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© New England Aquarium and Canadian Whale Institute under DFO Canada SARA permit

Scientists unveil new names for 19 North Atlantic right whales

December 6, 2023 - Contact: Regina Asmutis-Silvia, Whale and Dolphin Conservation, (508) 451-3853, [email protected] Pam...
© 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...

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.