Monthly Archives: October 2017

Lost At Sea: How Whales Lose Their Way Home

October 26, 2017 Roselyn Onuche Leave a comment Whale Information blue whale, Cuvier's beaked whale, humpback whale, sonar and whales, whale species, whale stranding, whales lost at sea

Though it sounds strange, whales often get lost at sea. Here are the reasons why.

How Whales Lose Their Way At Sea

Scientists and researchers have not been able to establish a definite reason as to why a whale could get lost at sea and end up on a beach.

Although, there are several assumptions to possibly explain this strange occurrence. Records however show that the phenomenon has been happening since 300BC. But strangely, researchers are now noticing an increase in mass strandings of these creatures especially in recent years.

Unfortunately, it’s still not completely clear why there’s this sudden increase.

From negative human activities, to natural causes, whale strandings are not pleasant in any way and animal

Species Profile: The Sei Whale

October 19, 2017 Roselyn Onuche Leave a comment Species Profile baleen whales, commercial whaling, facts about whale hunting, fin whale, finback whale, humpback whale, largest whale on earth, largest whales, rorqual whale, sei whale, whale conservation status, whale hunting, whale species, whale species profile, whales

The Sei Whale is the fourth largest baleen whale and an endangered species.

Sei Whale Mother With Her Calf (Photo: NOAA)

The Sei Whale is another baleen whale and it’s the fourth largest of them after the Blue Whale, the Fin Whale, and the Humpback Whale.

Although it prefers deeper offshore waters, it’s often sighted in most oceans and adjoining seas.

Typically, its body is colored dark steel gray with irregular light grayish to white markings towards the front of the lower body. The Sei whale’s skin is commonly marked with distinct crater-shaped scars caused by wounds

Is Underwater Sonar Harmful To Whales Or Not?

October 15, 2017 Roselyn Onuche Leave a comment Whale Information blue whale, Cuvier's beaked whale, fin whale, gray whale, humpback whale, military sonar and whales, right whale, sei whale, sperm whale, underwater sonar and whales, whale species, whale stranding

The debate about underwater sonar and whales has been on for years now. Here are the facts.

Row of military ships: underwater sonar

The debate about whether underwater sonar is harmful to marine life or not, especially cetaceans, has been raging for long now.

Active sonar (sound navigation and ranging), is the transmission equipment used on ships to assist with navigation. But this becomes a problem for some categories of marine animals for example whales and dolphins. That’s because these creatures use echolocation, or bio-sonar systems, to locate predators and prey.

It appears that active sonar transmitters can confuse these animals and even interferes with some of their basic

Species Profile: The Gray Whale

October 4, 2017 Roselyn Onuche Leave a comment Species Profile blue whale, commercial whaling, critically endangered whales, facts about whale hunting, fin whale, gray whale, humpback whale, right whale, whale hunting, whale species profile, whales, whaling, why do we hunt whales

The Gray Whale resisted capture so much that whalers named it “Devilfish.”

A Gray Whale In Captivity (Photo: Marine Mammal Commission/Wikimedia. Public Domain)

The Gray Whale is a medium-sized baleen whale and the only surviving member of its genus and family. This species is a migratory animal that travels annually between its feeding and breeding grounds.

These whales have a hump and a ridge of sharp bumps running down their backs rather than a dorsal fin. They also prefer to stay close to shore – feeding in shallow waters.

The common name, Gray Whale, comes from the contrasting gray patches and white mottling on its dark colored skin. The white patches are the result of barnacles and lice that have attached themselves to the whales’ skins. In