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Right whales don't have teeth or horns or claws to prevent the other males from mating with the female, so they have developed an interesting way to compete called "sperm competition." |
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AUTHOR: Susan Milius
A nerve-racking effort to attach cameras to marine mammals has shown how four species dive the impossible dive.
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Orcas haven't always been as popular as they are today. The killer whale's image began to change drastically in the mid-1960s, when a male orca later named Namu was captured off the coast of British Columbia, Canada, and towed to the Seattle Aquarium in a floating cage.
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KEYWORDS: right whale species right whale fact sheet Eubalaena glacialis North Atlantic right whale Eubalaena japonica North Pacific right whale Eubalaena australis southern right whale
The right whale may have received its name from whalers who thought that it was the "right" whale to kill because it was correct commercially (oil came from whales in those days), or because it was considered "proper" or "true" which meant typical of whales in general. They were easy targets, if you could ever call going out in small boats with harpoons and lances an 'easy' business.
Right whales swim slowly and float when dead, which was important in those days. The exploitation of the right whale began in the Bay of Biscay in Spain by the 12th century and continued, especially in the North Atlantic, for many centuries. Despite being protected since the 1930s, the right whale is today the most endangered of all the great whales. |
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KEYWORDS: orca fact sheet killer whale fact sheet odontocete toothed whale largest dolphin facts whale genus species
AUTHOR:
The orca, or killer whale, with its striking black and white coloring, is one of the best known of all the cetaceans. It has been extensively studied in the wild and is often the main attraction at many sea parks and aquaria.
An odontocete, or toothed whale, the orca is known for being a carnivorous, fast and skillful hunter, with a complex social structure and a cosmopolitan distribution (orcas are found in all the oceans of the world). Sometimes called "the wolf of the sea" orca can be a fierce hunter with well-organized hunting techniques, although there are no documented cases of killer whales attacking a human in the wild.
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KEYWORDS: orca whale Luna whale rescue whale protest killer whales Native Canadians Mowachaht First Nation Mowachaht-Muchalaht band whales in Nootka Sound San Juan Islands killer whales San Juan Islands orcas
AUTHOR: Lisa Stiffler
Yesterday rescuers were set to help troubled killer whale find his family, but
the orca had other plans |
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KEYWORDS: whale bones whale jawbones Whitby England arch at the historic seaport Anchorage Alaska Sister Cities whalebone arch bowhead whale endangered species Miss Alaska Inupiat dance Alaska Highlanders whale oil
AUTHOR: Jane Zsabo, Anchorage Daily News
There's been lots of jawboning in Whitby, England, lately, about jawbones from Barrow -- two 16-foot, 350-pound remnants of a bowhead whale that have finally been installed as an arch at the historic seaport.
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KEYWORDS: California gray whale whale migration Makah whale hunt gray whale facts gray whale territory Eschrichtius robustus conservation success story endangered species what do gray whales eat feeding habits of the gray whale migration route of gray whales brain of gray whale how big is a gray whale's tongue devil fish whalers friendlies whale watching Pacific Northwest whales Baja whales Makah tribe whale hunts uses for whale meat
AUTHOR: Lynda V. Mapes, Seattle Times staff reporter
POSSESSION BAY - Languid and liquid as the swells it surfs, the gray whale gives a mighty blow then arcs gracefully in a dive for the bottom.
Its explosive "Pffffooooffffh!" is arresting, and a reminder of our common breath: This is no giant fish from the depths, but a mammal, like us.
The grays' migration off the coast - one of the longest undertaken by any mammal - is one of the rites of spring. The grays make it look easy, knocking off the 4,300-mile, one-way journey in just 54 days, swimming at a walking pace around the clock. And some grays go even farther - swimming as much as 5,000 miles.
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