Killer Whales, Humpbacks, Dolphins and a Porpoise

Lucky beach-goers had a close encounter with a pod of orcas Sunday. Dori Dace was on Whidbey Island when several whales surfaced just off-shore.

Dace recorded video as the orcas swam mere yards from Glendale Beach. It appears they may have been feeding in the area.

“The most incredible encounter I’ve had! I had lots of whale karma built up! ð??? Don’t mind the commentary, I was trying not to faint,” Dace wrote in a Facebook post.

The Orca Network identified the orcas as members of T124As swimming “stunningly close to shore.”…
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Struck by a ship, entangled in crab pots, stillborn, emaciated: It’s been a tough three months for whales.

Since April 3, whales – mostly grays, and humpbacks – have been entangled and/or stranded on the beach in Oregon and Washington in numbers not seen in nearly two decades, with 16 cases of large whale strandings so far, compiled by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) Office of Protected Resources.

That is the most strandings in Washington since 1999-2000, when there was a big spike in dead whales all along the West Coast. This season, as then, scientists have counted many emaciated calves among the dead in Washington.
Among the lost so far this season: a 31-foot-long yearling gray whale that was hit by a ship and washed ashore on Thursday, dying hours later. A dead orca calf also washed up in Ocean Shores over the weekend.

Jessie Huggins, of the Cascade Research Collective in Olympia, did a full necropsy on the orca Sunday morning. She said genetic analysis will determine within a few weeks if the baby was a member of the southern-resident orca pods, critically endangered and so far with no successful pregnancies for the past three years….
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A beluga whale was spotted in the Miramichi River on Tuesday, and what a sight it was for residents. (Submitted)
Miramichi River Boat Tours has explored the gems of the New Brunswick waterway for years – but this week something rather rare turned up.
Around suppertime, Azade Haché was cleaning his tour boat at Ritchie Wharf Park in Miramichi after a day filled with thunder showers and wind, when he spotted a small beluga whale splashing in the water.
“I don’t know how content whales are supposed to look but it looked quite content,” said Haché, who has been running his tour business for 22 years, hosting people from all around the world.
“It was kind of an added feature.”…
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When it comes to approaching whales and other marine mammals, the federal government has set new rules.

The new regulations will provide minimum approach distances of 100 metres for most whales, dolphins and porpoises.

Graham Wood is the owner of Mussel Bed Boat Tours and is also a member of the Wilderness and Ecological Reserves advisory council. Wood says there there’s not much change to the regulations from before, but he says technology helps with keeping their distance.

He says he believes the regulations are strong enough. They have no control over where whales come up, but when you see them on the surface, obviously they have to stay away.

Wood adds today, with the technology of cameras, people can zoom in and see a whale from 200 meters.

The rules were put in place to prevent the animals from being disturbed or injured….
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In the St. Lawrence River alone, there are multiple species of whale and other sea animals such as dolphins and seals. To catch a glimpse of a giant whale as it smacks it tail against the water’s surface would definitely be a breathtaking moment that you may only experience once in your life….
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Recent finding regarding cetacean sleep patterns may have huge beneficial implications for their protection under legislation around the world, including the European Union’s Habitats Directive1, most commonly under the term "resting," as are the locations where animals sleep.
Defining sleep, or even rest, may be somewhat tricky in species like cetaceans and migrating birds that have evolved the unusual practice of unihemispherical sleep, where only half of their brain sleeps at a time. In cetaceans this is not only due to their constant need for movement, but also to allow them to breathe voluntarily, rather than automatically as we do….
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Ten years ago, the lagoons of New Caledonia-a huge area of ocean containing several coral reefs and associated ecosystems-earned designation as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The staggering biodiversity of this area, which includes islands and coastline, features brilliant, healthy corals and thousands of species of plants and animals found nowhere else.

The wealth of New Caledonia’s marine life extends well beyond its lagoons. In an effort to conserve the country’s natural ecosystems, the government created the Natural Park of the Coral Sea in 2014. Covering the country’s entire exclusive economic zone (EEZ), the park offers the potential-once the management plan is finalized-to safeguard a massive region of open-ocean and near-shore habitat in strongly protected marine reserves….
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Antarctic krill fishing companies have announced that they will voluntarily stop operating in key areas around the Antarctic Peninsula.

Krill are small crustaceans that are a keystone species in the Antarctic, forming a crucial part of the food web. They are a vital food source for animals including whales, seals and penguins.
They also help sequester carbon from the atmosphere, which can help to mitigate the effects of climate change….
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Bad news this week for Chinese white dolphins living in Hong Kong waters: a recently released government report has confirmed the species’ numbers remain "critically low" in the Special Administrative Region.

Between April 2017 and March of this year, only 47 Chinese white dolphins were sighted, according to the report, which was released by Hong Kong’s Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department. The number of sightings remained consistent for the second year in a row: there were only 47 sightings of the cetacean between April 2016 and March 2017 off Lantau Island, according to the 2016/17 Marine Mammals Monitoring Report.

For the third consecutive year, no Chinese white dolphins were spotted off the northeast coast of Lantau island. The lack of cetacean sightings in this area seems to reaffirm suspicions that the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau bridge project might be causing the species to leave the area. According to South China Morning Post, the marine mammals have largely vacated the northeast Lantau area since construction work on the bridge began and airport ferry traffic picked up in 2012….
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A mining exploration permit has been quietly granted inside a marine sanctuary set up to protect the endangered Maui dolphins.

The decision has shocked conservation groups who were unaware of the move and the Department of Conservation has “significant concerns” about the safety of the dolphins if mining were to go ahead.

The exploration permit is just off the Taranaki coast near New Plymouth.

Created in 2008, the West Coast North Island Marine Mammal Sanctuary spans the coast between Maunganui Bluff in Northland down to Oakura Beach in Taranaki, extending 12 nautical miles offshore.

Its express purpose is to protect the critically endangered Māui dolphins, which number less than 100 and only reside on the West Coast of the North Island….
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