News tagged with sperm whale

Whale dies on Belgian beach

A 13-metre (42-foot) sperm whale died Wednesday after washing up on a Belgian beach, the country's Royal Institute of Natural Science said.

Biology / Plants & Animals

created Feb 08, 2012 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Cruise ship threatens marine paradise

(AP) -- Stone fortresses and watchtowers which centuries ago stood guard against against marauding pirates loom above pristine waters threatened by a new and modern peril: fuel trapped within the capsized ...

Space & Earth / Environment

created Jan 20, 2012 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 0

Study finds evidence of sperm whale culture

Differences in the patterned clicks that sperm whales use to communicate with each other seem to be down to culture and not genetics, say researchers.

Biology / Plants & Animals

created Dec 05, 2011 | popularity 4.9 / 5 (8) | comments 5 | with audio podcast

Last whale dies in mass Australian beaching

The last of a huge pod of sperm and minke whales washed onto a southern Australian beach and nearby sandbank has died despite an extensive operation to set it free, officials said.

Biology / Ecology

created Nov 17, 2011 | popularity 4 / 5 (2) | comments 0

Giant kraken lair discovered

Long before whales, the oceans of Earth were roamed by a very different kind of air-breathing leviathan. Snaggle-toothed ichthyosaurs larger than school buses swam at the top of the Triassic Period ocean food ...

Space & Earth / Earth Sciences

created Oct 10, 2011 | popularity 4.5 / 5 (39) | comments 66 | with audio podcast

Is ocean garbage killing whales?

Millions of tonnes of plastic debris dumped each year in the world's oceans could pose a lethal threat to whales, according to a scientific assessment to be presented at a key international whaling forum this ...

Biology / Ecology

created Jul 10, 2011 | popularity 5 / 5 (3) | comments 4

Remote Antarctic island is 'richer in biodiversity than the Galapagos'

Antarctica's remote South Georgia Island boasts 90 percent of the world's fur seals, half of the world's elephant seals, is navigated by vast populations of blue whales, sperm whales and killer whales, and has beaches that ...

Biology / Ecology

created Jun 08, 2011 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Biologists interpret the language of sperm whales

When they dive together, sperm whales make patterns of clicks to each other known as "codas". Recent findings suggest that, not only do different codas mean different things, but that whales can also tell ...

Biology / Plants & Animals

created May 12, 2011 | popularity 5 / 5 (5) | comments 4 | with audio podcast

Huge sperm whale washes up on Sydney beach

A dead 10-metre (32-feet) sperm whale has washed up on a Sydney beach, with rescuers struggling Thursday to remove it as the animal's blood runs into the water, attracting sharks.

Biology / Plants & Animals

created Apr 28, 2011 | popularity 3 / 5 (1) | comments 2

Sperm whales have individual personalities

(PhysOrg.com) -- In a recent study published in Animal Behaviour by Dalhousie University biologists Hal Whitehead and Shane Gero, the concept that sperm whales (Physeter macrocephalus) are individuals is being lear ...

Biology / Plants & Animals

created Mar 16, 2011 | popularity 5 / 5 (5) | comments 4 | with audio podcast weblog

ZSL scientists investigate sperm whale death

(PhysOrg.com) -- A 45ft (13.7m) sperm whale (Physeter macrocephalus) that was found stranded on a beach in Kent is believed to have died of starvation, indicate preliminary post-mortem results.

Biology / Ecology

created Mar 08, 2011 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Researchers report pacific sperm whales exposed to PAHs, pesticides, other pollutants

(PhysOrg.com) -- A Texas Tech University whale researcher said she and others found evidence of exposure to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and persistent organic pollutants, including the pesticide DDT, in Pacific ...

Biology / Ecology

created Dec 06, 2010 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 0

Sunburnt whales: Rising UV radiation could be damaging whales' skin

Whales exhibit skin damage consistent with acute sunburn in humans, and it seems to be getting worse over time, reveals research published this week in Proceedings of the Royal Society B.

Biology / Plants & Animals

created Nov 10, 2010 | popularity 4.3 / 5 (3) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Researchers investigate marine mammal behavior and responses to sound

(PhysOrg.com) -- A team of researchers recently completed a two-month research project off the Southern California coast, part of a collaboration to study marine mammal behavior and responses to sounds in ...

Biology / Plants & Animals

created Oct 21, 2010 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Researchers find first genetic evidence for loss of teeth in the common ancestor of baleen whales

(PhysOrg.com) -- In contrast to a toothed whale, which retains teeth that aid in capturing prey, a living baleen whale (e.g., blue whale, fin whale, humpback, bowhead) has lost its teeth and must sift zooplankton ...

Biology / Plants & Animals

created Sep 29, 2010 | popularity 5 / 5 (2) | comments 0 | with audio podcast