whale

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In This River, Thousands of 'Social Butterflies'

Thousands of playful belugas frolic along Canada's Churchill River—and are now key to area's tourism

(Newser) - Playful large white beluga whales bring joy and healing to Hudson Bay. Their happy chirps leap out in an environment and economy threatened by the warming water that's melting sea ice, starving polar bears, and changing the entire food chain. Loud and curious belugas swarm boats here, clicking, nudging,...

Norway Says It Knows How Alleged 'Spy' Whale Died

Beluga who lived off coast of Norway succumbed to bacterial infection, police say

(Newser) - A beluga whale that lived off Norway's coast, and whose harness ignited speculation that it was a Russian spy , wasn't shot to death as claimed by animal rights groups but died of a bacterial infection, Norwegian police said Friday. A final autopsy by Norway's Veterinary Institute "...

Popular Whale Rumored to Be 'Russian Spy' Is Dead
We Now Know How the
'Russian Spy' Whale Died
UPDATED

We Now Know How the 'Russian Spy' Whale Died

Kind of—beluga known as Hvaldimir had a stick stuck in its mouth, per Norwegian police

(Newser) - On Monday, Norwegian police said they'd found zero evidence that supposed "Russian spy" whale Hvaldimir, found dead in Norway's waters last month, had been shot to death, as some animal rights activists had alleged, per the AP . Now, an answer on the marine creature's premature demise:...

'Unreal': Whale Capsizes Boat Off New Hampshire Coast

Occupants were rescued, and whale seems to be OK, too

(Newser) - Two occupants of a fishing vessel are safe Tuesday after a whale surfaced under their boat, capsizing it off the New Hampshire shore, according to the US Coast Guard. The incident occurred Tuesday near Odiorne Point State Park, the AP reports. The Coast Guard posted to X that they had...

There's a Move to Get Lonely Beluga Out of 'Unethical' Home

Animal rights activists are fighting for release of Bella, housed in a shopping mall aquarium in Seoul

(Newser) - Efforts have kicked up again to "free Bella," a beluga whale housed in an aquarium in a South Korean shopping mall. Bella was caught in 2013 at the tender age of 2 in the Arctic Ocean, off the coast of Russia, and along with two other male belugas...

Dead Whale in New Jersey Had Fractured Skull

Blunt force trauma is the cause of death, though the cause of it isn't clear

(Newser) - A post-mortem examination of a whale that washed ashore on New Jersey's Long Beach Island found that the animal had sustained numerous blunt force injuries including a fractured skull and vertebrae, per the AP . The Marine Mammal Stranding Center on Friday released observations from a necropsy done on the...

Clock Is Ticking on Rescue of This Stranded Young Orca

Killer whale calf is stuck in lagoon off Vancouver Island, Canada, with its food supply dwindling

(Newser) - Plans are underway to rescue a stranded killer whale calf out of a remote tidal lagoon off northern Vancouver Island in an effort to reunite the young female orca with its extended family, Canadian authorities said Wednesday, per the AP .
  • Stranded: Rescuers have been unable to coax the young whale,
...

Sperm Whales Employ a Stinky Defense Against Orcas

Witnesses saw the whales use an enormous cloud of poop to fend off attack

(Newser) - Orcas have been known to pick fights with everything from sharks to yachts , but a pod in Western Australia recently learned the hard way that they should really leave sperm whales alone. Off the state's southern coast, viewers on a whale-watching tour following the orcas realized the creatures were...

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,...

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