NOAA Fisheries’ Alaska Fisheries Science Center (Marine Mammal Laboratory), in collaboration with the Alaska Beluga Whale Committee and the North Slope Borough, will be conducting aerial surveys for the Eastern Bering Sea stock of belugas in Norton Sound and near the Yukon River Delta, Alaska. Through the surveys, NOAA hopes to derive an updated population […]
The blue whale, which uses baleen to filter its prey from ocean water and can reach lengths of over 100 feet, is the largest vertebrate animal that has ever lived. On the list of the planet’s most massive living creatures, the blue whale shares the top ranks with most other species of baleen whales alive […]
Gray whales alter their calling behavior to compensate for increasing levels of noise to improve their chances of being heard by other gray whales. Hearing each other is key to whale survival. NOAA scientists Marilyn Dahlheim and Manuel Castellote found that the number of times a gray whale calls is adjusted depending on the […]
Endangered humpback whales in nine of 14 newly identified distinct population segments have recovered enough that they don’t warrant listing under the Endangered Species Act, NOAA Fisheries said Tuesday. International conservation efforts to protect and conserve whales over the past 40 years proved successful for most populations. Four of the distinct population segments are […]