Dolphins and Whales News -- ScienceDaily

Study reveals right whales live 130 years -- or more (Fri, 20 Dec 2024)
New research reveals that right whales can survive for more than 130 years -- almost twice as long as previously understood.
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Using drones, researchers assess the health of humpback whale mother-calf pairs across the Pacific Ocean (Wed, 18 Dec 2024)
Biologists used drone imagery to understand how nursing humpback whale mothers and their calves fare as they cross the Pacific Ocean. Recent declines in North Pacific humpback whale reproduction and survival of calves highlight the need to understand how mother-calf pairs expend energy across their migratory cycle.
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Exploring the impact of offshore wind on whale deaths (Thu, 21 Nov 2024)
Scientists have presented work examining the circumstances surrounding the whale deaths off the coast of New Jersey in the winter of 2022-23, which prompted concern that survey work in the area somehow contributed to their deaths. The Marine Mammal Commission has stated there is no evidence linking the whales' deaths to wind energy development; many of them died from collisions with ships. Researchers, however, are concerned that the increased presence of survey ships in and around New Jersey waters may have exacerbated the situation.
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Fewer than 7% of global hotspots for whale-ship collisions have protection measures in place (Thu, 21 Nov 2024)
A new study has quantified the risk for whale-ship collisions worldwide for four geographically widespread ocean giants that are threatened by shipping: blue, fin, humpback and sperm whales. Researchers report that global shipping traffic overlaps with about 92% of these whale species' ranges. Only about 7% of areas at highest risk for whale-ship collisions have any measures in place to protect whales from this threat. These measures include speed reductions, both mandatory and voluntary, for ships crossing waters that overlap with whale migration or feeding areas.
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One or many? Exploring the population groups of the largest animal on Earth (Fri, 15 Nov 2024)
Hunted nearly to extinction during 20th century whaling, the Antarctic blue whale, the world's largest animal, went from a population size of roughly 200,000 to little more than 300. The most recent estimate in 2004 put Antarctic blue whales at less than 1% of their pre-whaling levels. A new study shows that, though these whales feed in different ocean basins, they appear to be a single population, information that will help conservation efforts moving forward.
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