Posts Tagged ‘Humpback whale’
20th Biennial Conference of the Biology of Marine Mammals Part 2
WDC present our work on non-lethal vessel strikes on humpback whales in the southern Gulf of Maine ~ Otago University, Dunedin, New Zealand, 9-13 December The “biennial,” held every two years, is a gathering of marine mammal scientists from around the world. The theme for this year “Marine Mammal Conservation: Science Making a Difference”, has…
Read MoreNorth Pacific home to five distinct humpback whale populations
Earlier this year, the Hawai’i Fishermen’s Alliance for Conservation and Tradition, Inc. submitted a petition to the federal government seeking to identify the North Pacific population of humpback whales as one distinct population segment (DPS) and then have this DPS removed from the Endangered Species Act (ESA). WDC North America subsequently submitted comments (attached as…
Read MoreDesperate Icelandic minke whalers now have humpbacks in their sights
Iceland’s minke whalers have announced their interest in hunting humpback whales for ‘scientific research’. Gunnar Bergmann Jonsson, director of the Minke Whalers’ Association, has declared his company’s interest in such a move, whilst Sverrir Daniel Halldorsson, whale expert at HAFRO (the government institute responsible for conducting ‘research’ into Iceland’s marine resources and setting ‘sustainable’ catch…
Read MoreLittle Whales in a Big Ocean
The beginning of the field season is always really exciting, as we see which whales are first to return, which mothers have calves this year, and hope that none of our beloved whales go missing! We’ve already seen incredible feeding displays and have a growing list of mothers that are returning with their calves to…
Read MoreNew York Times stands up for whales
Its good to see the press are still ready to question commercial whaling. Part of the strategy of Icelandic whalers has been to target tourists, but it seems that the Editorial Board of the New York Times are ready to stand up for whales both in Iceland and closer to home in the USA, Hawaii.…
Read MoreHumpback Whale's change their Song in Response to an Noise Source 200 km Away
PLoSOne reports that Sounds made by technology used to monitor fish stocks may affect how baleen whales communicate, even at great distances. Marine biologists working in US waters noticed that humpback whales sang less during the fall/autumn of 2006, when a low frequency signal showed up in their recordings. They eventually traced the signal to…
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