This month, we will celebrate the newly classified species, the Rice’s whale (Balaenoptera ricei)! Once mistaken as the Bryde’s (pronounced “broodus”) whale, new evidence proves the rice whale is different, both morphologically and genetically! Ric’s whale surfacing. Photo from here. Same but Different Because of their similar features, scientists misclassified the Rice whale for the Bryde’s whale. They have similar features. Males are typically smaller than their female counterparts. They both have a similar shape…

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Have you ever asked, “Why do whales jump?” Well, there’s not a precise answer, but we will try to answer it in this post, so keep reading. If you’ve ever played in shallow water, you might have used your feet to push off the bottom and pretend to jump out of the water like a whale or dolphin. While doing so, you may have noticed that it’s difficult to get your entire body out of…

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How long can you hold your breath underwater? If you’re not a professional free-diver or a navy seal, chances are you’ll probably reach around a minute or two. While the human record of natural underwater breath-holding lies at an impressive 11 minutes, marine mammals easily beat all the records. Cuvier’s beaked whales are the ultimate champions, with one whale diving almost 3 km and another individual staying underwater for a whopping 222 minutes! That’s 3…

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Ever wondered what drives male Weddell seal behavior during the mating season? Seals have many needs, such as staying warm in winter and cool in summer, avoiding hungry predators, finding food, and finding mates. These needs can also change with the age of the seal. During the mating season, male Weddell seals try to attract females. However, males must compete against other males for a chance to catch a female’s attention. Weddell seals live in…

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We had never given it much thought, but when the world was recently celebrating International Women in Science Day, it hit us. The Cetacean Ecology Research Group at Massey University in New Zealand, where we are a research associate and a PhD student, currently consists purely of women. We are led by the great Prof Karen Stockin. Then there are three research associates, a postdoc and research officer, two PhD students, and two MSc students.…

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Stefano Bellomo is a 32-year-old Italian whale scientist currently working as a marine mammal observer and a social media manager for the Jonian Dolphin Conservation. Here is his story. Stefano’s education at the University of Bari I studied both bachelor’s and master’s degrees in environmental biology at the University of Bari, my city. I wanted to discover and explore the science behind life on our planet, explore the world of ecology and acquire the necessary…

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This April, let’s celebrate Hector’s dolphins (Cephalorhynchus hectori). They are the only cetaceans endemic to New Zealand, which means they are only found there. Hector’s dolphins actually include two subspecies: the endangered South Island’s Hector’s dolphins and the critically endangered Maui dolphin. Let’s find out more about Hector’s dolphins in this post. Aerial survey of Hector’s dolphins, Banks Peninsula, New Zealand – Credit: Will Rayment One of the smallest cetaceans Hector’s dolphins are among the…

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Scientists have for a long time thought that orcas in Iceland specialized in eating fish (like herring). Recently, however, experts have noticed that some Icelandic orcas seem to enjoy another type of snack: marine mammals. This could be a problem and eating marine mammals could threaten the long-term survival of these orcas. In this post, I explain the results from the first paper of my PhD, looking at contaminants in Icelandic orcas. An Icelandic orca…

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While we were looking for the most frequently googled terms associated with cetaceans we encountered the terms “dolphin sex” and “whale penis”. Generally, penises have been far more in the spotlight than vaginas for a long time. For instance, the Icelandic Phallological Museum was established in 1997 in Reykjavík (including a range of cetacean specimens). The Vagina Museum, in contrast, was opened twenty years later, in 2017 in London. So it’s no surprise that even…

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Welcome to our first official bilingual article on beluga whales in Quebec! A new pipeline project connecting Alberta and Quebec recently proposed in Canada could threaten a local beluga population’s survival. Below this English version, you will find a translated text for our french-speaking readers. Bienvenue à notre tout premier article bilingue sur les bélugas du Québec! Un nouveau projet de pipeline reliant l’Alberta et le Québec récemment proposé au Canada pourrait menacer la survie…

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