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Norway ups whale kill numbers and removes whale welfare protections

The whaling season in Norway has begun on the back of disturbing announcements from the...
Image taken from an unmanned hexacopter at >100ft during a research collaboration between NOAA/SWFSC, SR3 and the Coastal Ocean Research Institute. Research authorized by NMFS permit #19091.

Southern Resident orca petition to list them under Oregon Endangered Species Act advanced

The Oregon Fish and Wildlife Commission voted today to advance a petition seeking to protect...
Hysazu Photography

WDC and Conservation Partners Continue to Seek Oregon Endangered Species Protection for Southern Resident Orcas

On Friday, April 21st, the Oregon Fish and Wildlife Commission will determine whether the petition...
WDC Seal Rescue April 2023 (1)

WDC conducts milestone seal rescue in Marshfield

For Immediate Release, April 10, 2023 MARSHFIELD, MA - A young grey seal was found...

Barnacles used to track humpback whale movements

Researchers in the US have been using an interesting way to map the travel patterns of some humpback whales as they migrate around the globe, to look into how those patterns may have changed over many years, and also at the state of the ocean in the past.

By looking at the barnacles that attach themselves to humpback whales researchers can track their travels, potentially look at how the ancient migration patterns of these huge creatures may have changed, and also potentially use the information to reveal more about the oceans that ancient migrators were visiting.

Humpbacks swim thousands of kilometers between feeding and breeding grounds and understanding where they go, both now and in the past, helps to conserve these amazing individuals.

About 40 years ago, researchers were able to use barnacles attached to gray whales   to record the path those whales take each year by measuring oxygen atoms in the barnacle itself – warmer waters supplying a higher proportion of heavier oxygen atoms, for example.

Researchers have now decided to use the same tactic to track the migrations of ancient whale species in the same way, looking at coronulid barnacles, which live only on humpbacks. Even though some barnacles analysed are no longer attached to whales, because of the close association between this barnacle species and humpbacks, these barnacles passed their lives on ancient humpbacks. 

In the coming months it is hoped that data from the barnacles might help pin down exactly where whales were moving over the past five million years.

Why not adopt a humpback with WDC and help fight threats they face?

Sundown kick-feeding