blue whales

Blue Whale Songs: Changing Pitch

By lisala on 12/16/09 7:05am
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Scientists and the curious, have been paying attention to the songs of whales, especially to those of "Big Blue," the blue whale, since the 1960s. The blue whale, known to scientists as Balaenoptera musculus, a member of the baleen whale group, and the largest animal known to have existed on the Earth, ever. They were close to extinction, after years of over-hunting, and their future was seriously in doubt. But of late, there's been some good news.

Scientists Mark McDonald of WhaleAcoustics in Bellvue, Colo., John Hildebrand of Scripps Oceanography, and Sarah Mesnick of NOAA Fisheries Southwest Fisheries Science Center, haven been studying data regarding the songs of blue whales from around the world, and noticed a pattern. The pitch, that is the audio frequency of the songs, has been steadily curbing downward.

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Whale Washed up on New Zealand Beach

By sparklyscotty on 5/28/09 10:15am
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A rare blue whale has been found dead on a beach in New Zealand this week.   Blue whales are highly endangered,  with less than 2,000 thought to be left in the oceans.   The silver lining to this sad death is that the whale apparently died of old age, rather than being killed by any human activities or environmental changes.

The whale was found by a local fisherman who said that the whale measuring almost 90 feet was the largest he had ever seen.  Researchers are taking samples from the whale carcass in order to study more about the creatures,  although the whale's massive size means that it is not possible to transport the entire body.

Many types of whales and other large sea animals spend time in the warm South Pacific waters around New Zealand, and whale watching is one of the top tourist activities for the area, especially the South Island where blue whales, sperm whales, dolphins and seals can be spotted, often in large numbers.

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Thar She Blows!

By macallister on 5/11/09 8:22pm
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There's some excellent news about the endangered blue whale, this week. Blue whales seem to be re-establishing a regular migration pattern along the west coast of the U.S., as far north as the Gulf of Alaska.

The Marine Mammal Science journal published research documenting fifteen individual blue whales identified between B.C. Canada and Alaska. These would have been regular seasonal territorial waters for the blue whale, before commercial whaling drove the species to the brink of extinction.

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