in Tasmania may still be alive, but rescue is 'complex'

(Newser) - Almost two years ago to the day, close to 400 whales died after washing up on the shores near Macquarie Heads, Tasmania, in one of the largest strandings ever recorded. Now, deja vu on the Australian island's west coast. Some 230 whales have been beached near the town of...

'Unprecedented' Rescue of Stranded Whale Is Too Late

Beluga taken out of Seine to be transported back to chillier waters dies

(Newser) - A beluga whale stranded in the Seine, far from the colder waters where it belongs, has died during an attempted rescue, reports CNN . The first part of a multistage relocation operation took place early Wednesday, with the 13-foot-long, 1,800-pound marine mammal lifted out of the waters in northern France...

In the Seine, a Whale Far From Home
Whale Is Stranded in the Seine

Whale Is Stranded in the Seine

Officials are now trying to save the beluga in France, far from its usual home in chillier waters

(Newser) - A beluga whale is stranded far from home, and now French officials are trying to figure out how to get it to safety. The BBC reports that the skinny-looking whale is right now floating near Vernon, 45 miles or so northwest of Paris and way south of the chilly Arctic...

Breaching Whale Slams Right Onto Boat
Humpback Whale Leaps,
Comes Down on Boat
video

Humpback Whale Leaps, Comes Down on Boat

It happened in Mexico on Saturday

(Newser) - Getting up close and personal with nature proved dangerous in Mexico's Sea of Cortez on Saturday, when a boat that apparently got too close to a humpback whale ended up nearly being taken down by the creature. 9News reports that tourists on nearby boats in Topolobampo Bay off Sinaloa,...

Only Whaler Known to Go Down in Gulf Found 190 Years Later

Find sheds light on 'how people of color succeeded as captains and crew members'

(Newser) - Roughly 15 years before Herman Melville introduced the world to Moby Dick, a whaling ship from Massachusetts sank near the mouth of the Mississippi River. Nearly 190 years later, experts say, it’s still the only whaler known to have gone down in the Gulf of Mexico, where the threat...

At Infamous 'Death Trap for Whales,' a Sad New Find

34 long-finned pilot whales found beached in mass stranding at New Zealand's Farewell Spit

(Newser) - Farewell Spit, a perhaps aptly named 16-mile stretch of sand on the remote northern end of New Zealand's South Island, is making headlines for sad news that's become commonplace there. The island nation's Department of Conservation reported on Friday that 34 long-finned pilot whales have been found...

Man Swallowed Whole by Whale Is Doing Much Better Now

Michael Packard was diving for lobsters when he got gulped down off of Provincetown, Mass.

(Newser) - The Cape Cod Times calls Michael Packard's tale a "truly biblical" story, but for the 56-year-old Massachusetts man, he just considers it an incredibly lucky one. Packard, a lobster diver who's been working out of Provinceton for four decades, tells CBS Boston he was about 45 feet...

For This Endangered Species, an 'Encouraging Sign'

Scientists: N. Atlantic right whales gave birth this winter in larger numbers since 2015

(Newser) - North Atlantic right whales gave birth over the winter in greater numbers than scientists have seen since 2015, an encouraging sign for researchers who became alarmed three years ago when the critically endangered species produced no known offspring at all. Survey teams spotted 17 newborn right whale calves swimming with...

It's Been 50 Years Since Highway Workers Blew Up a Whale
They Blew Up a Dead Whale.
It Didn't Go as Expected
in case you missed it

They Blew Up a Dead Whale. It Didn't Go as Expected

'For the blast blasted blubber beyond all believable bounds'

(Newser) - Oregon is celebrating a special anniversary on Thursday: the 50-year commemoration of when highway workers there blew up a dead whale. Per the Willamette Week , a 45-foot, 8-ton sperm whale washed up on the shores of Florence in late 1970, and on Nov. 12, the state's highway division decided...

Your TGIF Minute: A Whale Playing Fetch
Your TGIF
Minute: A
Whale
Playing
Fetch
VIDEO

Your TGIF Minute: A Whale Playing Fetch

'It's crazy, yeah'

(Newser) - Get ready for what TMZ calls a minute "of awesome." The Guardian posted a video Thursday of a boat said to be near the North Pole, with South African rugby fans aboard, next to a beluga whale. That's not what makes the encounter awesome, however: It's...

What's a Whale Worth? More Than You Might Think
What's a Whale Worth?
More Than You Might Think
new analysis

What's a Whale Worth? More Than You Might Think

Team of economists with the IMF do the math

(Newser) - Whales are actually cash cows, or so suggest economists with the International Monetary Fund. A team helmed by Ralph Chami took a look at the economic benefit provided by whales when it comes to carbon sequestration and ecotourism and arrived at a big figure: $2 million apiece. Their analysis hasn'...

Out of Canada, 'News to Splash a Fin At'

'Free Willy' act, which would bar holding whales, dolphins in captivity, about to become law

(Newser) - "Breaking: Victory!" That was the exuberant message from Canada's Green Party on Monday, when the country's House of Commons passed a bill aimed at protecting marine life there. CNN reports on the "Free Willy" bill—named for the 1993 flick in which a boy "...

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