Dolphins and Whales News

June 24, 2025

Top Headlines

Mining the Deep Could Mute the Songs of Sperm Whales

June 24, 2025 — Exploration for deep-sea minerals in the Clarion Clipperton Zone threatens to disrupt an unexpectedly rich ecosystem of whales and dolphins. New studies have detected endangered species in the area and warn that mining noise and sediment could ...

Cannabis Pangenome Reveals Potential for Medicinal and Industrial Use

May 29, 2025 — Scientists analyzed almost 200 cannabis genomes to create the most comprehensive, high-quality, detailed genetic atlas of the plant to date. The atlas reveals unprecedented diversity and complexity within the species, sets the stage for advances in ...

Oldest Whale Bone Tools Discovered

May 28, 2025 — Humans were making tools from whale bones as far back as 20,000 years ago, according to a new study. This discovery broadens our understanding of early human use of whale remains and offers valuable insight into the marine ecology of the ...

Surprise Baby Whale Sightings Reveal There's Still Much to Learn About Humpbacks

May 20, 2025 — Humpback whales are not always born in tropical waters, new research has shown -- challenging long-held assumptions about their breeding and migration behaviors, while raising new questions for ...

How to Swim Without a Brain

May 19, 2025 — A team was able to show that swimming movements are possible even without a central control unit. This not only explains the behavior of microorganisms, it could also enable nanobots to move in a targeted manner, for example to transport drugs to ...

Ancient Poems Tell the Story of Charismatic River Porpoise's Decline Over the Past 1,400 Years

May 5, 2025 — Endemic to China's Yangtze River, the Yangtze finless porpoise is known for its intelligence and charismatic appearance; it looks like it has a perpetual smile on its face. To track how this ...

'Extremely Rare Event': Bone Analysis Suggests Ancient Echidnas Lived in Water

May 4, 2025 — New research questions the evolutionary history of some of our most peculiar ...

Deciphering the Migratory Behavior and Connectivity of Mediterranean and Atlantic Cory's Shearwaters

May 3, 2025 — A good wildlife management plan must include information on their migratory processes if the conservation of a species, particularly an endangered species, is to be improved. In the marine ...

New and Surprising Traction Trait in Sculpin Fish

Apr. 23, 2025 — Researchers discovered tiny features on sculpins' fins which may enable them to cling firmly in harsh underwater ...

From Bacterial Immunity to Plant Sex

Apr. 9, 2025 — Could it be that one of only three known markers directly targeting the DNA does not exist outside the realm of microbes? Now, researchers have demonstrated that this marker -- N4-methylcytosine (4mC) -- is essential for sperm development and ...

Galapagos Birds Exhibit 'Road Rage' Due to Noise

Mar. 22, 2025 — A new study has discovered that birds in the Galapagos Islands are changing their behavior due to traffic noise, with those frequently exposed to vehicles showing heightened levels of aggression. During trials involving traffic noise, Galapagos ...

Scientists Map Neural Wiring of Vocal Circuits in Songbirds

Mar. 19, 2025 — Researchers have mapped the long-range synaptic connections involved in vocal learning in zebra finches, uncovering new details about how the brain organises learned vocalisations such as ...

Latest Headlines

updated 11:59am EDT

Killer Whales Use Seaweed Tools in Never-Before-Seen Grooming Behavior

June 24, 2025 — Southern resident killer whales have been caught on drone video crafting kelp tools to groom one another—an unprecedented behavior among marine mammals. This suggests a deeper social and cultural ...

Whales Blow Bubble Rings--And They Might Be Talking to Us

June 7, 2025 — Humpback whales have been observed blowing bubble rings during friendly interactions with humans a behavior never before documented. This surprising display may be more than play; it could represent ...

Unique Dove Species Is the Dodo of the Caribbean and in Similar Danger of Dying out

Mar. 17, 2025 — Ancient DNA shows an endangered dove species endemic to Cuba is more genetically distinct than the dodo was before it died ...

Discovery: The Great Whale Pee Funnel Moves Vital Nutrients

Mar. 10, 2025 — Scientists have discovered that whales move nutrients thousands of miles -- in their urine -- from as far as Alaska to Hawaii. These tons of nitrogen support the health of tropical ecosystems and ...

The Changing Chorus: How Movements and Memories Influence Birdsong Evolution

Mar. 9, 2025 — New research has provided fresh insights into how bird songs evolve over time, revealing a significant role for population dynamics in shaping song ...

Genetic Mixing: The Secret to Killer Whale Resilience and Adaptability

Mar. 7, 2025 — Killer whale populations in low latitudes have high genetic diversity despite having low population densities, as a result of genetic mixing, which plays a crucial role in their survival and ...

Naturally Occurring Mechanism Hampers Fertility

Mar. 5, 2025 — A research team has uncovered how a naturally occurring biological mechanism found in mammals is able to prevent sperm cells from interacting with an egg, preventing fertilization. The discovery, ...

Drone Captures Narwhals Using Their Tusks to Explore, Forage and Play

Feb. 28, 2025 — Using drones, 17 distinct behaviors of narwhals were captured in the wild. Findings reveal complex behaviors of the Arctic's iconic whale never seen before. This highly gregarious whale uses its tusk ...

Eavesdropping on Whale Songs Sparks New Discoveries in Whale Ecology

Feb. 26, 2025 — Eavesdropping on baleen whale songs in the Pacific Ocean reveals year-to-year variations that track changes in the availability of the species they forage on, according to a new ...

Unraveling the Mystery of the Missing Blue Whale Calves

Feb. 21, 2025 — Only two births of a blue whale have ever been recorded. Mother and calf pairs are also sighted much more rarely than might be expected. The reason, new research suggests, has to do with where and ...

Underwater Mics and Machine Learning Aid Right Whale Conservation

Feb. 21, 2025 — Using underwater microphones and machine learning (ML), researchers have developed a new method to estimate North Atlantic right whale numbers -- offering a potentially safer and more cost-effective ...

Scientists Optimize Biohybrid Ray Development With Machine Learning

Feb. 14, 2025 — The Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS) and NTT Research, Inc., a division of NTT, announced the publication of research showing an application of ...

How Fruit Flies Flit Between Courtship and Aggression to Fight for Mates

Feb. 13, 2025 — Male fruit flies don't just sing to their mates; they also use sound-cancelling wing-flicks to jockey with rivals. This new understanding of how male flies compete for female partners could shed ...

Scientists Harness AI to Help Protect Whales, Advancing Ocean Conservation and Planning

Feb. 11, 2025 — Researchers have developed an artificial intelligence (AI) tool that will help predict endangered whale habitat, guiding ships along the Atlantic coast to avoid them. The tool is designed to prevent ...

Some Species of Baleen Whales Avoid Attracting Killer Whales by Singing Too Low to Be Heard

Feb. 6, 2025 — New research finds some baleen whale species call at such deep frequencies that they're completely undetectable by killer whales, which cannot hear sounds below 100 hertz. These also tend to be ...

Whale Poop Contains Iron That May Have Helped Fertilize Past Oceans

Feb. 6, 2025 — A recent theory proposes that whales weren't just predators in the ocean environment: Nutrients that whales excreted may have provided a key fertilizer to these marine ecosystems. Oceanographers ...

White Shark Liver Is on Australian Killer Whales' Menu, Genomic Evidence Confirms

Feb. 1, 2025 — DNA evidence has confirmed killer whales in Australia hunted a white shark for its liver. Based on DNA analysis from the bite wounds on the carcass of a large white shark washed ashore near Portland ...

Uncovering the Role of Y Chromosome Genes in Male Fertility in Mice

Jan. 23, 2025 — Researchers have uncovered which genes on the Y chromosome regulate the development of sperm and impact fertility in male mice. This research could help us understand why some men don't produce ...

Dining out With San Francisco's Coyotes

Jan. 22, 2025 — As their traditional dining options dwindle, the native coyotes of San Francisco are shifting what they eat. A new study reveals what's on the ...

Grass Surfaces Drastically Reduce Drone Noise Making the Way for Soundless City Skies

Jan. 22, 2025 — Porous land such as foliage significantly lowers noise made by drones and air taxis which could reduce disturbances for urban communities as Urban Air Mobility (UAM) ...

Dolphins Use a 'Fat Taste' System to Get Their Mother's Milk

Jan. 21, 2025 — Juvenile dolphins were found to have specialized receptors for fatty acids on their tongues, offering new insights into their growth and feeding ...

Study Reveals Right Whales Live 130 Years -- Or More

Dec. 20, 2024 — New research reveals that right whales can survive for more than 130 years -- almost twice as long as previously ...

Using Drones, Researchers Assess the Health of Humpback Whale Mother-Calf Pairs Across the Pacific Ocean

Dec. 17, 2024 — Biologists used drone imagery to understand how nursing humpback whale mothers and their calves fare as they cross the Pacific Ocean. Recent declines in North Pacific humpback whale reproduction and ...

Unique Motor Control System of Anglerfish's Specialized 'Fishing Rod' Discovered

Dec. 12, 2024 — Researchers have uncovered in anglerfish a specialized motor neuron population for the first dorsal fin used for 'fishing'. When the first dorsal fin evolved from a swimming and buoyancy ...

Conservation Paradox: Invasive Species Are Often Threatened in Their Native Range

Dec. 6, 2024 — Non-native species introduced by humans are among the main causes of global species decline -- they were partly responsible for 60 percent of the species that have become extinct worldwide in recent ...

Exploring the Impact of Offshore Wind on Whale Deaths

Nov. 21, 2024 — Scientists have presented work examining the circumstances surrounding the whale deaths off the coast of New Jersey in the winter of 2022-23, which prompted concern that survey work in the area ...

Fewer Than 7% of Global Hotspots for Whale-Ship Collisions Have Protection Measures in Place

Nov. 21, 2024 — A new study has quantified the risk for whale-ship collisions worldwide for four geographically widespread ocean giants that are threatened by shipping: blue, fin, humpback and sperm whales. ...

One or Many? Exploring the Population Groups of the Largest Animal on Earth

Nov. 15, 2024 — Hunted nearly to extinction during 20th century whaling, the Antarctic blue whale, the world's largest animal, went from a population size of roughly 200,000 to little more than 300. The most ...

Elephant Seal Colony Declines One Year After Avian Flu Outbreak

Nov. 11, 2024 — A year after an outbreak of H5N1 killed thousands of elephant seals in Argentina, only about a third of the seals normally expected here returned, scientists ...

New Methods for Whale Tracking and Rendezvous Using Autonomous Robots

Oct. 31, 2024 — Today, a research team has proposed a new reinforcement learning framework with autonomous drones to find sperm whales and predict where they will ...