Whales and Wiener Dogs

A small population of false killer whales that live near Hawaii might be added to the endangered species list by the U.S. Government. False killer whales look like killer whales, but they are actually black dolphins that grow can grow to 16 feet and weigh more than a ton.

Proponents of the listing believe that the local fishing industry deplete food stocks while accidentally capturing the false killer whales.

I don’t really know if this is harassing the animal or not…I guess some would say yes.

Sport Fishing Guy Rides Whale Shark - Watch more Funny Videos

Scientists have mounted lipstick-sized cameras on the backs of some brown-backed albatrosses and have been piecing together new information about their lives from nearly 30,000 photos.

In the photo above, some albatrosses follow a killer whale, a previously undocumented behavior - although, the birds have been known to follow fishing boats and schools of tuna.

Rarely seen instance of killer whales hunting as a pack caught on tape by the good people at…NatGeo. Two hour battle between a pod of killer whales and a gray whale mom and baby.

In other killer whale-related news, it appears that some killer whale populations are so specialized at eating king salmon that they will die if they don’t get enough.

Whales might not be considered people the way that human beings are considered people, but they might be more like the great apes than we think. Chimps and gorillas, e.g., possess self-awareness, feelings, and high-level cognitive powers. And according to a growing body of scientific research, so do certain whales and dolphins.

Most research into whale “personhood” has been done on bottlenose dolphins, sperm whales, humpback whales, and killer whales. In these species, scientists have seen “considerable social complexity and individual distinction.”

Scientists have developed a number of tests to identify the criteria for personhood; self-recognition, social behavior, tool use, and complex communication and language. For example, it’s been show that dolphins can recognize themselves in a mirror, and it’s also been documented that a family of dolphins in Australia uses sponges to hunt.

And it appears that cetacean use of sound surpasses that of primates. Dolphins, humpback whales, and sperm whales are believe to “pass songs and codas between generations and individuals.” Some scientists also believe that some distinctive calls made by dolphins and whales are equivalent to names.

Read the whole article at Wired.

Translation from Chinese (I think): “Not all traditions deserve to be preserved. Put an end to whaling in Japan.”

New from the world of whales:

• Another list (with pictures) of graphic and/or disturbing environmentalist press campaigns (Trendhunter)
• J2, a killer whale in Puget Sound is over 100 years old…that’s almost 4 “Kurt Cobain’s” (Seattle PI)
• It took 9.5 months and 12,849 updates to Tweet Moby Dick, now…on to Alice in Winderland (Publicdomain Twitter)
• “Scientists have documented the first known migration of blue whales from the coast of California to areas off British Columbia and the Gulf of Alaska since the end of commercial whaling in 1965.” (Del Mar Times)
• New paper from the NOAA shows that the Soviet Union killed more than 200,000 whales illegally between 1947 and 1973. It also says the Soviets are responsible for the extinction of eastern Pacific right whale populations. (Discovery)
• Aussie government cuts $300,000 Special Envoy on Whaling job (News.com.au)
• Scientists use both ancient and modern methods to determine that in the past there were more fish and whales than there are now (Guardian)

Who would win in a fight between a Narwhal and a Killer Whale?

Narwhal:

Killer Whale:
In a one-on-one fight, I’d say the killer whale. But a group (or pod) or narwhals could possibly form a phalanx or the waterborne equivalent of infantry squares to fend off, or even shred, some killer whales.

If you’ve got absolutely nothing in the world better to do, then go here and make up your own theory.

More news from the world of whales:

• American Samoa in mid-Pacific found to harbor a dozen kinds of toothed whales (Dook)
• Groups sue feds, alleging it’s failing to protect false killer whales from longline fishing (Seattle Times)
• Here’s some video of Killer Whales doing what they do best…killing shit (BBC<< way NOT to have an embed-able player, BBC)

After a four year study, researches have concluded that the killer whale population in the Hudson Bay has increased. The reason: Global Warming.

(Steve Ferguson, a Winnipeg-based research scientist with the federal Department of Fisheries and Oceans) said the increase in Arctic orcas is likely due to a loss of sea ice in the Hudson Strait going back to the 1940s, which allowed killer whales to enter the Hudson Bay more easily.