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NEWS ABOUT: marine mammals

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Dozens of Dolphins Die at Cape Cod

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,... More »

Biologist Indicted for Feeding Killer Whales

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... More »

Whale That Killed Trainer to Perform Again

SeaWorld putting Tilikum back to work

(Newser) - Tilikum, the killer whale that drowned a trainer last year and has been involved in two other human deaths, is returning to show business. Officials at Orlando's SeaWorld say the 6-ton whale, the largest killer whale in captivity, will take part in shows beginning today. The park has spent millions... More »

Navy Sonar Terrifies Beaked Whales

Sonar exercises linked to mass beachings

(Newser) - A new study has provided the strongest evidence yet that naval sonar is responsible for the stranding and death of large groups of beaked whales. Researchers working near the US Navy's Atlantic Undersea Test and Evaluation Center found that the whales stopped making their clicking and buzzing calls during live... More »

Walruses Short-Changed on Fed Protection

Endangered tuskers 'low on the totem pole'

(Newser) - The Interior Department has decided that walruses are endangered enough to warrant protection—but it's not going to give it to them. The threat to the Pacific walrus from global warming reducing Arctic sea ice is very real, officials say, but limited government resources mean protection will have to wait... More »

Whales Return to NYC

'Menagerie of giants' calling New York's waters home

(Newser) - Whales have returned to the waters around the Big Apple in numbers not seen for at least a century, a comeback experts believe is the result of anti-hunting laws and cleaner waters. Dolphins and seals have also made triumphant returns, and one ferryboat captain estimates the numbers of marine mammals... More »

US Base in Japan Yanks Dolphin-Hunt Documentary

Cove's defiant director plans to hand out DVDs

(Newser) - US commanders wary of offending the Japanese have canceled screenings of Oscar-winning documentary The Cove, but that won't silence its message, its director tells the AP . Louie Psihoyos says he plans to hand out DVDs of the movie, which shows the gruesome annual dolphin hunt in a Japanese town, at... More »

Commission Mulls Lifting Whaling Ban

Whales have been saved, IWC policymakers argue

(Newser) - Whale populations have rebounded so strongly since the 1986 global ban on commercial whaling that the International Whaling Commission is considering loosening it. The IWC is mulling a compromise proposal that would condone whaling by ban-defying nations Norway, Iceland, and Japan in return for a reduction in the number of... More »

Swimming With Dolphins 'Traumatizes Them'

Harassed dolphins spend less time feeding, nurturing young

(Newser) - Zanzibar's dolphins are becoming incredibly stressed out by the steady stream of tourists swimming with them, British scientists say. The researchers found that dolphins become stressed when people swim close to them or touch them. The dolphins also become unsettled when tourists boats are around and spend less time resting,... More »

SeaWorld: Killer Whale Grabbed Trainer's Ponytail

Dawn Brancheau was 'underwater for an extended period of time'

(Newser) - The SeaWorld trainer slain by a killer whale yesterday was pulled underwater by her ponytail, according to the company, the latest in a variety of explanations as to how she ended up in the water. Because of Tillikum’s size and history, trainers never got into the pool with him.... More »

Hawaiians Scramble to Save Entangled 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... More »

Wandering Manatee Safe in Fla.

'Ilya' had gotten as far as CT, rescued near refinery in NJ

(Newser) - Ilya, a 10-foot, 1,100-pound manatee spotted in Connecticut waters 2 weeks ago, is safely recuperating at a Florida aquarium before being released back into the wild. Ilya was rescued 2 days ago wallowing in the warm discharge of a New Jersey oil refinery, but neither that nor his... More »

Whale Saves Drowning Diver

(Newser) - A beluga whale came to the rescue of a woman who got into trouble during a free-diving contest at a Chinese aquarium, the Telegraph reports. The woman, who wasn't wearing breathing equipment, suffered cramps near the bottom of the aquarium's Arctic pool and found herself unable to rise. The whale,... More »

Blue Whales Sing Near NYC Coast

Mating call heard just 70 miles from Long Island

(Newser) - Experts have detected singing blue whales closer to the New York City coast than the endangered behemoths have ever been heard before, the Ithaca Journal reports. One of the whales was picked up by Cornell University bioacoustics experts recording just 70 miles from the city’s coastline. Scientists plan to... More »

Fossil of 'Missing Link' Walking Seal Found

Arctic creature's existence was predicted by Charles Darwin

(Newser) - The fossil of a semi-aquatic creature unearthed in northern Canada may hold the key to how seals and walruses evolved, the BBC reports. The carnivore—which resembles a cross between an otter and a seal—had feet that were webbed but weren't flippers. Scientists believe the animals walked on land... More »

Brits to Stop Saving Stranded Whales

Marine experts say refloating causes suffering and rarely works

(Newser) - Whales who get stuck on British shores will now get a lethal injection instead of a lift back to the ocean, the Independent reports. The policy is backed by marine experts and animal welfare groups as the more humane option, based on new research showing that refloated whales usually die... More »

Dolphins: Chefs of the Sea

(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... More »

Dolphins' Hunting Tools Mostly Used by Females

Dolphin moms pass skills on to daughters; males do their own thing

(Newser) - Beside humans, few other animals use tools to get their everyday chores done. Even fewer of them are marine mammals, so researchers in Australia were surprised to catch bottlenose dolphins employing conical sponges to dig in the seafloor. Mostly female dolphins use the snout-protectors, and only if their mothers showed... More »

One-Quarter of Mammal Species Imperiled: Survey

Deforestation, climate change among culprits threatening 1,141 types of beasts

(Newser) - Nearly 25% of the world’s mammal species face extinction, the Guardian reports, and 3% are critically endangered. The stark conclusion, based on research conducted over 5 years in 130 countries, paints an especially bleak picture for marine mammals, the highly regarded Red List says. "We are threatening the... More »

Noisy Humans 'Drowning Out' Marine Mammals

Report urges humans to turn down industrial volume in world's oceans

(Newser) - Whales and dolphins are seriously suffering from the noise that human industry and militaries release into the ocean, an animal-welfare group warns—and we need to turn the volume down before we do irreversible damage. Sonar is implicated for mass stranding and deaths of whales and dolphins, the BBC reports,... More »

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