Latest Whales News

FILE - In this March 28, 2018 file photo, a North Atlantic right whale feeds on the surface of Cape Cod bay off the coast of Plymouth, Mass. The Switzerland-based International Union for Conservation of Nature said Thursday, July 9, 2020, it is moving the North Atlantic right whale from

Report: Speed compliance to save rare whales could be better

Jan. 22, 2021 2:51 PM EST

PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — Compliance with speed rules designed to protect rare whales has increased in recent years but could still be higher, according to a report from the federal government. The slow speed zones are implemented to protect North Atlantic right whales, which number about 360 and are...

FILE - In this May 24, 2019, file photo, teachers and students from Northwest Montessori School in Seattle examine the carcass of a gray whale after it washed up on the coast of Washington's Olympic Peninsula, just north of Kalaloch Campground in Olympic National Park. Researchers say the population of gray whales off the West Coast of the United States has fallen by nearly one-quarter since 2016, resembling a similar die-off two decades ago. In a paper released Tuesday, Jan. 19, 2021, NOAA Fisheries reported that surveys counted about 6,000 fewer migrating whales last winter, 21,000 as compared to 27,000 in 2016. (AP Photo/Gene Johnson, File)

Gray whale population drops by quarter off U.S. West Coast

Jan. 20, 2021 6:34 PM EST

SEATTLE (AP) — Researchers say the population of gray whales off the West Coast of the United States has fallen by nearly one-quarter since 2016, resembling a similar die-off two decades ago. In a paper released Tuesday, NOAA Fisheries reported that surveys counted about 6,000 fewer migrating whales last...

FILE - In this March 28, 2018 file photo, a North Atlantic right whale feeds on the surface of Cape Cod bay off the coast of Plymouth, Mass. The Switzerland-based International Union for Conservation of Nature said Thursday, July 9, 2020, it is moving the North Atlantic right whale from

Lawsuit seeks more protection for endangered right whales

Jan. 13, 2021 3:04 PM EST

SAVANNAH, Ga. (AP) — Conservation groups filed suit Wednesday against the federal government, saying it has taken too long to act on proposals to expand protections for critically endangered right whales. The lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Washington says the National Marine Fisheries Service for more...

Harris English watches a shot from the 15th tee during the second round of the Tournament of Champions golf event Friday, Jan. 8, 2021, at Kapalua Plantation Course in Kapalua, Hawaii. (Matthew Thayer/The Maui News via AP)

English having a whale of time and leads by 2 at Kapalua

Jan. 9, 2021 1:51 AM EST

KAPALUA, Hawaii (AP) — A new year, and Harris English keeps right on rolling. English finished with a 10-foot birdie to cap off an ideal Friday of low scores and whale watching at the Sentry Tournament of Champions. His 6-under 67 gave him a two-shot lead over a quartet of players that includes defending...

FILE - In this July 5, 2018, file photo, drum major Leslie Abreu reacts to the looming presence of Juno, one of the Beluga whales at Mystic Aquarium, in Mystic, Conn., as she directs members of the brass ensemble for the 7th Regiment Drum and Bugle Corps as they play in front of the Alaska Coast exhibit, as part of the group's Brass and Belugas exhibition. The aquarium has agreed to delay its acquisition of five beluga whales for research amid a lawsuit by an animal rights group trying to stop the delivery. Court documents filed last month in federal court in Hartford, Conn., say Mystic Aquarium will not import the whales before March 31, 2021, to allow time for a judge to decide the lawsuit. (Sean D. Elliot/The Day via AP, File)

Aquarium agrees to delay beluga whale delivery amid lawsuit

Jan. 4, 2021 5:38 PM EST

HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) — A Connecticut aquarium has agreed to delay its acquisition of five beluga whales for research amid a lawsuit by an animal rights group trying to stop the delivery. Mystic Aquarium will not import the whales before March 31 to allow time for a judge to decide the lawsuit and avoid an...

The White House, Friday, Jan. 1, 2021, in Washington. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)

Trump vetoes Calif. fishing bill over seafood trade deficit

Jan. 1, 2021 7:14 PM EST

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump vetoed a bill Friday that would have gradually ended the use of large-mesh drift gillnets deployed exclusively in federal waters off the coast of California, saying such legislation would increase reliance on imported seafood and worsen a multibillion-dollar seafood...

Freshly smoothed sand covers the carcass of a 15-ton humpback whale that was buried in the sand in Barnegat Light, N.J. on Monday, Dec. 28, 2020. The whale had washed ashore three days earlier. (AP Photo/Wayne Parry)

Dead, frozen whale buried on NJ beach; removal was too hard

Dec. 28, 2020 5:05 PM EST

BARNEGAT LIGHT, N.J. (AP) — A New Jersey beach is the final resting place for a 15-ton (13,600-kilogram) whale whose lifeless body washed ashore on Christmas day. State and local officials used heavy equipment to bury the 31-foot (9.5-meter) male humpback whale on a beach Monday morning. The whale was...

Researchers say new species of beaked whale found off Mexico

Dec. 9, 2020 9:25 PM EST

MEXICO CITY (AP) — Researchers looking for an elusive species of beaked whale said Wednesday they think they have found another new, previously unknown species off Mexico’s western Pacific coast. Dr. Jay Barlow, a retired adjunct professor at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, said Wednesday...

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