Category: whales

Cruise Line Issues Apology After Whales Slaughtered in Front of Passengers

A British cruise line apologized to its passengers after one of its ships docked at a port in the Faroe Islands during a pilot whale hunt. Faroe Islands, an autonomous territory of the Kingdom of Denmark, is situated in the North Atlantic, between Scotland, Iceland, and Norway. Ambassador Cruise Lines confirmed on July 9 that its ship, Ambition,…


Post-Mortem Exams Being Performed on 2 Dead Whales Seen Floating Off New York This Week

SOUTHAMPTON, N.Y.—Two dead humpback whales were spotted floating in the waters off New York this week, officials said, part of a troubling rise in whale deaths in the region. Necropsies were being performed Friday to determine what killed the two whales that were first seen Wednesday, one off eastern Long Island and one in Raritan…


It’s Easy to See Wildlife When Visiting Alaska’s Glacier Bay

By Lewis Leung From Star Tribune Glacier Bay National Park—Visiting zoos and aquariums can make that connection to wild animals, but immersing oneself in their natural habitats in the vast and pristine wilderness is even better. That’s what we discovered when spending five days camping and boating in Alaska’s Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve….


Kayaking Among Whales and Bears in Alaska’s Glacier Bay National Park

By Trisha Collopy From Star Tribune Glacier Bay National Park—A giant, hollow breath, deep as a crevasse, breaks the predawn quiet. Just off the lip of the shallow, rocky beach where my tent is pitched, a 40-ton behemoth is feeding at 4 a.m. The flat brightness, a civil twilight, looks like the same light I…


New Jersey Representatives Call for Halt of Offshore Wind Projects, Probe of Whale Deaths

State, county, and federal officials in New Jersey want to halt offshore wind turbine projects for an independent investigation into why whales and dolphins have been washing up on New Jersey beaches. “The whales are the canaries in the coal mine; they’re telling us something we all need to listen to,” U.S. Rep. Chris Smith…


Maine Lobstermen Face Extinction Threat From Big Wind Corporations, Environmentalists

SWAN’S ISLAND, Maine—For more than 200 years, the Joyce family has weathered storms, the troughs and crests of the economy, and the inherent danger of working on the ocean to draw its living from the sea. They wouldn’t have it any other way. “I’ve always been immersed in this,” eighth-generation lobsterman Jason Joyce told The…


Calls to Halt Atlantic Offshore Wind Projects Grow Louder as Whale Deaths Continue

Three Republican congressmen and more than a dozen mayors whose coastal districts are near offshore wind energy sites are calling on the Biden administration to suspend offshore wind projects until a thorough investigation into a recent spate of whale deaths rules them out as the cause. Since Dec. 1, 2022, at least 23 whales have…


30 New Jersey Mayors Ask Congressmen to Pause Offshore Wind Activity Due to Whale Deaths

Thirty New Jersey mayors sent a letter to members of their congressional delegation on Feb. 21, asking that they pursue a moratorium on offshore wind activity. The mayors are concerned about an unusual number of dead whales that have washed ashore and are asking that there be an investigation to ensure the clean energy activities…


PHOTOS: Russian ‘Whale Whisperer’ Photographs Humpbacks Meeting, Touching People for First Time Ever

On the first day of the expedition, Mikhail Korostelev headed straight out to sea. Even after several flights, he didn’t bother booking a hotel before casting off to spot—and be spotted by—whales amid the Polynesian island kingdom of Tonga, in the South Pacific. A former Moscow-based IT manager, Korostelev abandoned that vocation to pursue underwater…


Cartographers Used to Draw Strange, Enchanting Sea Animals on Medieval Maps—But What Do They Mean?

Depictions of sea serpents, mermaids, and other mythical creatures have long furnished world maps from the 10th century, through medieval times, to the Renaissance. Despite their fantastical and oftentimes enchanting appearances, most of these creatures are based on true encounters with sea animals, demonstrating how mythology and folklore are begotten from reality. Chet Van Duzer’s book…