LAGUNA BEACH, Calif. (AP) — Ocean wildlife experts are urging boaters in Southern California to keep an eye out for a juvenile gray whale tangled in a fish net.

A federal government group is about to begin several days of meetings to try to protect the rare North Atlantic right whale, and its work could result in new rules for harvesters of some of the...

PACIFICA, Calif. (AP) — Authorities say two dead whales have washed ashore in the San Francisco Bay Area, making five whales that have been found dead in the area in a month.

An endangered species of whale is experiencing a mini-baby boom in New England waters, researchers on Cape Cod have said.

The North Atlantic right whale is one of the rarest species of whale...

JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — As soon as she walked up to the whale, Kate Savage could tell how it died.

There were three deep, long parallel slices just in front of the sperm whale's dorsal fin....

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Federal scientists say a tiny group of Bryde's whales in the Gulf of Mexico is endangered, facing threats including oil and gas exploration and development.

PROVINCETOWN, Mass. (AP) — Surveyors say a North Atlantic right whale mother and calf have been spotted in Cape Cod Bay for the first time this season.

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — They traded punches with Evander Holyfield. They dunked a basketball on ice. They flopped around like beached whales.

The Carolina Hurricanes have done plenty of unusual...

SEATTLE (AP) — Federal officials are supporting a decadeslong request by a Native American tribe in Washington state to resume what would be the only authorized whale hunts in the mainland U.S., a...

PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — A proposal to let dozens of new lobstermen into Maine's signature fishery is going to be put off until at least 2020.

MILAN (AP) — An 8-meter (26-foot) sperm whale was found dead off Sardinia with 22 kilograms (48.5 pounds) of plastic in its belly, prompting the World Wildlife Foundation to sound an alarm Monday...

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — California crab fisheries will close for the season in April when whales are feeding off the state's coast as part of an effort to keep Dungeness crab fishery gear from...

COROLLA, N.C. (AP) — A dead humpback whale has been found stranded on the North Carolina coast.

Video taken from Whalehead Beach in Corolla last Sunday by BeachPosts showed the whale in the...

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Marine experts say two dead gray whales were found in the San Francisco Bay this week and that one of them died from severe malnutrition.

HONOLULU (AP) — A number of private boats helped a team of federal responders free a young humpback whale from heavy gauge fishing gear off Hawaii, officials said Thursday.

A Congressional panel is holding a hearing about the threats facing endangered North Atlantic right whales, which number only about 411.

A subcommittee of the U.S. House Committee on Natural...

When the feeding grounds of blue whales overlap with busy shipping lanes, business interests often supersede those of the endangered marine mammals.

REYKJAVIK, Iceland (AP) — Iceland's whaling industry will be allowed to keep hunting whales for at least another five years, killing up to 2,130 baleen whales under a new quota issued by the...

COROLLA, N.C. (AP) — Four dead whales have recently beached along the Outer Banks and Virginia, concerning scientist over the rising death toll.

KODIAK, Alaska (AP) — Seven dead whales washed ashore on Kodiak Island in 2018, according to officials with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (AP) — Seven rare right whale calves have been spotted so far this winter off Florida's Atlantic coast.

Researchers say each new calf spotted this year is an encouraging sign for the critically endangered whales. No newborns were spotted during the last calving season, and just five calves were counted during the previous year.

PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — Interstate fishing managers are starting the process of trying to reduce the amount of lobster fishing gear off the East Coast in an attempt to help save a declining species of rare whale.

PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — The Latest on new efforts to protect endangered right whales (all times local):

1:20 p.m.

The Canadian government is offering new measures to try to protect endangered whales in the wake of the announcement of a similar effort by American fisheries managers.

Fisheries and Oceans Canada says its measures are designed to cut down on ship strikes and entanglements in fishing gear that threaten the North Atlantic right whale.

MOSCOW (AP) — Activists are expressing alarm about more than 100 whales that are being kept in small, crowded pools in what environmentalists are calling a "whale prison," off the coast of the Russian Far East.

The local court last week agreed to hear the activists' lawsuit seeking to penalize officials who allowed the capture and demanding the animals' release.

PASADENA, Calif. (AP) — Origin stories aren't just for comic-book superheroes, as a documentary about the evolution of animals including elephants and whales intends to show.

The two-hour film will highlight the work of leading scientists worldwide and showcase "spectacular new breakthroughs in evolutionary history," PBS programming executive Bill Gardner said in a statement.

MIAMI (AP) — A rare whale was found dead in the waters of Florida's Everglades National Park.

In social media posts, park officials said the Bryde's (pronounced BROO-dus) whale carcass was recovered Wednesday. The young adult male was 38 feet (12 meters) long and weighed nearly 30 tons (25 metric tons).

Federal Marine Mammal Stranding Network experts performed a necropsy, but it wasn't clear what caused the whale's death.

LIHUE, Hawaii (AP) — Officials are investigating the death of a young humpback whale that washed up on a Kauai beach.

Kekaha resident Kevin Rogers told the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration about the carcass after finding it during a Monday morning beach walk, The Garden Island reported .

The nearly 10-foot (3-meter) whale carcass was covered in wounds, Rogers said.

NANTUCKET, Mass. (AP) — The federal government is extending the duration of a protected area off of Massachusetts to try to keep endangered right whales safe.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has identified a large group of North Atlantic right whales south of Nantucket.

NANTUCKET, Mass. (AP) — The federal government says there is a large aggregation of an endangered species of whale south of Nantucket, and mariners should avoid it for the safety of the animals.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration says the group of 100 North Atlantic right whales was seen in the area in mid-January. It's asking mariners to route around the area or transit through at 10 knots or less. The management area is in effect until Wednesday.

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (AP) — Researchers have reported seeing three rare right whale calves off Florida's Atlantic coast.

Philip Hamilton of the Anderson Cabot Center for Ocean Life at the New England Aquarium says the calves are "a spark of hope" for the critically endangered marine mammals.

TOKYO (AP) — Japanese whalers discussed plans Thursday to resume their commercial hunting along the northeastern coast on July 1, for the first time in three decades.

Their preparation follows Japan's decision in December to leave the International Whaling Commission, abandoning decades-long campaigning in hopes of gaining support within the organization that has largely become a home for conservationists.

BOSTON (AP) — The developer of an offshore wind energy project is partnering with environmental groups on a plan to try to protect the endangered North Atlantic right whale.

The whale is one of the rarest marine mammals. It's thought to number only 411 individuals . The animals travel through New England waters every year.

PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — Rescuers who respond to distressed whales and other marine animals say the federal government shutdown is making it more difficult to do their work.

HALEIWA, Hawaii (AP) — Two shark researchers who came face to face with what could be one of the largest great whites ever recorded are using their encounter as an opportunity to push for legislation that would protect sharks in Hawaii.

Ocean Ramsey, a shark researcher and conservationist, told The Associated Press that she encountered the 20-foot (6-meter) shark Tuesday near a dead sperm whale off Oahu.

HONOLULU (AP) — Divers monitoring a rotting whale carcass off the shores of Oahu this week found themselves face-to-face with a massive great white shark, prompting state officials to warn recreational divers and snorkelers to stay out of the water near the dead sperm whale amid reports some people have climbed onto the carcass to take its teeth as souvenirs.

KAILUA-KONA, Hawaii (AP) — An annual humpback whale count in Hawaii will take place despite the federal government shutdown.

West Hawaii Today reported Friday that volunteers from the National Marine Sanctuary Foundation will coordinate this season's Ocean Count, a community citizen science project that occurs during the peak of whale season.

CAROLINA BEACH, N.C. (AP) — Officials say a whale of an endangered species became stranded on a North Carolina beach and had to be euthanized.

News outlets report the sei whale was discovered Sunday morning on Masonboro Island near the town of Carolina Beach.

Ann Pabst with University of North Carolina Wilmington's Marine Mammal Stranding Program says it's rare a sei whale strands in North Carolina, and could only recall one other that did in the 1990s.

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (AP) — Floridians are reporting rare sightings of humpback whales.

The whale sighting hotline for the Marine Resources Council has received daily calls of humpback sightings in Flagler and Volusia counties.

Both right whales and humpback whales migrate off the Florida coast.

The Daytona Beach News-Journal reports that right whale sightings were at a record low last year and no right whale calves were reported along the Eastern Seaboard.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (AP) — Florida conservationists are reporting a right whale calf sighting off the state's Atlantic coast.

In a Facebook post , the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission's Fish and Wildlife Research Institute said it's the first calf sighting of the critically endangered whale's winter calving season.

TOKYO (AP) — Japan announced Wednesday that it is leaving the International Whaling Commission to resume commercial hunts for the animals for the first time in 30 years, but said it would no longer go to the Antarctic for its much-criticized annual killings.

Japan switched to what it calls research whaling after the IWC imposed a moratorium on commercial whaling in the 1980s, and now says stocks have recovered enough to resume commercial hunts.

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Migrating gray whales will once again be passing along the Oregon coast this winter, where visitors and volunteers will gather for the annual Winter Whale Watch Week.

The Oregonian/OregonLive reports the five-day event is organized by the Oregon Parks and Recreation Department and will run from Dec. 27 to 31.

TOKYO (AP) — Japan is considering leaving the International Whaling Commission to resume commercial hunts, the Fisheries Agency said Thursday, after unsuccessfully campaigning for decades within the organization to gain support for the cause.

The agency said officials haven't made a final decision but are considering the step.

LEWES, Del. (AP) — The director of a marine research institute says the juvenile female humpback whale that washed ashore in Delaware was likely killed by a boat strike.

Suzanne Thurman with the Marine Education, Rehabilitation and Research Institute tells news outlets blunt-force trauma was identified as the cause of death. The strike dislodged and broke the whale's cervical vertebrae.

LEWES, Del. (AP) — Scientists are trying to determine what killed the juvenile female humpback whale that washed ashore over the weekend in Delaware.

Suzanne Thurman with the Marine Education, Rehabilitation and Research Institute tells news outlets the whale is the sixth to wash ashore in Delaware since 2016. The whale was first spotted in Cape May, New Jersey, on Saturday, before it washed ashore at Cape Henlopen State Park on Sunday.

PROVINCETOWN, Mass. (AP) — Marine scientists say endangered North Atlantic right whales have been spotted in Cape Cod Bay for the first time this feeding season.

The Center for Coastal Studies says its aerial surveillance team saw seven right whales in the bay on Tuesday. They are among about 411 left in the world. The whales have been under close watch in recent years because of a downward population trend.

The whales transit the area every year to feed on microscopic organisms.

PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — Federal officials say last year was slightly worse than average for the entanglement of large whales, which is a major threat to the animals' populations.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration released a report Thursday on the subject. The agency says the number of cases nationally was 76, and that 70 entanglements involved live animals, while the rest were dead. The 10-year average is closer to 70 entanglements.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Near Antarctica, whales are singing in deeper tones to cut through the noise of melting icebergs. In California, a big college football rivalry game was postponed until Saturday because of smoky air from wildfires. And Alaskan shellfish were struck by an outbreak of warm water bacteria.

That's global warming in action. Climate change is more than heat waves, hurricanes, floods, droughts, sea level rise, melting ice and ever-increasing temperatures.