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Our climate report highlights dramatic impacts on whales and dolphins

A new WDC report highlights the dramatic effect on whales and dolphins from climate change,...
© 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,...

Belugas may have changed eating habits to survive

According to a study by University of Alaska Fairbanks researchers, beluga whales in Alaska’s Cook Inlet may have changed their diet over five decades from saltwater prey to freshwater fish and crustaceans in a bid to survive.

Information gained from the analysis beluga bone and teeth has shown that the belugas formerly fed on prey that had little contact with freshwater, but that has changed as the belugas have sought food in areas where river water flows into the ocean.

Researchers say that the change in feeding habits could even be linked to events, such as a change in herring abundance or even the 1964 Great Alaska Earthquake.

Belugas normally feed on fish, crab, shrimp, squid and clams. This new information is important for the Cook Inlet belugas because they are endangered and numbers have not increased in recent times.

The population has dropped from 1,300 belugas through the 1980s and early 1990s. Alaskan Natives hunted and killed nearly half the remaining 650 whales between 1994 and 1998 but, despite the hunts ending in 1999, the population remains at only about 340 individuals.

Find out more about WDC’s sanctuary work for beluga whales and support our work.