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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...

Whales go from 'right-handed' to left

Scientist studying blue whale feeding habits have documented a switch from ‘right-hand’ to left when these huge creatures feed.

Blue whales are similar to many other creatures when it comes to ‘handeness’ or laterality.  They tend to always favour the right. However, results from a six year study of their behaviour off the coast of southern California have revealed that the whales will swap sides when feeding.

Blue whales lunge feed, swimming upwards to the surface gulping huge volumes of tiny krill before performing rolling turns. Hours of film taken by the scientific team show that these rolls are almost always to the left, the complete opposite to the way they feed at greater depths where they execute 90-degree right-handed side rolls.

According to lead researcher, Ari Friedlaender from Oregon State University’s Marine Mammal Institute, rolling to the left while lunge feeding allows the blue whale’s dominant right eye to target smaller patches of krill more effectively.