Chemistry After the Phase Out: Can Banning Toxic Chemicals Rescue Pilot Whales? When it comes to persistent pollutants, all roads lead to the ocean. Perfluorooctanesulfonic acid (PFOS) is a chemical that has…
Biology What killer whales tell us about menopause Killer whales, or orcas (Orcinus orca), are amazingly intelligent and social animals. What can they tell us about the evolution…
Conservation Ecology Fisheries Hazards Human impacts Plastic Pollution Sea Turtles Let’s Ghost Fishing for Halloween! Ghost fishing is ghastly because it creates underwater graveyards for wildlife. The authors covered here wrote a new review of…
Conservation Do algal blooms kill whales? Since 2005, southern right whale calves have been found dead in historic numbers off the Patagonian coast in Argentina. Scientists…
Biology Young whales build baleen out of ribs Juvenile bowhead whales put off gaining length and undergo severe bone loss to invest in growing their massive heads and…
Biology Climate Change If You Must, Adjust? Polar Bears Leaving Sea Ice in the Arctic Everyone knows that polar bears have become the poster children for species threatened by climate change. And it’s for good…
Biological oceanography Noise In the Heart of the Sea: Following the Song of Humpback Whales to Study Migration Every year, humpback whales journey across the ocean. Using passive acoustics to study whale song, scientists are able to follow…
Biology Book Review Ecology Decomposition in the Deep Sea Whale carcasses that fall to the seafloor provide large amounts of food to deep-sea environments. Though ecologically important, little is…
Plastic Pollution Tiny plastic pieces accumulate in a huge marine filter-feeder Scientists find microplastic pieces in the intestines of a baleen whale for the first time.
Biology Fisheries Human impacts Untangling the issues with longline fishing Longline fishing has been used for decades as a way to catch large amounts of commercial fish. Though effective in…
Biology Ecology The Antarctic minke whale foraging strategy Filter feeding whales face a body size and feeding strategy trade-off in foraging efficiency. Researchers from the Marine Mammal Institute…
Biology Human impacts Physiology Whale Watching: Fun for Us, Stressful for Them Whale watching is a popular activity around New England, especially in the summer, but this new study suggests we're doing…
Biology Chemistry Ear wax holds untold treasures for whale researchers Ingested contaminants, along with hormones, are preserved in the whale’s earplug. Unlike muscle and blubber, ear wax does not allow…
Biology Chemistry Intense Weight Loss by Migratory Humpback Whales Could Increase Health Risks Posed by Pollutants Australian and Norwegian researchers measured levels of pesticides and PCBs in southern hemisphere humpback whales to find out whether extreme…