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This dead right whale calf had injuries consistent with a vessel strike, including fresh propeller cuts on its back and head, broken ribs, and bruising. Photo: FWC/Tucker Joenz, NOAA Fisheries permit #18786

Emergency Right Whale Petition Seeks Overdue Protections From Vessel Strikes

This dead right whale calf had injuries consistent with a vessel strike, including fresh propeller...
Icelandic hunting vessels in port

Whaling boat kept in port after more hunt cruelty exposed

Icelandic whale hunting fleet One of the whaling boats involved in the latest hunts in...
Commerson's dolphin

New Important Marine Mammal Areas added to global ocean conservation list

Commerson's dolphin Experts from a number of countries have mapped out a new set of...
Fin whale shot with two harpoons

Whalers kill just days after Iceland’s hunt suspension is lifted

Whalers in Iceland have claimed their first victims since the lifting (just a few days...

Boat speed threatens endangered orcas

A new study on noise pollution published in the online journal, PLOS ONE has identified boat speed rather than size as being more of a threat to a group of endangered orcas.

Researchers monitoring of pod of orcas in the waters off Washington (US) found that speed was a more influential factor than how big a boat was when it came to the amount of noise from vessels reaching the pod.

Previous studies have shown that Southern Resident orcas alter their behaviour in the presence of ships and related noise.

Whales and dolphins live in a world of sound. They communicate, find their way around and locate food using sound. Noise pollution threatens whale and dolphin populations, interrupting their normal behaviour, driving them away from areas important to their survival, and at worst injuring or even causing death.

This most recent research has also found that it is likely that the orcas have to use extra energy to call more loudly when boats are operating nearby.  Previous studies have identified vessel traffic and noise as two main threats to recovery of the endangered population of this resident pod, which now only numbers about 80 orcas.