Conservation

How can snot-collecting drones help with whale conservation?

When we think about whale conservation, we can picture researchers frantically taking photos of surfacing whales, dangling over the edge of a research boat collecting biopsy samples or elbow deep into a carcass. However, recently, some whale scientists are on a mission to collect a less conventional sample: whale snot! What is whale snot, and […]

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Sirenians: manatees and dugongs

This month, we will talk about the sirenians: manatees and dugongs. These slow and peaceful “herbivores”, also called sea cows, have elephants as their closest land relatives. In this post, we highlight some mostly unknown facts about the sirenian family and hope to raise awareness about the threats they face today. They are not strict

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Will whales be hunted for profit in the future?

Commercial whaling is a complicated topic. Almost everybody has a strong opinion about it, and discussions can get heated quickly. So let’s take a deep breath and try to keep the blood pressure low. Nowadays, three countries openly conduct commercial whaling: Japan, Norway, and Iceland. Indigenous people in various parts of the world, e.g., Alaska

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The Northern Bottlenose Whale

We are wrapping this year with a lesser-known, but very well studied ziphiid, or beaked whale, the northern bottlenose whale (Hyperoodon ampullatus). The northern bottlenose whale is the largest member of the beaked family found in the North Atlantic Ocean. They have a bottle-shaped beak and a hooked dorsal fin, hence the “bottlenose” in their

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How are we protecting endangered cetaceans around the world?

The idea of conservation has grown in popularity since “save the whales” kicked off in the 1960s and 70s. Over the past 50 years, interest in environmentalist and conservation spaces has exploded along with the youth interest in climate change activism. This post will talk about the history of whale conservation and break down three

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Dare to Be Different: Albinism in Marine Mammals

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.

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Fighting the good fight: survival in male Weddell seals

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

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