A rare albino fur seal was spotted off the Eastern coast of Russia. Being different in the wild comes with many challenges. In this post, we will explain albinism in marine mammals. The curious case of the ginger seal In early September, marine mammologist Vladimir Burkanov made a surprising discovery on Tyuleny Island, in Russia. […]
Dare to Be Different: Albinism in Marine Mammals Read More »
Earth is now in its 6th mass extinction. As a result, we must race against time to conserve species. A useful conservation tool is modeling population size. In this post, we cover Weddell seals‘ survival in Antarctica and show that fighting decreases the long-term survival rate of adult males. Population parameters Changes in population size occur
Fighting the good fight: survival in male Weddell seals Read More »
Did you know narwhals and belugas can reproduce in the wild and create a Narluga hybrid? Scientists found evidence of the Narluga’s existence in Greenland. In this post, we give you an in 3D exclusive first look at the Narluga’s skull, courtesy of the Natural History Museum of Denmark. They can interbreed! How do we
Narluga comes from a narwhal-beluga love story Read More »
What species are out there in the big blue ocean? How many individuals are there? These are some of the biggest questions scientists face when studying populations. Specifically, when a particular species is in danger of becoming extinct. In marine science, visual tracking alone is not always practical. Our first post on the vaquita was
Acoustic monitoring of the critically endangered vaquita Read More »
Few things are more relaxing than floating in a pool, hearing the sound of water, and resting your eyes for just a little while. For whales and dolphins, however, sleeping in the water is a bit more complicated. Indeed, whales do not have the luxury of floating on pool beds, and the sea is pretty
Whales sleep with half their brain to avoid drowning Read More »
In brief: Female bottlenose dolphins in Australia use tools such as sponges for hunting fish. They teach their daughters this unique technique and create a new culture. The presence of standard behavior is considered indicative of the culture. Scientists have long-questioned the existence of culture in non-human species. Culture is a reason for uniformity within
Dolphin girl gang uses sponges to catch prey and create a new culture Read More »
The Moskva was the largest and most powerful non-nuclear icebreaker at her time of delivery. She got some international attention in 1985 when she herded around 2000 ice-entrapped belugas back to the open sea … by playing classical music. Yes, you read that right! What is an icebreaker? An icebreaker is a class of ships
Russian ship played classical music to rescue entrapped belugas Read More »
Have you ever looked at a seal or a sea lion and wondered about their voluptuous whiskers? Those fine hairs, called whiskers or vibrissae, have a crucial role in their lives. Studies have shown that blindfolded captive harbor seals (Phoca vitulina) can easily follow other seals underwater, using only their whiskers. Yet, that was just
Seals “see” and hunt fish with their whiskers Read More »
Whales, dolphins, and porpoise occupy a wide variety of habitats. They range from the small harbor porpoise found in shallow coastal waters to massive sperm whales diving below 1000 meters to catch the perfect squid! The underwater world can be like a labyrinth, and at times can have limited visibility-, especially below 200m, in the
Echolocation 101: How dolphins see with sound Read More »
Vaquita porpoises have puzzled scientists since their discovery in 1958. Regrettably, their populations have gotten much smaller over time due to illegal fishing practices. In this post, we highlight that while these “little cows” may be difficult to protect, we should try everything we can to save them. The Mysterious Nature of the Vaquita Vaquita
Vaquita, the most endangered cetacean in the world Read More »
