Dolphins and Whales News -- ScienceDaily

Underwater mics and machine learning aid right whale conservation (Fri, 21 Feb 2025)
Using underwater microphones and machine learning (ML), researchers have developed a new method to estimate North Atlantic right whale numbers -- offering a potentially safer and more cost-effective way to monitor this critically endangered species.
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Unraveling the mystery of the missing blue whale calves (Fri, 21 Feb 2025)
Only two births of a blue whale have ever been recorded. Mother and calf pairs are also sighted much more rarely than might be expected. The reason, new research suggests, has to do with where and when blue whales spend their first months of life.
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Scientists harness AI to help protect whales, advancing ocean conservation and planning (Tue, 11 Feb 2025)
Researchers have developed an artificial intelligence (AI) tool that will help predict endangered whale habitat, guiding ships along the Atlantic coast to avoid them. The tool is designed to prevent deadly accidents and inform conservation strategies and responsible ocean development.
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Some species of baleen whales avoid attracting killer whales by singing too low to be heard (Fri, 07 Feb 2025)
New research finds some baleen whale species call at such deep frequencies that they're completely undetectable by killer whales, which cannot hear sounds below 100 hertz. These also tend to be the species of baleen whales that flee in the face of attack from killer whales.
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Whale poop contains iron that may have helped fertilize past oceans (Thu, 06 Feb 2025)
A recent theory proposes that whales weren't just predators in the ocean environment: Nutrients that whales excreted may have provided a key fertilizer to these marine ecosystems. Oceanographers now find that whale excrement contains significant amounts of iron, a vital element that is often scarce in ocean ecosystems, and nontoxic forms of copper, another essential nutrient that in some forms can harm life.
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