Behemoth Of The Air Spying On Behemoths Of The Sea

PM: Scientists Track Whales From A Fuji Blimp:

"The blimp is roughly the size of a Boeing 747, but 500 mph slower and, without ballast, lighter than air. This makes it the perfect vehicle for studying another behemoth: whales. Several species of this marine mammal are swimming dangerously close to extinction, but without knowing more about their behavior it's difficult for scientists to help them recover. It has never been easy to observe whales. They don't fit in a lab, and in the wild they spend only about 3 percent of their time at the surface."

A fascinating 3 article series of how several scientists around Cape Cod Bay are learning about whale behavior and studying the whales by tracking them and other things to better help protect the whales and determine how the populations of whales are doing overall.

Gary

5 Years, Baby Pilot Whale, RIP

New York Daily News - Boroughs - Whale washes up & dies:

"A baby pilot whale that washed ashore on Rockaway Beach died yesterday morning, despite rescuers' desperate efforts to save it.

The 5-year-old, 10-foot-long, 500-pound male whale was first spotted by locals sometime before 7 a.m. yesterday as it lay on the shore just off Beach 102nd St."

This is a sad story about an effort to save a young Pilot Whale that washed ashore, which nonetheless ended when the poor whale died.

Gary

Protecting Whales By Listening To Them

Untitled Document:

"Small survey planes, daylight and luck have long been the best tools for scientists hoping to spot the rare North Atlantic right whale. The results aren't too impressive.

An estimated one in four whales are spotted by aerial surveys, leaving the rest vulnerable to ship strikes or fishing gear entanglements. But scientists say an underwater listening system they're developing will dramatically improve detection and reduce whale deaths."

Here's a cool new tactic that scientists are trying to help prevent ships from literally crashing into whales... the North Atlantic Right Whale is the one in particular they are trying to protect better - which is one of the most endangered species of whales.

Gary

Blowing Up/Exploding A Whale

Cape Argus - Police blow up stranded whale:

"Police today used explosives to kill the Southern Right whale stranded on Mnandi beach, angering many onlookers.

But Nan Rice of the Dolphin Action Group said it was a humane way to put the whale down.

The blast destroyed the top part of the whale's head, bloodying the water.

Robin Adams, deputy manager of the Table Mountain National Park marine area, said it was 'very sad'."

This was a very interesting article that I came accross. Reporting that in South Africa that the police there used explosives to 'humanly' put out a stranded whale in shallow waters there.

The full story about the whole event of stranding and all can be checked out through the link.

Gary Schmidt