Humpback Whale Social Groups Embrace Soap Bubble Feeding Trick

Posted on January 21, 2026 by Igor Mitreski

Humpback Whales Collaborate to Catch Fish Using Bubbles

Jen Dickey/North Coast Cetacean Society

Innovative foraging behaviors are rapidly spreading among humpback whales in the fjords of western Canada, showcasing how cultural knowledge contributes to the survival of marine populations.

Bubble net feeding is a coordinated hunting method where humpback whales expel bubbles to encircle fish, then all rise simultaneously to feed.

According to Ellen Garland from the University of St. Andrews, “This is a collaborative activity characterized by a high degree of coordination and division of labor.”

This remarkable behavior has been observed for decades among humpback whales (Megaptera novaengliae) in Alaskan waters, with recent observations detailing their activities in the northeastern Pacific off Canada’s coast.

However, determining whether such complex behaviors stem from social learning or independent discovery among individuals remains a challenge for researchers.

In a comprehensive study, Edyn O’Mahony and a team from the University of St. Andrews analyzed field observation data from 2004 to 2023, focusing on 526 individuals in British Columbia’s Kitimat Fjord System, part of Gitga’at First Nation Territory.

Using distinct images of each whale’s tail fin, researchers identified 254 individuals engaging in bubble net feeding, with approximately 90% of these activities occurring in a cooperative setting.

This behavior surged post-2014, aligned with a significant marine heatwave in the Northeast Pacific that diminished prey availability.

“As heatwaves decrease prey availability, the whales’ adaptability in their feeding techniques is crucial for maintaining their caloric intake,” stated O’Mahony.

Whales are more likely to adopt bubble net feeding when they interact with individuals already using this technique. While bubble net feeding likely spread to the region from migrating whales, the current prevalence indicates stable groups or influential individuals spreading this knowledge through local social networks.

“After several years post-heatwave, we observe that whales previously not participating in bubble net feeding are now present in this area,” O’Mahony added.

The ability of humpback whales to share knowledge within social groups could be vital for their survival, implying that our understanding of their culture is essential for conservation efforts.

According to Ted Cheeseman, co-founder of the citizen science platform Happywhale, who did not participate in the study, “The key question is not just about the number of whales remaining but also whether the social behaviors crucial for population cohesion are restored.”

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Source: www.newscientist.com

Stunning Yet Haunting: Whale Rescue Photo Takes Home Photography Award

Posted on November 29, 2025 by

Tauhi, Miesa Grobbelaar’s award-winning photo

Miesa Grobbelaar/TNC 2025 Oceania Photo Contest

Shortly after capturing the moment an endangered humpback whale was freed from its restraints, Miesa Grobbelaar remarked that the whale paused and gazed at them, seemingly grateful. The photos documenting the rescue were taken off the coast of Ha’apai, Tonga. For more, visit the Nature Conservancy’s 2025 Oceania Photo Contest.

Grobbelaar and the rescue team answered a distress signal regarding an entangled humpback whale. Upon arrival, they found a heavy, rusted chain embedded deep in its tail, as Grobbelaar shared upon receiving her award. They approached carefully and quietly to untangle her, and eventually succeeded in breaking the chains.

While humpback whales are no longer classified as endangered due to their population rebounding since the mid-20th century whaling days, some specific populations, like those around Tonga, still face risks. These numbers are currently in the low thousands, representing about 30 percent fewer than before commercial whaling started.

“This image captures a paradox: the horrific impacts of human behavior on nature alongside our compassion towards it,” remarked Jarrod Bourde, one of the contest judges, in an official statement.

Pluteus’ Firefly by Nick Wooding

Nick Wooding/TNC 2025 Oceania Photo Contest

The competition featured photographers from Australia, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, and the Solomon Islands and awarded prizes in various categories. This enchanting photo above displays the Pluteus velutinornatus, a fungus growing on trees, which won in the “Plants and Fungi” category. Photographer Nick Wooding stumbled upon the hazel-colored fungus right before it blossomed, and upon revisiting days later, he found it transformed to a pristine white.

Windjana Valley by Scott Portelli

Scott Portelli/TNC 2025 Oceania Photo Contest

Scott Portelli received top honors in the land category with his stunning time-lapse image of stars captured (above) atop a rock wall in Windjana Gorge National Park in Western Australia, famous for its striking red rocks. The mesmerizing effect was crafted using over 600 photographs, illustrating the stars’ movement from dusk till dawn.

Peacock Mantis and Eggs by Peter McGee

Peter Magee/TNC 2025 Oceania Photo Contest

This striking image features a female peacock mantis shrimp (Odontodactylus syralus) captured on film by Peter Magee in Bali, Indonesia. The photograph earned third place in the water category, showcasing the shrimp vigilantly guarding its precious red eggs while observing its surroundings.

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Source: www.newscientist.com

Without Whale Urine, Our Oceans Could Face Collapse: Here’s Why

Posted on November 26, 2025 by

What portion of the ocean is made up of whale urine? Contrary to popular belief, the salinity of the ocean is not due to whale pee. A single fin whale can produce up to 250 gallons of urine in just one day.

While the precise amount of urine contributed by cetaceans to the ocean remains unclear, marine biologists have recently highlighted the crucial role whale urine plays in sustaining a healthy marine ecosystem by redistributing significant amounts of nutrients.

This process is largely driven by their migration patterns. Baleen whales (which are filter feeders) typically undertake extensive migrations between warm and cold regions.

For instance, female humpback whales feed in the Gulf of Alaska and then travel thousands of miles to the Hawaiian Islands to give birth.

This is particularly important for newborn calves, as they require a warm and comfortable environment to thrive, supported by a thick layer of insulating blubber. Conversely, the most nutritious feeding grounds for whales are found in the cold, krill-laden waters of polar regions.

Whales can produce hundreds of gallons of urine daily – Image credit: Getty

When whales head to their breeding areas, they typically cease feeding and rely on stored fat for energy. Consequently, the nutrients they consumed in high-latitude regions are released as urine and feces.

This movement of nutrients is likened to a great whale conveyor belt.

Particularly noteworthy is the significance of urine on this conveyor belt; a 2025 study revealed that gray, humpback, and right whales collectively transport nearly 4,000 tons of nitrogen annually.

In regions around the Hawaiian Islands, migrating whales can effectively double the nutrient influx into shallow waters.

This nutrient flow is critical as it stimulates the growth of phytoplankton, injecting energy into the marine food web.

The impact of this process was even greater prior to commercial whaling, when the nutrient transport via the Great Whale Conveyor Belt was likely three times more than it is today.

This article addresses the inquiry (made by Lou Grant in Birmingham): “What portion of the ocean consists of whale pee?”

If you have any inquiries, feel free to email us at: questions@sciencefocus.com or send us a message facebook, ×or Instagram Page (please include your name and location).

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A Mysterious Whale Species Roamed Australia’s Waters 25 Million Years Ago

Posted on August 15, 2025 by Igor Mitreski

Small, toothed mammals represent the most unusual of all whales. If they were still around today, they would be as symbolically Australian as kangaroos. A new paper published this week in The Linnaean Society’s Journal of Zoology details a recently identified species named Janjucetus lullardi, derived from a 25 million-year-old specimen unearthed in Victoria, Australia.

Janjucetus lullardi — 25 million years ago, a calf and its mother swam in the shallow waters off the coast of Victoria. Image credit: Ruairidh Duncan.

“Currently, some of the most iconic species of whales, including blue and humpback whales, are whale veil.” I noted, said LeAilid Duncan, a paleontologist from Monash University.

“These marine giants utilize a hairy filter in their mouths called Baleen to sift through plankton.

“In contrast, these mammals had bodies measuring less than 3 meters, with large eyes and short jaws filled with teeth.”

“Despite this description, we know that mammalian whales lacked Baleen.”

“They appeared to be derived from the major evolutionary lines leading to today’s toothless giants.”

All known mammalian species thrived during the late Oligocene epoch, approximately 27 to 23 million years ago.

Interestingly, three of the four identified species were found along the Victoria Surf Coast, southeast of Melbourne.

“The first mammal was uncovered in 1932 and was named in 1939 Mammalian Coraliber,” the paleontologist remarked.

“It featured a blunt jaw bone with a rich supply of blood and nerves for its facial and lip muscles.”

“Notably, the teeth show signs of wear on the gums, indicating they foraged for abrasive prey (along with gritty substances) from the seafloor.”

“In 2006, a local naturalist discovered the first fossil of a species named after him, Janjucetus hunderi.

“This whale had a sturdy triangular snout with sharp teeth and strong muscles to close its powerful jaw.”

“However, the exact differences in the lifestyle of Mammalian Coraliber and Janjucetus hunderi compared to other whales remain largely unclear, hinting at a diverse range of behaviors.”

The fossilized remains of Janjucetus lullardi, dating back 25 million years, were found in 2019 by school principal Ross Dallard along the coast of Yang JUC in Victoria.

“Janjucetus lullardi measured about 2 meters in length. It’s compact enough to fit in a standard single bed,” the researcher noted.

“This may be the first fossilized whale discovered in Australia, and potentially the first fossils of a juvenile whale found in this region.”

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Ruairidh J. Duncan et al. 2025. Insights into the mystiology of immature teeth from the Australian Oligocene and mammals (Cetacea: Mysticeti) morphology, phylogenetics, and ontogeny. The Linnaean Society’s Journal of Zoology 204 (4): ZLAF090; doi: 10.1093/zoolinnean/zlaf090

Source: www.sci.news

Utilize Kelp-Based Killer Whale Grooming Tools

Posted on June 30, 2025 by Igor Mitreski

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In this study, published this month in Current Biology, marine researchers reveal evidence of the widespread creation and utilization of grooming tools among the killer whale (Orcinus orca ater) population. I reside in the Salish Sea, part of the Pacific Ocean between British Columbia and Washington.

Arochelpin, a killer whale from Southern residents (Orcinus orca ater). Image credit: Weiss et al., doi: 10.1016/j.cub.2025.04.021.

“We discovered that southern resident killer whales frequently utilize bull kelp during social interactions, seemingly as a tool for mutual grooming.”

“It was incredibly thrilling to observe not only the tool-making behavior of whales, but also the application of these objects in manners not previously documented in marine mammals.”

Dr. Weiss and his team identified this surprising behavior while conducting aerial observations of the southern resident killer whales, a population dwindling to fewer than 80 individuals in the Pacific Northwest.

Since 2018, they have been monitoring these whales to gain insights into their foraging and social habits.

“While other killer whale populations exist across the globe, the southern residents hold unique genetic, ecological, and cultural distinctions,” Dr. Weiss explained.

Using high-resolution video captured from aircraft, researchers discovered that the whales fashioned tools by breaking the edges of the kelp’s stems.

Subsequently, they applied the pieces of kelp to their companions and rolled it between their bodies for extended durations.

This behavior was noted among whales from all social groups, irrespective of gender or age.

They observed that whales were more inclined to groom closely-related companions or older partners.

Furthermore, there was some evidence suggesting that whales with more molting or damaged skin were more likely to engage in grooming, indicating potential hygienic benefits.

“What stands out is that despite this evidently common activity, it has only recently come to light, with drones frequently monitoring these whales for nearly 50 years,” said Dr. Weiss.

“This exemplifies not only the strength of new observational methods but also the many aspects of these creatures we have yet to uncover.”

“Although the whale population has been formally studied for five decades, it continues to yield significant new discoveries,” noted Rachel John, a student at the University of Exeter.

“Previous aerial footage lacked the quality needed to recognize ‘Allokelping’ (i.e., using kelp on another whale), but the recent video captures this behavior in remarkable detail.”

It is still uncertain whether this grooming behavior is exclusive to this population or if it is more commonly observed among other whale communities and species.

Regardless, this finding opens new pathways for understanding tool use in marine mammals and highlights the broader implications of such behaviors.

“We know tactile interactions are crucial,” remarked Professor Darren Croft, a researcher at the University of Exeter and the executive director of the Whale Research Center.

“In primates, including humans, these interactions can alleviate stress and strengthen social bonds.”

“Killer whales frequently make contact with other group members — touching their own bodies and fins — but employing kelp in this manner may enhance these experiences.”

“This behavior might also be vital for skin health. Whales and dolphins utilize various strategies to shed dead skin, and this could serve as an additional adaptation for that purpose.”

“Brown algae like bull kelp may possess antibacterial and anti-inflammatory properties that could offer extra benefits to the whales.”

“We are currently conducting further research to validate these initial findings and to investigate the social and skin health advantages of this behavior.”

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Michael N. Weiss et al. 2025. Manufacturing and use of similar tools by wild killer whales. Current Biology 35 (12): R599-R600; doi: 10.1016/j.cub.2025.04.021

Source: www.sci.news

Mysterious First Photograph of Killer Whale Raises Questions Among Scientists

Posted on June 25, 2025 by Igor Mitreski

Researchers have found that endangered species of killer whales in the Pacific Northwest utilize tools crafted from kelp for mutual care.

A new study published in Current Biology reveals that scientists observed the Southern resident whales producing tools by tearing bull kelp and rolling it between each other during social interactions.

Drone footage captured the kelp being pushed against a companion, revealing a whale engaged in an extended grooming session.

“What’s particularly remarkable is that although this behavior appears to be common, despite the regular drone observations over these whales for nearly 50 years, it has never been documented.” stated Lead author Dr. Michael Weiss from the Whale Research Center in Friday Harbor, Washington.

The endangered Southern resident population has fewer than 80 individuals residing in the Salish Sea, situated between British Columbia and Washington.

While tool use is well recognized among primates, elephants, and birds, it remains scarce in marine species.

Weiss and her team observed this behavior across various age groups and social units, noting that whales are more inclined to groom relatives or older companions.

Two whales interact by rubbing against each other. These scrubs may serve hygienic functions. – Whale Research Center, NMFS NOAA permit 27038

Whales with greater amounts of dead skin participated more frequently in this behavior, suggesting a connection to hygiene.

The findings underscore the cultural identity of Southern residents and emphasize the necessity of conservation efforts. It remains uncertain whether this tool-assisted grooming is exclusive to this group or if it occurs in other whale populations.

Weiss remarked, “It was incredibly thrilling to discover that whales are not just utilizing tools but employing them in ways previously unreported in marine mammals.”

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Ancient Whale Bone Tool Discovered in Spain, Dating Back 20,000 Years

Posted on May 28, 2025 by Igor Mitreski

Researchers conducted an extensive study of bone artifacts from 26 Paleolithic caves and rock shelter locations in the Cantabria area of Spain and southwestern France.

173 work (a) and raw (b) taxonomic identification of bone objects: (1) blank, Tito Bastilo, sperm whale. (2) A launch point with a huge base, Islitz and a blue whale. (3) Lassempouy, Fin Whale; (4) Rascaldas, a sperm whale; (5) A launch point with a giant base, Hermitia and a gray whale. (6) Unclear object, St. Michelle, a sperm whale. (7-10) Santa Catalina, raw fragments of fin whale bones. Image credit: McGrath et al., doi: 10.1038/s41467-025-59486-8.

“The largest creatures on Earth, whales were a vital source of nourishment and materials like oil and bone,” stated Dr. Christa McGrath, the lead author and an archaeologist from the University of Barcelona, along with her co-researchers.

“Hence, they are thought to have been instrumental in the survival of various coastal human populations.”

“Nonetheless, tracing the origins of human and near-human interactions is challenging since coastal archaeological sites are particularly prone to the impacts of rising sea levels, complicating the preservation of evidence regarding early human-mammal relationships.”

The authors examined 83 bone tools from various cave and rock shelter locations around the Bay of Biscay in Spain, along with an additional 90 bones from the Santa Catalina Cave in Biscay province.

Utilizing mass spectrometry and radiocarbon dating methods, they identified the species and age of the artifacts.

The earliest two dates were from the Cantabrian sites of Las Caño and Ergeyo, which dated to 20,200-19,600 and 19,600-19,000 years ago, respectively.

“Our findings show that the bones came from at least five large whale species, with the oldest dating back around 19,000-20,000 years,” mentioned Senior author Dr. Jean Mark Petitillon, an archaeologist at Toulouse-Jean-Jalaise University and CNRS University.

“This provides some of the earliest known proof of humans utilizing whales as tools.”

“Zoomorphometry is an effective method for studying past marine mammal diversity, especially when key morphological features are absent in the bone remains and artifacts.

“We identified gray whales that not only existed in Biscay Bay but are now confined to the North Pacific and Arctic oceans.”

“Moreover, chemical analysis of the bones indicates that the feeding patterns of these ancient whales varied slightly from those of contemporary ones, highlighting potential shifts in behavior and marine environments.”

“This discovery not only enhances our understanding of the early human use of whale remains but also illuminates the role whales held in ancient ecosystems.”

The team’s study is set to be published in the journal Nature Communications.

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K. McGrath et al. 2025. Late Paleolithic whale bone tools in the Bay of Biscay reveal insights into human and whale ecology. Nature Communications 16, 4646; doi:10.1038/s41467-025-59486-8

Source: www.sci.news

A Diver Explores a Stranded Whale, Only to Discover It Has Vanished Upon His Return.

Posted on April 30, 2025 by Igor Mitreski

What happens to an 18-foot long, 2,000-pound body?

This question perplexed divers and photographers who frequently explore the waters off San Diego’s coast.

The saga began this spring when Doug Bonhouse took advantage of the mild weather to scuba dive at Scripps Canyon. As he submerged, a large mass caught his eye beneath him.

At just 115 feet below the surface, he discovered the body of a juvenile gray whale.

Whale carcasses are typically not encountered by human divers; they are usually found by remotely operated vehicles at depths exceeding 3,000 feet.

Local marine biologists speculated about the origins of the gray whale calf. The creature, which was suited to the seabed, had been sighted near La Jolla Shores, desperately searching for its mother. In its final moments, it appeared to approach a boat, as if pleading for assistance.

Other divers quickly made their way to the site, as it was the first opportunity for access during the autumn. Among them was underwater photojournalist Jules Jacobs, who documented his exploration for the New York Times.

By late January, the whale’s resting place was in a canyon valley that required careful navigation to reach. This challenge left Jacobs feeling both anxious and mentally drained.

As Jacobs navigated through the darkness with a team of five divers, the beam from his dive light suddenly illuminated the object of his search: a fragile calf with spotted skin. Its eyes had succumbed to the elements, frozen in an expression of sorrow.

“It’s humbling to swim through a whale’s carcass when only its tail is as large as your body,” Jacobs remarked.

Jacobs planned further dives to study the remains. On his second visit a week later, however, he discovered that the tail was missing, likely taken by scavenger sharks like Seven Gill and Mako.

After a series of spring storms, Jacobs descended again in late February. Gripping his camera gear so tightly that his knuckles turned white, he awaited the sight of the decaying creature.

He was met only by an empty seabed.

The calf was gone.

Adult gray whales can grow to about 45 feet and are known for their extraordinary migrations from the warm waters of Baja, California, to high-latitude feeding grounds in the Arctic Ocean. It’s likely that the calves and their mothers headed north before becoming separated. At this vulnerable point in their journey, the calves would have faced starvation after not eating for six months.

Gray whale populations experience cycles of boom and bust, recovering from significant declines, sometimes losing up to a quarter of their numbers within just a few years.

However, the population has failed to rebound for about six years, mirroring previous downturns. Scientists link this decline to climate change, which accelerates warming in the Arctic and disrupts the whales’ prey availability. Additionally, ship strikes and entanglements further exacerbate mortality rates.

“We are observing a significant increase in fatalities among gray whales,” stated Joshua Stewart, an assistant professor at the Marine Mammal Research Institute at Oregon State University. He anticipates more whale deaths along the West Coast.

Nevertheless, the death of a whale does not necessarily signify an end. Instead, it often triggers new beginnings.

Life flourishes from the remains of whales. Their meat nourishes scavengers, bones become habitats for microorganisms and insects, while the curved vertebrae provide a new foundation for flourishing coral reefs.

“Whale falls are ecological bonanzas, capable of providing sustenance for up to 200 years, as they typically reach the ocean floor,” remarked Craig Smith, professor emeritus of oceanography at the University of Hawaii. “Ironically, we understand more about deep-sea whale falls and associated communities than we do about shallow-water ecosystems.”

Whale decay occurs in three distinct ecological stages. Initially, scavengers like sharks, crabs, and hagfish consume the soft tissue. Next, worms thrive in the nutrient-rich, vibrant masses surrounding the carcass, as Dr. Smith notes; this phase can last up to seven years and is termed an enrichment stage by scientists.

Ultimately, bacteria deep within the bones produce hydrogen sulfide, fueling chemically-chemosynthetic bacteria that thrive symbiotically with the animal hosts and chemically synthesized bacteria on the bone’s surface. This final stage can endure for decades, supporting over 200 marine species within the ecosystem generated by a single whale fall.

However, the calf and its remains had vanished. Was something or someone responsible for preventing the whale fall that would support life?

Gregory Rouse, a marine biology professor at the Scripps Marine Research Institute, considers the matter less enigmatic. He explained that during the whale fall, decomposition within the body cavity can generate gas, causing the body to rise again after initially sinking.

It’s also plausible that strong winds and turbulent currents carried the body deep into the canyon. It could have descended to 1,600 feet below.

“The animal could have grown into a titan, but its life was cut short in infancy,” Jacobs reflected.

However, if it rests quietly in the depths, new life may proliferate and thrive.

Source: www.nytimes.com

The Blue Whale: A Versatile and Reliable Tool for Measurement

Posted on April 11, 2025 by Igor Mitreski

Feedback is the latest science and technology news of new scientists, the sidelines of the latest science and technology news. You can email Feedback@newscientist.com to send items you believe readers can be fascinated by feedback.

Whales are not Wales

Feedback is a science journalist of more years than we remember, and as a result we have come across a significant share of the odd units of measurement. The human mind wrestles with very large and very small things, so as a writer, it’s fascinating to get you to say that the huge iceberg has an area x times the size of Wales, the mountains are at the height of Burj Khalifa, or the bad books contain Z plot holes. Fourth Wing.

In this spirit, Christopher Dionne CNN Article About Blue Ghost Lunar Lander sending the final message from the moon. He points out that the writer is trying to convey the amount of data on the probe, saying that he “returned around 120 gigabytes of data, which amounted to over 24,000 songs, to Earth.”

“This made me think,” says Dionne. With so much music streaming today, the size of the song file is “generally not important.” The size of the file also depends on how you compress it and the length of the song. We can certainly agree with it Too well (10 minutes) It’ll be a slightly larger file Please love me – Therefore, songs cannot be used as standardized units of dataset size.

Luckily, Dionne came up with a solution. “Why don’t we use internationally agreed metrics: blue whales?” Blue whale genome It is a base of 2.4 billion. “So it appears that the Blue Ghost sent back data from the moon about 50 Blue Whale.”

Feedback is because we enjoy it Douglas Adams style images A rapid of whales that flow from the moon to the Earth. But we quiesce Dionne’s mathematics. The genome’s base is not equivalent to bytes in the dataset. Each byte is 8 bits, similar to the base. DNA is not binary either. For each position in the genome, there are four options (a, c, g, or t). This means that you can encode the byte using bits on the base half. So, multiplying 8 and dividing 2, I think Blue Ghost sent back around 200 blue whales.

As Dionne suggests, we recommend submitting to our readers that “other comparison units of digital measurement… might be even better to convey the scale of the information.” I look forward to “a thoughtful discourse on this most pressing issue.”

Goodbye, Alice and Bob

Few are likely to kill jokes. So the feedback is a bit nervous about this. This is because it involves both local events and encryption jokes.

We think this might require readers to review, so let’s start with encryption. When describing how a secure messaging system works, it has become traditional to call the two main agents “Alice” and “Bob.” For example, “How can Alice send secure messages to the BOB using a signal messaging app?”

The name has been in use since 1978 and is very popular. Wikipedia Page. In addition to explaining the device history, this page also depicts a very extended list of additional characters that may be involved in these thought experiments. From Chad to “the third participant, usually malicious intent,” Wendy and “whistleblower.”

Basically, if you’re a regular New Scientist Readers, you’ve probably read stories that use Alice and Bob (and their friends/enemies/acquaints/lovers) to explain complex ideas of encryption and physics. You’re familiar with this. So the parody is interesting.

We will not name any related news events. It was widely covered and discussed. But who knows: We’re writing this on March 27th, so by the time you read this you might have forgotten it. The United States may have tentatively invaded Svalbarbad, as he had forgotten which Arctic land Donald Trump wanted.

Anyway, I’ll go here. Bluesky posts to software developer John Vanenk I shared a screenshot Wikipedia page page. “Hegseth and Waltz are fictional characters commonly used as placeholders in discussions about cryptographic systems and protocols, and thought experiments created by Jeffrey Goldberg, who was created by Jeffrey Goldberg in a 2025 article. This was accompanied by a diagram described as an example of a scenario where communication between Hegseth and Waltz is intercepted by Goldberg.”

After all, if you didn’t find it interesting, feedback encourages you to send your comments to our signal account, but we don’t have one.

How awful

Readers Patrick Fenron and Peter Thressenger both wrote to emphasize the same thing. article in Guardianon how migratory birds use quantum mechanics to navigate. According to the biologist cited in the article, it appears that most “we travel at night and ourselves, so no one should follow.” Her name is Miriam Reedvogel, which of course means “songbird.”

As Fenlong said: “Wonderbar.”

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Whale watching and marine ecosystems in the Azores: Portugal

Discover the hidden paradise of the Azores, a group of islands filled with rich biodiversity, lush landscapes, volcanic craters, peaceful lagoons and charming towns.

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The Statistical Structure of the Humpback Whale Song Resembles Human Language

Posted on February 7, 2025 by Igor Mitreski

An international team of researchers analyzed moans, moans, whistles, bark, screams, and creaks in recordings of humpback whale songs collected over eight years in New Caledonia.

Arnon et al. We have revealed the same statistical structure of humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) Songs are characteristic of human language. Image credits: Christopher Michelle / CC by 2.0.

“I found something really fascinating,” said Dr. Emma Carroll, a marine biologist at Auckland University.

In this study, Dr. Carol and colleagues apply quantitative methods that are usually used to evaluate infantile utterances, and that this applies to culturally evolved learning songs in human languages. I found it. Humpback whale (Megaptera novaeangliae).

In human language, structurally consistent units exhibit frequency distribution that follows the law of power. Zipfian distribution – Attributes that are likely to promote learning and enhance accurate conservation of language across generations.

The Humpback Whale Song is one of the most complex vocal displays in the Animal Kingdom and is passed down through cultural transmission, providing something compelling in parallel with human language.

These songs are highly structured, consisting of nested hierarchical components. The theme is combined with the sound elements that form the phrase, the phrases that are repeated in the theme, and the song.

If statistical properties of human language arise from cultural transmission, similar patterns should be possible to detect in whale songs.

The study authors analyzed recorded humpback whale song data over eight years using infant-inspired speech segmentation techniques.

They discovered a hidden structure in the whale song.

Specifically, these songs contain statistically coherent subsequences that fit the Zipfian distribution.

Furthermore, the length of these subsequences follows ZIPF's Law of Suspicion, an efficiency-driven principle found in many species, including humans.

This striking similarity between the two evolutionarily distant species emphasizes the deep role of learning and cultural communication in shaping communication across species, with such structural properties being exclusive to human language. It challenges the concept of being.

“The Whale Songs” at Griffith University, Dr. Jenny Allen, a leading expert on whale songs, said:

“This is why it offers such an exciting comparison.”

“These results provide unique insight into the importance of cultural communication in interspecies learning processes, particularly for learning complex communication systems.”

“A more interesting question is, rather than trying to adapt animal communication to holes in the form of “human language”? I think so. ”

“Using insights and methods from how babies learn languages allowed us to discover structures that were previously undetected in whale songs,” says Professor Inval Arnon of Hebrew University. Ta.

“This work illustrates how learning and cultural communication can form the structure of communication systems. Find similar statistical structures when complex continuous behaviors are culturally transmitted. You can do it.”

“It raises the interesting possibility that humpback whales can track the transition odds between sound elements, like human babies, and learn songs by using dips to segment those odds. Masu.”

study It was published in the journal today Science.

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Invalanon et al. 2025. The whale song shows a language-like statistical structure. Science 387 (6734): 649-653; doi: 10.1126/science.adq7055

Source: www.sci.news

Humpback Whale Songs Show Similarities to Human Language Patterns

Posted on February 6, 2025 by Igor Mitreski

Humpback whales in the South Pacific

Tony Woo/Nature Picture Library/Aramie

Humpback whale songs have statistical patterns in their structure, but they are very similar to those found in human language. This does not mean that songs convey complex meanings like our sentences, but that whales may learn songs in a similar way to how human infants begin to understand language. It suggests.

Only male humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) When you sing, actions are considered important to attract peers. The songs are constantly evolving, and new elements appear and spread in the population until old songs are replaced with completely new ones.

“I think it's like a standardized test. Everyone has to do the same task, but changing or decorating to show that they're better at tasks than others can be done. You can do it.” Jenny Allen At Griffith University, in the Gold Coast, Australia.

Instead of trying to find meaning in songs, Allen and her colleagues were looking for innate structural patterns similar to those found in human language. They analyzed eight years of whale songs recorded around New Caledonia in the Pacific Ocean.

The researchers began by creating alphanumeric codes to represent all the songs on every recording, including a total of around 150 unique sounds. “Essentially it's a different sounding group, so maybe a year will make a groaning cry. So we may have an AAB.

Once all the songs were encoded, a team of linguists had to understand how best to analyze so much of the data. The breakthrough occurred when researchers decided to use an analytical technique that applies to methods of discovering words called transition probability.

“The speech is continuous and there is no pause between words, so infants must discover the boundaries of the word.” Invalanon At Hebrew University in Jerusalem. “To do this, use low-level statistics. Specifically, if they are part of the same word, the sounds are more likely to occur together. Infants Use these dips in the possibility of discovering the boundaries of words following another sound.”

For example, the phrase “cute flower” intuitively recognizes that the syllable “pre” and “tty” are more likely to go together than “tty” or “flow.” “If there is a similar statistical structure in a whale song, these cues should also help segment it,” Arnon says.

Using the alphanumeric version of Whale Song, the team calculated the probability of transition between successive sound elements and cut it when the previous sound elements were amazing.

“These cuts divide the song into segmented subsequences,” Arnon says. “We then looked at their distribution and, surprisingly, discovered that they follow the same distribution as seen in all human languages.”

In this pattern called Zipfian distribution, the prevalence of less common words drops in a predictable way. Another impressive finding is that the most common whale sounds tend to be shorter, as is the case with the most common human language.

Nick Enfield At the University of Sydney, who was not involved in the research, it says it is a novel way to analyze whale songs. “What that means is when you analyze it War and peacethe most frequent words are the next twice as often, and researchers have identified similar patterns in whale songs,” he says.

Team Members Simon Carby The University of Edinburgh in the UK says he didn't think this would work. “I will never forget the moment the graph appears. It appears to be familiar from human language,” he says. “This has made me realize that it uncovered a deep commonality between these two species, separated by tens of millions of years of evolution.”

However, researchers emphasize that this statistical pattern does not lead to the conclusion that whale songs are languages that convey meaning as we understand them. They suggest that the possible reason for commonality is that both whale songs and human languages are culturally learned.

“The physical distribution of words and sounds in languages is a truly fascinating feature, but there are millions of other things about languages that are completely different from whale songs,” Enfield says.

In another study It was released this week, Mason Young Blood At Stony Brook University in New York, we found that other marine mammals may also have structural similarities to human language in communication.

Menzeras' law predicting that sentences with more words should consist of shorter words were present in 11 of the 16 species of disease studied. The ZIPF abbreviation law was discovered in two of the five types in which the available data can now be detected.

“To sum up, our research suggests that humpback whale songs have evolved to be more efficient and easier to learn, and that these features can be found in the level of notes within the phrase, phrases within the song. I'm doing it,” Youngblood says.

“Importantly, the evolution of these songs is also biological and cultural. Although some features, such as Menzerath's Law, can emerge through the biological evolution of voice devices, Other features such as the rank frequency method of ZIPF are [the Zipfian distribution]there may be times when cultural communication of songs between individuals is necessary,” he says.

topic:

animal/
Whale and dolphin

Source: www.newscientist.com

Scientists might have uncovered the answer to the mystery of whale calls

Posted on December 30, 2024 by Igor Mitreski

Approximately 50 million years ago, the ancestors of land-based whales transitioned into the oceans, developing various adaptations for their new aquatic life.

They acquired nostrils on the top of their heads for easier breathing at the surface, while their limbs evolved into flippers and fins for swimming. Although the vocalizations of humpback and other baleen whales were well-known, the method by which they produced these sounds remained a mystery until recently.

Studying the sounds of live whales in the vast oceans presented a significant challenge. In a groundbreaking study released in early 2024, scientists were able to examine the voice box of baleen whales by studying the larynxes and carcasses of three stranded whales – a humpback, a sei whale, and a minke whale, which were in relatively good condition.

https://c02.purpledshub.com/uploads/sites/41/2024/12/GettyImages-1254094926.mp4

Whales communicate through low bass sounds.

The larynx of baleen whales is a peculiar organ consisting of elongated cylinders that press against a fat cushion in a rigid U-shape. When air was blown into the larynx, the cushion vibrated, producing low-frequency sounds.

Live whales recycle air through their larynx, enabling them to vocalize without inhaling water or depleting their air supply. Researchers also developed a 3D computer model of the whale’s larynx to demonstrate how muscles control sound production.

This research revealed that the baleen whale’s vocalizations overlapped in frequency with the noise generated by ship propellers.

Due to the structure of whales’ larynx, they lack the ability to adjust their vocal pitch to avoid colliding with underwater ship sounds, making it challenging for them to communicate over long distances in increasingly noisy oceans.

This article addresses the query “How do whales sing in the ocean?” (submitted by Howard Hinchcliffe via email).

If you have any inquiries, please contact us at: questions@sciencefocus.comor reach out to us via Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram (please provide your name and location).

Explore more amazing science content on our fun facts page.

Further reading:

Source: www.sciencefocus.com

A killer whale was seen balancing a salmon on its head

Posted on December 4, 2024 by Igor Mitreski

overview

An orca was spotted balancing a salmon on its head in coastal waters off Washington state.
It's not clear what this behavior means, but killer whales have been previously observed performing the same behavior in the 1980s.
Southern killer whales are critically endangered and may be on their way to extinction.

Recently, a fascinating sight was witnessed off the coast of Washington state where an orca was seen balancing a salmon on its head, surprising both scientists and killer whale enthusiasts.

This particular endangered Southern killer whale, known as J27 or Blackberry, was spotted wearing a hat made of salmon near Point No Point in late October. According to Orca Network, a non-profit organization dedicated to species conservation.

This behavior of carrying salmon on their heads was previously observed in killer whales in the late 1980s, as mentioned by Deborah Giles, director of scientific research at Wild Orca. However, the significance of this behavior remains unclear.

Giles, who spends a significant amount of time studying orcas, witnessed another instance of this behavior recently, suggesting that it might be a common occurrence among southern killer whales.

The behavior of balancing a salmon on their heads could be attributed to various reasons such as sharing food with other pod members or using it as part of their social interactions. Nevertheless, this behavior indicates that the whales are well-fed and can engage in playful activities.

Despite conservation efforts, Southern killer whales are facing numerous threats that have contributed to their critically endangered status. The decline in prey availability, pollution, and disturbance from human activities are some of the key challenges faced by these whales.

Efforts are being made to protect and recover the Southern killer whale population, but more needs to be done to ensure their survival in the long run.

Source: www.nbcnews.com

Collaboration of Scientists to Solve the Mystery of the World’s Rarest Whale

Posted on December 2, 2024 by Igor Mitreski

The rarest whale in the world, known as the Spade whale, has only been seen seven times. Very little is known about this mysterious species. A group of scientists and cultural experts from New Zealand recently gathered around the nearly perfectly preserved Spade whale to unravel its decades-old mystery.

“Words cannot articulate how extraordinary this is,” exclaimed Anton van Heerden, a senior marine science adviser at the New Zealand Conservation Service, who named the whale to distinguish it from others. He added, “For me personally, it’s unbelievable.”

Van Helden has been studying beaked whales for 35 years, and Monday marked his first time participating in a dissection of the whale. This is also the first time in history that this creature, found dead on a New Zealand coast in July, has been carefully examined.

No one has ever witnessed a Spade whale alive at sea.

A rare whale washed ashore on New Zealand’s South Island in July.
New Zealand Department of Conservation/AFP – Getty Images File

Researchers at the Agricultural Research Center near Dunedin are studying the 5-meter (16-foot) male whale in hopes of uncovering more information over the next week.

Van Heerden mentioned the possibility of a parasite unknown to science living inside the whale, as well as the mystery surrounding how this species communicates and eats.

Only six other Spade whales have been found, all buried before DNA testing could confirm their identities.

New Zealand has been a hotspot for whale strandings, with the first Spade whale bones discovered in 1872. DNA sequencing confirmed the species in 2002, but its extinction was unclear until two whales washed up dead in 2010.

During the dissection, the researchers worked respectfully alongside the indigenous Maori people, who consider whales as precious treasures. Traditional beliefs and practices were observed throughout the process.

After the dissection, the whale’s jawbone and teeth will be stored by the Maori tribe and replicated using 3D printing technology.

Spade-toothed whales are believed to inhabit the South Pacific Ocean, one of the deepest oceanic regions, making them even more enigmatic.

Anatomist Joy Lydenberg from the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York expressed interest in understanding the life of these whales rather than just their cause of death, hoping to find insights applicable to humans.

Source: www.nbcnews.com

Scientists successfully capture the first baleen whale for hearing study

Posted on November 23, 2024 by Igor Mitreski

Scientists recently performed a groundbreaking test on a baleen whale to assess its hearing abilities. This controversial step is bringing scientists closer to understanding how the largest and most intelligent creatures on Earth perceive the world.

In 2023, researchers captured two young minke whales off the coast of Norway, attached electrodes to their skin using suction cups, and measured their brain waves while playing tones at various frequencies. The young whales were both over 12 feet long and weighed around one ton each.

The findings of the research, published in Science on Thursday, surprised whale researchers by suggesting that whales have the ability to hear much higher frequencies than previously thought, exceeding the hearing capabilities of most mammals, including humans.

Dorian Hauser, the study’s lead author and director of conservation biology at the National Marine Mammal Foundation, described the discovery as “a little shocking.” He explained that whales have ultrasonic hearing, likely to detect killer whales, their primary predators, as they hunt prey using echolocation signals in a similar frequency range.

The startling revelation comes at a time of increasing concern over the impact of ocean noise from sources like naval sonar, oil and gas exploration, and shipping traffic, which can alter marine mammal behavior, cause hearing loss, and even lead to death. This new information may lead to revising regulations under the Marine Mammal Protection Act and restricting certain activities.

Susan Parks, a biology professor at Syracuse University, stated, “High-frequency sound from ocean activities has not typically been considered a threat to baleen whales, but this may now need to be reevaluated,” as mentioned in the study.

The research concluded a longstanding disagreement in the whale research community. Previously, baleen whales were never captured for hearing tests due to safety concerns for both the whales and researchers, given their large size.

Certain scientists and activists opposed the four-year Minke Whale Hearing Project, fearing the whales could experience stress and even mortality during brief captivity. The project faced criticism, with organizations like Whale and Dolphin Conservation advocating against it in an open letter to the Norwegian government.

The hearing abilities of the largest whale species on Earth have long been a mystery due to the limitations of studying these massive creatures in captivity. However, through innovative methods like the Minke Whale Hearing Project, researchers are making strides in understanding how these animals experience the world through sound.

Brandon Southall, a scientist involved in developing standards for ocean sound exposure, believes that the research could influence future regulations to protect marine mammals from harmful underwater noise sources. He emphasized the importance of conducting such studies carefully and professionally to guide conservation efforts.

While the Minke Whale Hearing Project is currently on hold, researchers hope to continue the exploration of these fascinating creatures’ hearing abilities should further funding become available.

Source: www.nbcnews.com

The podcast chronicles the real-life tale of the whale featured in Free Willy.

Posted on November 14, 2024 by Igor Mitreski

IIt’s ’90s week in Podcastland! At least, you’d think so, judging by the nostalgic homage to children’s entertainment from decades past. There’s an entire series dedicated to the fictional purple dinosaur Barney, and investigative news stalwarts Serial Productions literally digs deep into an important subject: What happened to the whale in Free Willy?

For a bit more extreme retro nostalgia, there’s also the Audible star’s new Agatha Christie adaptation, with Game of Thrones’ Peter Dinklage playing Poirot in Christie’s first novel, The Case in Stiles. Himesh Patel and Harriet Walter co-star as Hastings. Does the fact that they started at the beginning of the Christie canon mean they intend to publish all the books? We certainly don’t disagree.

But if that thought strikes fear into your time-pressed mind, don’t worry. For those who want to immerse themselves in a long-running show without digging through their entire back catalogue, we’ve rounded up the best listens. You can take inspiration from the proliferation of 1990s podcasts, but wait 30 years for retro, nostalgic podcasts before listening to the highlights.

Alexi Duggins
TV Deputy Editor-in-Chief

This week’s picks

Peter Dinklage in The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes. Photo: Murray Close/Lionsgate

Mysterious incident at Stiles
All episodes now available on Audible
Peter Dinklage plays Hercule Poirot in this brilliantly cast adaptation of Agatha Christie’s debut novel. Rob Delaney, Harriet Walter, Jessica Gunning and Himesh Patel are joining the cast of the high-budget, immersive production. Dinklage’s Poirot transforms from a gritty force of nature into a wise and luminous soul in the story of the murder of a matriarch at the country estate where his Belgian detective friend Captain Hastings is recuperating from World War I. It covers a wide range of things. Alexi Duggins

good whale
Wide range of weekly episodes available
For an iconic investigative series like “Serial,” the whale from the ’90s movie “Free Willy” isn’t an obvious topic. But this fascinating series shows how, from his unhealthy years in captivity to becoming a Hollywood star, the PR-driven campaign to actually free him, and, sadly, how extremely difficult it was. We delve deep into the story of what happened to this creature, right down to how it turned out. Get used to it. advertisement

quilt
Wide range of weekly episodes available
Queer Britain, the UK’s first LGBTQ+ museum, has partnered with the producers of podcast The Log Books to produce this moving new series. Hosts Tash Walker and Adam Zumis travel around the UK collecting stories, starting with a trans woman in her 70s in Norfolk who sheds tears as she looks at an old photograph. Holly Richardson

generation barney
Wide range of weekly episodes available
Can a giant purple dinosaur provide a generation with much-needed solace during turbulent times? He certainly revolutionized children’s television in the 1990s, giving young viewers their first superstar. Host Sabrina Herrera, like any good children’s TV character, is full of joy as she tells the story of a dinosaur that provoked the hatred of outraged parents. Hannah Verdier

lady mafia
Weekly episodes widely available
Sarah King developed a reputation as the “female Bernie Madoff” after allegedly amassing large sums of money through loan sharks and spending them on jewelry, cars and extended stays at the Wynn Resort in Las Vegas. Now, Michelle McPhee gets her lawyer to tell her side of the story and why she doesn’t think he’s a fraud. HV

There’s a podcast for that

Alex Cooper interviews presidential candidate Kamala Harris on Call Her Daddy. Photo: Call Daddy/Reuters

this week, Rachel Aroesti We choose the 5 best podcasts Can be soaked or soakedfrom Radio 4’s classics to Alex Cooper’s $60 million show.

please call her dad
Most podcasts, no matter how popular, feel like cult concerns. Their intimate banter and free-spirited vibe give the impression that they exist outside of mainstream cultural conversation. Even Alex Cooper’s Call Her Daddy, the second most listened to pod on the planet, has an upscale club vibe. But every once in a while, Cooper pulls off a headline-grabbing cut-through feat. The show, popular for its sex-positive take on femininity, has been in the news in recent months for interviews with Katy Perry (about her disastrous comeback) and Kamala Harris (about family life and campaigns). A must-listen episode for anyone looking to stay on top of the zeitgeist.

nymphet reunion
If you’ve ever been baffled by the endless reboots of TikTok’s aesthetic or confused by the latest (like, 10-minute-old) trends, Nymphet Alumni is here to help. The trio of hosts Biz Sherbert, Sam Cummins, and Alexi Alario explore cutting-edge fashion and hyper-online phenomena (from “mogging” to Mormonism in an unashamedly literate yet never approachable way). (down to style). Sometimes they name trends themselves (see: Brockett, a fusion of soccer shirts and samba-meets-girly-girl attire), or look back at the 20th-century fashion roots of various revivals. Immerse yourself in the feeling of understanding the modern world, even if it’s just for an hour.

off menu
Some podcasts succeed regardless of, or sometimes in spite of, their guests, while others rely heavily on the energy of the celebrities who participate. At this point, Ed Gamble and James Acaster are consummate professionals when it comes to eliciting dream meal-based jokes from their interview subjects, but they’re adamant about the off-menu episodes that are truly worth listening to. It includes a guest with eccentric tastes and the resulting spiral of hysterical callbacks. Highlights include Victoria Coren-Mitchell’s dinner party sandwich, Ivo Graham and Yeo Valley yoghurt, Nicola Coughlan’s Robbie Williams wrap and The Inbetweeners star Joe Thomas’ unparalleled madness, ‘Soft Touch’ and Buried Contains lamb.

desert island disc
Few podcasts can trace back decades of archives, let alone ones that date back to the 1940s. But that’s what you get when you convert Britain’s longest-running radio show into a podcast. Desert Island Discs currently has 2,482 episodes, and its taste-based premise has proven to be an influential template for modern podcasts (see the aforementioned Off Menu and many others). The back catalog alone is a fascinating cultural chronicle, featuring some very famous guests, as well as many forgotten guests.

good one
The old adage that analysis destroys comedy has now been completely debunked by critical forces that are more likely to take stand-up seriously. And Good Ones, a “podcast about jokes” by Vulture’s Jesse David Fox, certainly takes its comedy very seriously. Featuring guests such as John Early, Alex Edelman, Jack Whitehall, and Joel Kim Booster, Fox dives deep into the technique and background behind the routines and sketches. I talk about over two hours of post-mortems on my stand-up shows. It might be a bit too intense for serious listening, but it’s a thrilling and insightful peek behind the curtain, so be patient.

Why not try it…

Best Medical Care by Kiri Pritchard MacLean Comedians, doctors, scientists and historians return for a second series celebrating amazing medical advances.
good sex projectMelody Thomas continues her quest to understand how to do it right.
Journalist and documentary maker Lucy Sherif’s investigation into the sudden disappearance of a wealthy widow. Where are the diamonds?

Source: www.theguardian.com

Are Drifting Whale Carcasses Predictable?

Posted on July 10, 2024 by Igor Mitreski

Whale remains on the ocean floor being eaten by tiger sharks and other scavengers

Laura Gurgas

Computer models help predict the drift of dead whales, allowing authorities to allow their remains to decompose naturally, safely in the ocean.

Dead whales attract large numbers of sharks and are extremely smelly and unsightly when they wash up on crowded beaches, creating logistical problems for local authorities. If ocean currents wash the whales into shipping lanes, they pose a major danger to passing ships.

While most dead cetaceans never wash up on shore, for example, 30 to 40 carcasses wash up on Australian shores each year, a figure that has been growing since commercial whaling was largely abolished in the 1980s.

These carcasses are either left to decompose, buried on shore, taken to a landfill, composted, processed into biodiesel, pulverized with explosives, or carried out to sea where they will drift for days or weeks before sinking.

Sometimes, after being towed away and released, the carcasses wash up again somewhere else, simply shifting the problem.

Computer models can predict where floating debris will end up, but it’s hard to make precise predictions about a dead whale because of its unusual size and shape, he said. Olaf Meineke at Griffith University, Queensland, Australia.

“The most important thing is to know if the whales are returning to shore,” Meineke said.

To learn more, he and his team closely monitored a dead humpback whale that had drifted off the coast of Queensland.

A drifting whale measuring 14 meters in length and weighing an estimated 25 tons was discovered by Coast Guard volunteers on July 16, 2023. The whale was headless, and researchers speculate it may have died in a ship collision.

By the next day, the carcass had swept four kilometers (2.5 miles) away. After locating the carcass, Meineke and his colleagues fitted it with a satellite tracking device.

On July 18, the whale washed up on land. It was then towed 30 kilometers offshore and released again. The team then tracked the whale’s trajectory over 150 kilometers over the next week. Eventually, the carcass either sank or the tracking device failed.

His team found that during the first few days after death, when the carcasses were floating highest, up to 1.5 metres above the water’s surface, wind strength was the biggest factor determining the direction of drift.

“Currents only become important when the carcasses start to decay and become less buoyant,” Meineke says.

After collecting the satellite data, the team used a search-and-rescue computer model to simulate the paths of various objects that resemble the outline of a dead whale, including skiffs, life rafts and small boats called pangas, in the same location and weather conditions.

Meineke said the predicted location was accurate for the first few days, but after six days it was off by 10 to 20 kilometers.

He hopes to repeat the study with more carcasses to evaluate different scenarios and provide more precise estimates of where whale carcasses may wash up.

Moving a dead whale from the beach to a landfill can cost authorities more than 10,000 Australian dollars (about US$7,000) and removes huge amounts of nutrients from the marine food chain, Meineke said.

“The goal is to give local authorities the tools to quickly determine whether it’s possible to tow the whale out to sea and know where it will end up.”

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Source: www.newscientist.com

Video captured of Blue whale mother nursing her calf for the first time

Posted on July 4, 2024 by Igor Mitreski

The first ever video footage of a blue whale nursing a calf was captured by a snorkeler in East Timor, Southeast Asia, and has been released.

“It’s certainly not a newborn calf.” Karen Edivain “But they’re clearly still drinking milk,” said the researcher, from the Australian National University in Darwin.

Edibane says capturing the footage is an incredible feat that has never been achieved before. The action was captured on camera by a snorkeler on an ecotourism voyage swimming with the pygmy whales off the coast of the capital, Dili, in 2022, and has only now been made public.

Blue Whale (Mushibaga) is the largest known animal to have ever lived on Earth, sometimes reaching lengths of over 30 meters and weighing nearly 200 tons.Southern wolfThe sharks found off the coast of Timor-Leste are slightly smaller, reaching a maximum length of 24 metres.

Blue whale calves do not attach to their mothers when feeding, but rather release oily milk into the water, which the calf swallows.

Edivain said the large calf seen feeding in the video is probably in its second year of living with its mother — blue whales are weaned at three years.

Other significant blue whale behaviours have been sighted and filmed in the area as part of the decade-long study. Citizen Science Projects Project leader Edivine said a database of 2,700 pygmy blue whales had been compiled since 2014 and that Timor-Leste may be a base for one of the world’s largest migrations of pygmy blue whales.

Newborn calves, courtship behaviour, pre-mating behaviour and feeding behaviour have all been observed.

“We haven’t seen a penis yet, but we’ve seen very affectionate adults having a lot of fun playing with each other,” Edivain said.

Caprivec The head of marine life conservation for the Western Australian Water Environment Regulatory Authority said that until recently no one knew how many blue whales were migrating off the coast of Timor-Leste.

Beck says he was incredibly lucky to capture the footage. Blue whales are often found far offshore, in hard-to-reach locations. “It’s incredibly rare to even be in the water with a blue whale, and even rarer to be in the water at the right time and place to film a calf nursing.”

topic:

Source: www.newscientist.com

Study reveals sperm whale communication is more intricate than previously believed

Posted on May 9, 2024 by Igor Mitreski

Sperm whale (physeter macrocephalus) They are highly social mammals that use clicks to communicate. New research shows that, just like in human language, they can combine and coordinate different clicks and rhythms to create complex calls.

Sperm whale (physeter macrocephalus). Image credit: Gabriel Barathieu / CC BY-SA 2.0 Certificate.

Communication is important for social animals to make group decisions and coordinate collaborative tasks such as foraging and raising children.

Sperm whales are social mammals that communicate with each other by clicking repeatedly.

Little else is known about sperm whales' communication systems, although some of their clicks have previously been shown to communicate their identity.

“Cetaceans are an important group for studying evolution and the development of sophisticated communication systems,” said Pratyusha Sharma, a researcher at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), and colleagues.

“Among cetaceans, long-term observational studies of sperm whales describe both a culturally defined, multilayered matrilineal society and a socially transmitted communication system.”

“Sperm whales are known for their complex social and foraging behaviors, as well as their collective decision-making.”

“They communicate using codas, stereotypical sequences of three to 40 broadband clicks. Codas are exchanged when whales interact with each other and during long, deep dives foraging. .”

For the study, the authors Dominican Sperm Whale Projectthe largest repository of sperm whale data.

They analyzed the records of about 60 different whales from the eastern Caribbean sperm whale clan and used them to define a “sperm whale phonetic alphabet” of click combinations from this clan's records.

They discovered that whales' communication systems are more complex and have greater information-transfer capabilities than previously thought.

We found that the combination and structure of the generated click sequences depended on the context of the individual's conversation.

Scientists also identified a “combinatorial structure” in whale language. Whales can combine and coordinate different clicks and rhythms to create complex vocalizations, similar to human language.

“Although the function and meaning of the click combinations are still unknown, the sperm whale language could potentially express a large number of meanings,” the researchers said.

Their paper It was published in the magazine nature communications.

_____

P. Sharma other. 2024. Contextual and combinatorial structure in sperm whale calls. Nat Commune 15, 3617; doi: 10.1038/s41467-024-47221-8

Source: www.sci.news

The blue whale genome is sequenced by researchers

Posted on March 20, 2024 by Igor Mitreski

An international team of scientists has created a reference-quality, long-read-based genome assembly. blue whale (glans muscle).

blue whale (glans muscle). Image credit: NOAA.

The blue whale is one of the largest animals to have ever existed, with adults reaching up to 33 meters (110 feet) and weighing up to 150 tons.

Megaanimal genome research is of interest to several subfields of biomedicine.

Understanding the developmental mechanisms that control body size may have applications in regenerative medicine and animal husbandry.

Although large mammals tend to live longer and have orders of magnitude more cells, meaning they divide more, they develop mechanisms that increase their resistance to cancer. I am.This mysterious phenomenon is known as Peto's paradox.

“The genome is the blueprint of an organism,” he said. Dr. Yuri Bukmana computational biologist at the Morgridge Institute.

“You need to know the genome of that species in order to manipulate cell cultures and measure things like gene expression. That allows you to do more research.”

“It is generally understood that larger organisms take longer to develop from fertilized egg to adult than smaller organisms, but we do not yet understand why.”

“From that perspective, just the basic biological knowledge is important: How do you make an animal that big? How do you make it work?”

“The practical application of this knowledge lies in the emerging field of stem cell-based therapy,” he said.

“Healing the injury requires stem cells to differentiate into specialized cell types in the relevant organ or tissue.”

“The rate of this process is controlled by some of the same molecular mechanisms underlying the developmental clock.”

In the study, the authors analyzed segmental duplications, large regions of duplicated sequences that often contain genes, which can provide insight into evolutionary processes when compared to other closely or distantly related species. can.

They found that blue whales have had extensive segmental duplication in the recent past, with more copies than bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) and that Vorpoise (Phocoena Cave)the world's smallest Cetacea.

Most of the copies of genes created in this way are probably non-functional or their functions are still unknown, but several known genes were identified.

One encodes a protein called metallothionein, which is known to bind to heavy metals and sequester their toxicity, a mechanism useful for large animals that accumulate heavy metals while living in the ocean. be.

Reference genomes also help preserve species. Blue whales were hunted to near extinction in the first half of the 20th century. It is now protected by international treaties and its population is recovering.

“In the world's oceans, blue whales are basically everywhere except in the high Arctic,” Dr. Buchman said.

“So having a reference genome will allow us to make comparisons and better understand the population structure of different groups of blue whales in different parts of the globe.”

“The blue whale genome is highly heterozygous and there is still a lot of genetic diversity, which has important implications for conservation.”

of result appear in the diary molecular biology and evolution.

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Yuri V. Buchman other. 2024. High-quality blue whale genomes, partial duplications, and historical demography. molecular biology and evolution 41 (3): msae036; doi: 10.1093/molbev/msae036

Source: www.sci.news

Study finds that ancient whale Percetus was no heavier than today’s blue whales

Posted on March 4, 2024 by Igor Mitreski

Paleontologists at the University of California, Davis and the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of Natural History estimate that: Colossus of PercetusA gigantic basilosaur whale that lived in the Eocene of Peru and was 17 meters long and weighed between 60 and 70 tons.

reconstruction of Colossus of Percetus in coastal habitats. related sawfish, Pristis, recovered from the same unit in the East Pisco Basin, Yumac, Paracas Formation, Peru. Image credit: A. Gennari.

Colossus of Percetus They lived in what is now Peru about 39 million years ago (Eocene epoch).

This species was first described in 2023. Basilosauridaean extinct cetacean family that lived in the Eocene and is known on all continents, including Antarctica.

“Colossus of Percetus“The bones are unusually dense,” said Ryosuke Motani, a professor at the University of California, Davis, and Dr. Nicholas Pienson of the Smithsonian Institution.

“Mammal bones are usually solid on the outside and spongy or hollow in the center. In some animals, much of the center is filled with solid bone, which makes it denser and heavier. There are some that are.”

“In aquatic animals, heavy bones offset the buoyancy of body fat and fat, allowing them to maintain neutral buoyancy underwater or, in the case of hippos, to walk on riverbeds.”

“Fossil whale bones have an extensively filled interior and an overgrowth of bone on the outside. A condition called pachyostosis is also found in some modern aquatic mammals, such as manatees. .”

In 2023, paleontologists estimated the weight of the following people: Colossus of Percetus 180 metric tons (range from 85 to 340 metric tons).

This results in Colossus of Percetus Despite being much shorter at 17 meters (17 meters) compared to the 30 meters (30 meters) of the blue whale, it weighs as much or more than the largest known blue whale.

“These estimates indicate that Colossus of Percetus It's incredibly dense,” Professor Motani said.

“It would have been a whale's job to stay on the surface and get out of the ocean. To do anything underwater, it would have had to keep swimming against gravity.”

The authors reviewed the assumptions used to make these estimates.

“The first problem is that the original study used fossil bones to estimate skeletal weight, and assumed that skeletal and non-skeletal mass increases at the same rate as body size increases, which increases the total animal weight. “It's an extrapolation,” they said.

“But measurements in other animals show that this is not the case.”

“Initial estimates also overestimated how much overall weight would increase as a result of hypertrophy.”

“However, the evidence for manatees shows that their bodies are relatively light compared to their skeletal mass.”

Professor Motani and Dr Pienson estimate the total length to be 17 meters. Colossus of Percetus It weighs between 60 and 70 tons, much lighter than any known blue whale.

individuals of Colossus of Percetus A whale that grows to 20 meters can weigh more than 110 tons, but that's still a long way off the 270 tons of the largest blue whale.

“Thanks to the new weight, the whale, like most whales, is able to rise to the surface and remain there while breathing and recovering from the dive,” Professor Motani said.

of result Published in an online magazine Peer J.

_____

R. Motani and N.D. Pienson. 2024. Downsizing in the heavy class: Factors and methods for revising mass estimates of giant fossil whales. Colossus of Percetus. Peer J 12: e16978; doi: 10.7717/peerj.16978

Source: www.sci.news

Scientists are concerned after killer whale caught on video destroying a great white shark

Posted on March 2, 2024 by Igor Mitreski

The ruler of the seas may appear black and white, but it’s not as simple as it seems. For years, great white sharks have been considered apex predators, but shocking new footage shows them feeding on their own kind. This is an event unlike anything we’ve seen before.

A video captured by tourists and scientists on a boat off the coast of Mossel Bay, South Africa was vital for scientific observations published in a recent study in the African Marine Science Journal. The footage revealed an unprecedented behavior of killer whales, showcasing their extraordinary abilities, according to the paper’s corresponding author, Dr. Alison Towner.

Witnesses on the boat watched as a juvenile great white shark, measuring 2.5 meters (8.2 feet), was attacked by a killer whale known as Starboard. The whale swiftly caught the shark by its left fin, thrusted it several times, and disemboweled it, likely targeting the shark’s liver for its rich nutrients. The entire attack lasted only two minutes, and the killer whale then revealed the shark’s entrails to the onlooking boats.

Subsequent research uncovered a second great white shark carcass nearby, measuring 3.6 meters (11.6 feet) in length.

In a previous study conducted in 2022, researchers found that killer whales can hunt great white sharks in pairs. By combining intelligence and strength, these whales can effectively surround and attack their prey. However, this recent attack marks the first time a killer whale has been observed hunting a great white shark alone.

This discovery not only enhances our understanding of killer whale behavior and marine ecosystems but also raises concerns among ecosystem scientists. There’s worry that if killer whales continue to prey on great whites, it could disrupt the food chain, allowing other predators to rise and challenge the great white sharks as the apex predators.

“Upon arriving at Seal Island in Mossel Bay, the smell of shark liver oil and an oil slick indicated a recent kill,” said a passenger on the boat named Esther Jacobs from the marine conservation initiative Keep Fin Alive.

“Seeing the fin of a great white shark break the water’s surface initially sparked excitement, but as the killer whale rapidly approached, it turned into a grim reality. The moment of predation was both devastating and incredibly powerful.”

Read more:

Source: www.sciencefocus.com

First-time mating humpback whale engages in homosexual behavior

Posted on February 29, 2024 by Igor Mitreski

Experts have revealed that this is the first time a humpback whale of this species has been documented engaging in any form of sexual activity.

The social behavior of humpback whales has been extensively observed and documented for many years. However, in a recent study published in Marine Mammal Science, researchers shared the first photographs of this species engaging in sexual intercourse.

The report was authored by marine biologist Stephanie Stack and two photographers, Lyle Kranichfeld and Brandi Romano, who captured the interaction in January 2022 in the waters off the coast of Maui, Hawaii.

Kranichfeld, 44, remarked, “We recognized the scientific importance of this event. Even if our findings were not published or did not lead to any significant outcomes, we understood that this unique behavior was significant for the scientific community and those studying whales.”

The encounter involved a male whale that seemed to be unhealthy or injured and a healthy male whale. The report mentioned that the ailing whale appeared weakened and infested with lice, which are known to thrive on debilitated humpback whales.

The researchers suggested that the weakened whale may have sought refuge near the photographer’s boat to protect itself from other whales. Kranichfeld emphasized that they never approached the whales in the water or attempted to swim with them, as both actions are illegal.

Tragically, the emaciated whale eventually succumbed after circling the boat and trying to swim away from the healthier whale. The healthy whale then used its pectoral fins to hold the other whale in place and engaged in sexual activity.

Source: www.nbcnews.com

Killer whale pod trapped in drift ice off the coast of Japan vanishes

Posted on February 8, 2024 by Igor Mitreski

Killer whale trapped in ice off the coast of Japan

NHK/Screenshot

A pod of more than a dozen killer whales has gone missing after languishing in Japan's icy waters for nearly a day, trying to escape being trapped in an ice floe. It is unknown what happened to them, but they may have died.

Fishermen near Hokkaido first noticed the pods struggling in the thick mud early Tuesday morning. Images and drone video show at least 12 orcas. Several boys struggle in a small space It was trapped in heavy ice about 1 km offshore.

As of Wednesday morning, The containment area was empty.Japanese news outlet NHK said it gave hope that the animals may have escaped to the open waters of the Sea of Okhotsk.

However, late Tuesday afternoon, a pod of 17 orcas was found trapped on an ice floe 2 kilometers northeast of their original location. NHK reporting.

“Orcas are not ice-adapted whales. They are not comfortable in this area.” colin galloway at the University of Manitoba, Canada. “So they are definitely experiencing the stress of confinement and are more likely to be starving.”

Cetaceans that permanently inhabit the Arctic region, such as narwhals (Monodon Monoceros) and belugas (Delphinapterus leucas), can sometimes become trapped in ice. Killer whale (killer whale) However, they usually avoid heavy ice and avoid getting trapped.

Still, black-and-white marine mammals can end up in icy waters at the wrong time.in 2016 reviewScientists found that since 1840, there have been 17 incidents in the Northern Hemisphere where a total of 100 orcas were trapped in ice. Almost half of them occurred in the Sea of Okhotsk, Japan. Confinement usually ends in the killer whale's death, Galloway said.

Scientists believe that even the reported orcas “broken freedomAfter being trapped in the ice, they can die struggling through further ice drifts while trying to reach the open sea.

A 2019 study of ice-trapped killer whales suggests that: Mammals can live on body fat for up to 50 days before being trapped and starving to death.. Sightings of orcas trapped in the ice have increased in recent years, as the Arctic ice melts and curious orcas seek new territory to explore.

Global warming may indeed be playing a role, Galloway says. His team is currently investigating the environmental impact of killer whales' gradual northward migration. But it's also possible that entrapment incidents simply appear to be more common because people are reporting more incidents.

“Just because we've gotten better at detecting, observing, and recording climate warming, and we're more interested in it, it's very difficult to disentangle the relationship between climate warming.” “That's one of the predictions,” he says.

topic:

Source: www.newscientist.com

Uncommon footage captures killer whale guiding its calf in hunting and launching a dolphin high into the air

Posted on December 22, 2023 by Igor Mitreski

A rare video was captured this week by a whale-watching trip off the coast of San Diego, showing an orca teaching its baby how to hunt by headbutting a dolphin and flipping it over multiple times in the air.

Wildlife filmmaker Domenic Biagini, who shot the footage, described the scene, saying: “The killer whale catches the dolphin, but when the dolphin slows down, he releases it after it is subdued and brings the baby killer whale with him to catch it himself.” “Seeing that level of communication and understanding was like watching a family.”

Biagini owns Gone Whale Watching, one of several companies that spotted a pod of six orcas off the coast of San Diego on Monday. He said the orca hunt took about 30 minutes, which was much longer than the average orca hunt because he was teaching orca pups.

According to marine biologist Alisa Shulman Janiger, killer whales are among the ocean’s apex predators and are known to incorporate their large size and speed into their hunting strategies. She added that it is common for orcas to slow down the prey and show the children how to hunt.

Shulman-Janiger explained that the killer whales in the video are so young that their eye patches are yellow instead of white, a color that eventually fades as they get older.

Where do whales come from?

Shulman Janiger said the whale in Biagini’s footage is an eastern tropical Pacific orca, which typically lives in waters off Mexico and Central America. They are rarely seen in the relatively warm, calm waters of Southern California.

Speaking about the hunting behavior, Biagini said, “We try to explain to our guests that while what whales do to dolphins can sometimes be very gruesome, this is normal and healthy.”

Biagini also mentioned that after Monday’s hunt, the killer whales approached the boat to see what was going on and began to poke their heads out of the water, which is a behavior known as spy hopping.

‘Remember us at your Thanksgiving feast’: Killer whales celebrate the hunt

Biagini said the killer whales often celebrate after a successful hunt and zigzag back and forth through the water. He compared it to the feeling of happiness and smiling after a Thanksgiving meal.

Additionally, Biagini expressed concern about the increasing number of boats getting close to orcas to film social media videos, urging people to film animals in the most ethical way.

Danger of flocking to whale watching

Biagini also raised concerns about the number of boats surrounding the pod of killer whales, stating that too many boats with inexperienced operators could interfere with their hunting behavior or lead to collisions.

In a video he shot, a man driving a boat by himself abandons the wheel to lean out onto the deck to record the video.

Overall, Biagini emphasized the importance of being stewards of animals and approaching them in an ethical way.

Source: www.nbcnews.com

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