A Newborn Whale

Beluga whale born at Shedd Aquarium: " A Beluga whale named Puiji gave birth to a male calf on Monday. Mother and calf are doing well."

Happy (Belated) Birthday!

- Gary

A Call To New Zealander's

Wanted: Whale spotters of the right stuff:

"A southern right whale spotted off Mahia on Monday afternoon could be part of a "homegrown" population.

The Department of Conservation has asked people to report any sightings of southern right whales - which will be near the coast as they breed from June to September - so staff can collect DNA samples and record details that identify individual animals. More information was needed to confirm the theory of a population separate to that in Australia and the subantarctic Auckland Islands."

Get in on part of the action, help them determine if it really is a separate population... you still can go whale watching and help out!

What a great excuse to go to the ocean and go whale watching!

You can have great time, some fun and help scientists figure out how well the whale populations are doing.

The Best,
Gary

Hide-N-Seek With The Whales

Newsday.com: March of the Migration: Follow Wildlife As It Travels:

"Along the New Jersey coast in Cape May this summer, the whales are in hiding. One marine tour company has not spotted a humpback in weeks. They are redirecting passengers' attention to the dolphins.

Each winter, whale watchers on the Pacific Coast have the opposite problem: They can't avoid getting jostled by the mammoth creatures, which outnumber the boats in Mexico's San Ignacio Lagoon during the Pacific gray whale's annual migration. And forget about staying dry-- as blowhole spray drenches passengers like a garden hose."

Because of the reduced number of whales around today, and many other factors; it is getting even harder to find the whales.

It's almost like a game of hide and seek with the whales in many regions, such as the eastern seaboard of the United States as this article points out - but that isn't the only place!

If you really want to increase your chances of seeing the whales you want and not waste your time or your money you have to get this guide:' The Guide to Whale Watching. It shows you how you can drastically increase your chances of seeing the whales you want and how you can have the best and most memorable whale watching trip.

Check out:
The Guide to Whale Watching
www.theguidetowhalewatching.com

Gary

Enough Already!!

Well, maybe it's just me... because I'm constantly looking up news about whales and whale watching, trying to find new stories to bring to you:

But this is just rediculous! Every day there are at least ten sites that have an article on that whale that regurgitates some fish it ate on the water, then sinks below the surface and waits for a seagull to eat it and then - BAM - when a seagull comes to get the fish (which it thinks is an easy meal) the whale comes up out of the water to eat the seagull - thus itself becoming an easy meal for the whale... well the story is posted here: http://whale-watching.blogspot.com/2005/09/one-smart-whale.html.

C'mon is this the best that can be done as far as news-worthy information regarding whales... is this all that the huge numbers of reporters have been able to pull up on the whales.... AND AT LEAST WEEK AFTER THIS WAS DISCOVERED!!

We were one of the first to report on this incident!... after seeing the article in the London Free Press, and posting about it right away! Ever since we posted about the article, it took a couple days... then just about every other news source started putting up articles about it and then many other bloggers.

So for the best news and information about whales and whale watching... and to get it right away!... keep this blog bookmarked... put it in your feed reader... and visit often! We bring you the best stories first!

Gary Schmidt

One Smart Whale

London Free Press: News Section - Gulls prove gullible to smart whale: "A clever killer whale at Marineland in Niagara Falls has figured out how to use fish as bait to catch seagulls and shared his strategy with his tank-mates."

The young whale that came up with this would spit regugitated fish onto the water's surface and then sink below the surface and wait to see if a gullible seagull landed for a free meal - if one did the whale would surge up through the water to make the seagull the free meal. Sometimes the birds would escape other times they'd become the meal.

How great is that, you can't keep them from their natural instinct in captivity... they'll figure a way out!

Gary Schmidt

Close Encounter... Too Close For Comfort!

StarNewsOnline.com: The Voice of Southeastern North Carolina:

"Ellis Miller found himself face-to-face with an orca charging at him in 4 feet of water Saturday in Helm Bay. The animal, estimated to be more than 25 feet long, bumped but did not bite him.

'I looked underwater and there was this huge head right in front of me,' Ellis told the Ketchikan Daily News.

Biologists said whale may have been curious or it may have aborted an attack.

'If it had wanted to take him, it would have,' said Gary Freitag"

Wow, that must have been one bizarre encounter. What a close one too!

Gary

Migrating Around Africa

Humpback whale's movements make history:

"For the first time, a genetic study has followed a humpback whale from one ocean basin to another, adding to the knowledge of whales' migratory patterns.

Researchers reporting in the most recent issue of the Royal Society's Biology Letters, said a male humpback whale first sighted in Madagascar's Antongil Bay in 2000 was found in 2002 swimming off the coast of Loango National Park in Gabon -- on the other side of the African continent."

Chalking one up for whale research. What a breakthrough in knowledge, now if only they could keep track of them in an easy way.

All the more we know about whales, the more we'll be able to help them survive.

Gary

Tha's What You Get

LiSa'S sPaCe: back from california!!: "we went whale watching...it was ok first the first 2 hours but after that it got boring.....we were on the boat for 5 hours!!"

That's what you get for not preparing yourself or being aware of it. You gotta be prepared. Know what you are going to get out of it... it particularly is good to know how long before you go.

Also, by bringing something to do perhaps you wouldn't be so bored!

Learn from others,

Gary

National Marine Sanctuaries

National Marine Sanctuaries

This is The National Marine Sanctuaries Homepage. Great Information on the Marine Sanctuaries!

Gary

Guide For Australian Whale Watching

Whale watching

All the resources for whale watching in Australia, all their guidelines to be noted at the site.

Gary