Fresh news in the killer whale world, Surprise! (L-86) just gave birth! Since July 2020, three different Southern Resident Killer whales have given birth! J35, Tahlequah, who lost her baby about two years ago, gave birth on September 6th, 2020, to a baby boy, J57. Next, J41, Eclipse, was the second mom, giving birth to her offspring on September 25th. And now L-86, Surprise, gave birth to her baby. This fantastic news raises spirits, considering…

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Meet the crabeater seal. This little guy comes from Antarctica and has the most specialized teeth in the carnivore world. Keep reading to know more about the crabeater seal. Teeth to eat crab? You might think that crabeater seals eat crab. Indeed, their Latin name is “Lobodon carcinophaga“, and carcinophaga literally means “crab-eating”. But here is the plot twist: crabeater seals do not eat crab. They feed on krill. How? By using their super-specialized teeth.…

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This month, we want to talk about a very large pinniped, the walrus (Odobenus rosmarus)! Learn about our tusk fighting, mollusk eating, flipper footed marine mammal of the month. We hope to highlight some facts and their climate-changing plight. Two walrus (Odobenus rosmarus) resting on ice. Foxe Basin, Nunavut, Canada – Credit Where in the world do they live? There are two subspecies of walrus. The first one occupies the north Atlantic waters, from northeastern…

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When we think about whale conservation, we can picture researchers frantically taking photos of surfacing whales, dangling over the edge of a research boat collecting biopsy samples or elbow deep into a carcass. However, recently, some whale scientists are on a mission to collect a less conventional sample: whale snot! What is whale snot, and why do scientists want it? In technical terms, whale snot is called “exhaled breath condensate.” Essentially, whales expel air and…

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Dolphins are very social creatures. But what happens when they become isolated? Some solitary dolphins seek comfort around navigational buoys and sometimes approach other species like humans. But this one solitary short-beaked common dolphin called Kylie found a way to deal with isolation. This common dolphin hanging out in Scottish waters seems to “speak porpoise,” producing sounds similar to those of harbor porpoises and made some friends along the way. Kylie leaping out of the…

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Altruism: the belief in or practice of selfless concern for the well-being of others. Compassion: sympathetic pity and concern for the sufferings or misfortunes of others. These two words are usually applied to humans and situations involving us. But one question stands: Could some animals like humpback whales have the ability to feel and express compassion and altruism? Scientists are still hesitant when it comes to using words like “compassion” with animals. Yet, growing evidence…

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This month, we will talk about the sirenians: manatees and dugongs. These slow and peaceful “herbivores”, also called sea cows, have elephants as their closest land relatives. In this post, we highlight some mostly unknown facts about the sirenian family and hope to raise awareness about the threats they face today. Credit: A Cotton Photo They are not strict vegans Their diet mainly consists of different types of seagrasses. Although almost entirely herbivorous, dugongs will…

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As you may or may not have heard that there is a potentially new species of a beaked whale! Scientists just discovered this new species off Baja California. Here we explain how scientists discovered this possibly new species. We will also dive into how to determine if there is, in fact, a new species of whales. A potential individual of the new Species; photo taken by Sea Shepherd. Credit “Whale” in the World are These…

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Commercial whaling is a complicated topic. Almost everybody has a strong opinion about it, and discussions can get heated quickly. So let’s take a deep breath and try to keep the blood pressure low. Nowadays, three countries openly conduct commercial whaling: Japan, Norway, and Iceland. Indigenous people in various parts of the world, e.g., Alaska and Greenland, and locals in the Faroe Islands also hunt whales. However, this is part of their subsistence economy and…

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We are wrapping this year with a lesser-known, but very well studied ziphiid, or beaked whale, the northern bottlenose whale (Hyperoodon ampullatus). The northern bottlenose whale is the largest member of the beaked family found in the North Atlantic Ocean. They have a bottle-shaped beak and a hooked dorsal fin, hence the “bottlenose” in their common name. They have bulbous melons, which are their most prominent attribute. In this post, we will explore these phenomenal…

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