Animal Stories from the Maritime World
Plasticising a blue whale heart When a whale dies, it becomes a rotting feast for birds and sharks. If it ever happens to reach shore, it’ll likely be in terrible shape. Lucky for mammalogy technicians at the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto, a blue whale that washed up in Newfoundland in 2014 was in good [...]
The Natural History Museum has unveiled the new star of its re-imagined Hintze Hall, at the start of the biggest transformation in its 136-year history. A stunning 25.2 metre real blue whale skeleton suspended from the ceiling now takes centre stage in the spectacular space – giving visitors the opportunity to walk underneath the largest [...]
Larger than usual Pacific algal blooms are being blamed for the deaths of 26 out of 40 rescued sea lions at California’s Pacific Marine Mammal Center, in Laguna Beach. Demoic acid released by the blooms makes fish species like sardines toxic to predators like the sea lions. The toxin inhibits nerve transmission in the animal’s [...]
Three captive female beluga whales due to be transferred to the world’s first whale sanctuary are going to have to go to “Beluga Boot Camp” before they are ready, the Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society announced in May. Jun Jun, Little Grey and Little White have been in a concrete aquarium in Shanghai, China since [...]
Seeing whales at sea in their natural environment is awesome... and respectful Editorial It was on a crossing of the Bay of Biscay on one of those days where a total lack of wind brings the sea down to a state of gently heaving glassy calm. The sky was similarly completely covered by a nondescript [...]
The Greenland shark has become the oldest known backboned animal researchers say, “weighing in” at around 400 years old. Scientists used radiocarbon dating to discover the age of 28 of the animals, and estimated that one female was about 400 years old The team found that the sharks grow at just 1cm a year, and [...]
