whales (Page 6)

Like the vanishing polar bear, the decline in the penguin population is the canary in the coal mine, warning us that something is going wrong on our planet?but this time the problem isn’t climate change.

Oil pollution, depletion of fisheries and rampant coastline development are what is threatening breeding habitats for many penguin species. Biologist Dee Boersma says, “The fate of all species is to go extinct, but there are some species that go extinct before their time and we are facing that possibility with some penguins.”
read more

Despite the fact that in some areas, whales are coming close to extinction, several countries are petitioning the International Whaling Commission for permission to hunt even MORE whales. Some of these are being filed on behalf of aboriginal peoples who have traditionally hunted whales, but others–such as Japan–are modern societies. The United States is one of the countries asking for permission to kill more whales.
read more

We recently wrote about a shark emergency, but whales also seem to be in big trouble.

In BBC News, Richard Black reports that Earthwatch has found that whales are arriving at their breeding grounds in Mexico malnourished, and they don’t know why. On the other side of the world, whales that breed near Russia are dwindling due to hunting, as well as offshore oil drilling.
read more

We’ve recently written about the cruelty against whales by Japanese hunters who separate members of pods so that orcas can be exhibited in aquariums. Now scientists are learning how blue whales “sing” to each other in order to communicate over long distances. This may help organizations that want to stop whaling by countries like Japan, which still hunt these intelligent animals for meat. If they can locate whale pods, they may be able to protect them.

While the specific function of songs and calls produced by whales remains a mystery to a large degree, the sounds are thought to mediate social interactions between the animals. Researchers have discovered that they can use recordings of blue whale songs to determine the animal’s population worldwide distribution.
read more