Posts Tagged ‘Humpback whale’
Celebrating amazing orca and humpback images from Norway
I have the pleasure of introducing another guest blog from long-term WDC supporter and volunteer speaker, Clare McEnally. Clare’s relationship with WDC began 16 years ago when she went dolphin watching with her family in Scotland. Clare currently lives in Norway and is studying the Norwegian language with the longer term aim of studying for a masters…
Read MoreNorth Atlantic Humpback Whale Catalog Adds 8,000th Identified Whale!
WDC Senior Intern Kate McPherson has spent two summers with WDC cataloguing humpback whales. As a seasoned photo-ID researcher, we asked her to blog about the 8,000th whale added to the North Atlantic Humpback Whale Catalogue. Her thoughts are below. Whale and Dolphin Conservation’s colleagues at Allied Whale have recently entered the 8,000th individual to…
Read MoreShorewatch’s September Big Watch Weekend
After a fantastic season it’s time for Shorewatch’s bi-annual Big Watch Weekend: 12th, 13th and 14th September. During this weekend our dedicated Shorewatchers layer up and anchor themselves to their Shorewatch sites, with the aim of completing as many Shorewatches as possible. We will then be able to see what is going on at that exact…
Read MoreResearchers amazed by first sighting of humpback mother and calf in Baltic Sea
Analysis of images taken by water sports enthusiasts have revealed the presence of a humpback whale and calf in the Baltic Sea. Humpbacks have only been recorded in the Baltic on four occasions and it is believed that this is the first ever sighting of a mother and calf. Both are thought to have travelled…
Read MoreHumpback migration season has begun in Fiji!
Posted on behalf of Cara Miller – WDC Pacific Islands Programme Over the last couple of weeks there have been a number of reports that humpback whales have made it all the way from their Antarctic foraging grounds back to the warm, tropical breeding grounds of the Pacific Islands. Within Fijian waters, sightings have been…
Read MoreHey UK, Turks and Caicos Humpbacks Need You too!
A recent BBC report highlights the need for better wildlife protection in UK overseas territories including the Turks and Caicos Islands (TCI). Along with the issues covered in the article, endangered humpback whales are also facing threats in this region. Historically considered as a migratory corridor to the breeding and calving grounds off the Dominican…
Read MoreHumpback whale deaths increase in Western Australia
A surge in humpback whale strandings in Western Australia is believed to be linked to the poor nutrition of the animals, veterinary researchers have revealed. There has been a sharp rise in humpback whales stranding and dying on the shore annually on the west Australian coast since 2008. Poor nutrition could be caused by an…
Read MoreI’ll tell you whale i’ve been … Part 1!
Following on from the exciting discovery made by IWDG and others of a travelling humpback whale in the north east Atlantic, thanks to photo-id (where individual whales can be recognised over time due to distinctive and unique markings on the underside of their flukes) researchers are slowly pulling together the different pieces of the jigsaw…
Read MoreNoise pollution reduces whale song
Research has now shown that whales reduce some forms of important communication when excessive man-made noise is introduced to their underwater world. A study of humpback whales off the coast of Northern Angola has revealed that their singing during the breeding season is reduced in the presence of noise from underwater seismic surveying by oil…
Read MoreWhale have you been?
Back in 2007 a humpback whale photographed close to Texel Island in the Wadden Sea, Netherlands was positively matched to a humpback whale photographed off Toe Head, County Cork, Ireland several months later. Several weeks after frequenting Irish waters, the same individual was re-sighted just 60km south of where it was initially recorded off the…
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