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© Clearwater Marine Aquarium Research Institute, taken under NOAA permit #26919. Funded by United States Army Corps of Engineers

Birth announcement! First right whale calf of the 2024 calving season spotted

November 29, 2023 - On November 28th, researchers from the Clearwater Marine Aquarium Research Institute...
© Peter Flood

Two New England-based nonprofits awarded nearly $400k federal grant

© Peter Flood November 20, 2023 - Contact: Jake O'Neill, Conservation Law Foundation, (617) 850-1709,...
Right whale - Regina WDC

North Atlantic right whale population has stabilized

WDC attends Ropeless Consortium and North Atlantic Right Whale Consortium WDC was in Canada this...
Moana, Marineland France

Orca Moana dies suddenly at Marineland

Twelve-year old orca, Moana has died suddenly at the Marineland Antibes theme park facility in...

Scientists in the UK have published a study that may reveal the reasons why females orcas can live for a further 50 years after having their offspring.

According to experts from the University of Exeter, the presence of mothers ensured greater survival of adult sons to an age when they can breed, and so might explain possible reasons for this long but non-reproductive phase of their lives.

Orcas have one of the longest post-reproductive life spans in the natural world and the young never leave their mothers, remaining in a single group or pod.

The research showed that, for a male over 30, the death of his mother means an almost 14-fold-increase in the likelihood of his death within the following year.

More on orcas