Here is a killer whale fact for you: despite decades of intensive research, we still do not know for sure what killer whales eat in most regions of the world. Killer whales are top predators, and the amount and types of animals they eat can greatly impact a whole ecosystem. To figure out how killer …
What do killer whales eat in the North Atlantic? Fat’s the question! Read More »
Agathe Serres is a 29 years old French postdoctoral marine mammalogist currently conducting research in China. She tells us how she traveled from France to China, following her passion for dolphins. She also tells us about how she used her good adaptation skills to learn mandarin and start a new life dedicated to the conservation …
Most of you have probably heard about resident and transient killer whales. They are the most studied killer whales in the world, and they can be found off the west coast of North America. But did you know there are killer whales in the Antarctic as well? Some scientists estimated they are around 25 000 …
The adult human brain weighs about 3 lbs, which is an incredible feat in it itself, as it is only supported by 7 vertebrae. But we really do not even come close to the biggest brain. One might think it belongs to the blue whale, as it is the largest animal on earth. One would …
The award for the largest brain in the world goes to… Read More »
Happy new year! This January, we are happy to feature the Sowerby’s beaked whale, also known as the North Atlantic beaked whale (Mesoplodon bidens). This rare and elusive whale is quite understudied because it spends most of its life deep under the ocean’s surface, hunting for prey. Did you know that males sometimes compete with …
One of the most fundamental pieces of information about individuals (including dolphins) is their age. In biology studies, scientists need to know how old an animal is to understand many aspects of its life history and, for example, to estimate the viability of a population. But estimating an animal’s age is no easy feat when …
Scientists can now use the DNA of dolphins to know their age Read More »
Welcome back to our Whale of the Month series! After taking a short break, we decided to introduce Sotalia dolphins this month. These mysterious dolphins live in both the sea and the rivers of South America. They include two species: the Guiana dolphin or costero, and the tucuxi. These tiny little dolphins face many human …
A new paper by Dr. Andy Foote just came out; it encourages people to stop calling North Atlantic killer whales “type 1” and “type 2”. These two types were defined by Dr. Foote himself during his PhD research. Let’s find out why we should stop talking about two types in the North Atlantic. How the two …
You can stop calling North Atlantic killer whales type 1 and type 2 Read More »
We all have in mind these targeted and organized research projects, where scientists go into the field and collect specific data. But not everything in the scientific realm is as predictable as that. Some events, such as cetacean strandings, are unexpected and may only happen a few times per year. Still, there can be a …
Our friend Leanne Rosser from Japan just made a disturbing yet fascinating discovery: she observed a potential dolphin infanticide event (the killing of an infant) in the population of Pacific white-sided dolphins she studies in Mutsu Bay, Japan. In this post, she tells us about this event she witnessed, as well as the reasons behind …
New research suggests dolphin infanticide in Japan Read More »
