By Brett Wilkins Marine mammal experts this week expressed deep concern over the potentially devastating effects of the U.S. Navy’s recent detonation of 40,000 pounds of explosives off the Atlantic coast of Florida on sea life, while progressive observers blasted what they called the government’s misplaced spending priorities. The Navy set off the massive blast […]
Alexander Freund Pilot whales, sperm whales, beaked whales and deep-sea dolphins are the marine mammals most commonly involved in mass strandings. Baleen whales, on the other hand, a group to which all big whales except the sperm whale belong, strand very rarely. If these mammals become stranded, they can dry out, overheat, suffocate or suffer […]
By Andrea Germanos The federal government and fossil fuel industry announced at a legal hearing Thursday that seismic blasting will not be carried out in the Atlantic Ocean this year—and possibly not in the near future either—a development welcomed by conservation groups who lobbied forcefully against what they said would have been an “unjustified acoustic […]
Protestors filled the streets of Mauritius’s capital city, Port Louis, over the weekend to demand resignations of officials and an investigation into the oil spill that has jeopardized the future health of the country’s marine reserves, according to Reuters. The protests were catalyzed by more than a dozen dead dolphins with traces of oil washing […]
At least 17 dead dolphins washed up on Mauritius’ beaches Wednesday, raising questions about what effect the oil spilled from the Japanese cargo tanker MV Wakashio, which ran aground on July 25, is having on marine life surrounding the Indian Ocean island-nation, according to Reuters. As thousands of tons of fuel spilled into the ocean, […]
A new study gives a first look at the presence and potential effects of plastics and new forms of synthetic chemicals in stranded dolphins and whales along the coast of the southeastern U.S. New toxins and chemicals entering the market are bombarding the ocean and its inhabitants on an unprecedented scale, according to the research […]
By Fino Menezes Everyone adores dolphins. Intelligent, inquisitive and playful, these special creatures have captivated humans since the dawn of time. But dolphins didn’t get to where they are by accident — they needed to develop some pretty amazing superpowers to cope with their environment. These extraordinarily intelligent creatures have been seen to display culture, […]
The population of a marine parasite that sometimes worms its way into sushi has increased by 283 times in the last nearly 40 years, a University of Washington (UW)-led study has found. The study, published in Global Change Biology Thursday, reviewed the literature and found a significant rise in the abundance of the parasite Anisakis, […]
Fishing operations in the Indian Ocean have decimated dolphin populations over the last 70 years, according to a new study published in the journal Endangered Species Research. The fishing operations that have had dolphins swept up as bycatch have meant that nearly 4 million dolphins have died since 1950 and the population of dolphins in […]