KEY WEST, Fla. (AP) — Two sperm whales have died within a week of each other in the Florida Keys, but officials did not immediately see a connection between the deaths.
A calf died after beaching itself on Key Largo last Wednesday, said Blair Mase, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's southeast regional marine mammal stranding coordinator.
An inspection by the U.S. Department of Agriculture after the death a beluga whale at Mystic Aquarium last summer found problems with the care of that particular whale and others transferred from a facility in Canada.
Roughly 15 years before Herman Melville introduced the world to Moby Dick, a whaling ship from Massachusetts sank near the mouth of the Mississippi River.
Nearly 190 years later, experts say, it’s still the only whaler known to have gone down in the Gulf of Mexico, where the threat of enslavement at Southern ports posed a risk for Black and mixed-race men who often were part of whaling crews.
HONOLULU (AP) — A male humpback whale that was tangled so tightly in heavy line off Hawaii that his life was in danger has been freed, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said Wednesday.
ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. (AP) — New Jersey officials will commission studies on the environmental impact of offshore wind energy projects on animals as large as whales and small as clams.
The research is designed to address a major concern raised by opponents and even some supporters of the nascent industry.
MALIBU, Calif. (AP) — An injured pygmy sperm whale found on Malibu's Surfrider Beach had to be euthanized, a rescue organization said.
Lifeguards and county firefighters responded to the report of the whale stranding around 4:40 p.m.
HONOLULU (AP) — A female humpback whale traveling with a male and a calf has been freed after it was found entangled in a line with a large bundle of marine debris attached.
The whale was freed Monday while swimming in the Hawaiian Islands Humpback Whale National Marine Sanctuary off Maui, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said in a statement Tuesday.
MYSTIC, Conn. (AP) — The second of five whales brought from Canada to Connecticut's Mystic Aquarium last year for research purposes has died.
The aquarium announced on its website that the female beluga whale had been receiving intensive care for the past several months for multiple health issues, but died early Friday morning.
PORTLAND Maine (AP) — Maine's governor and congressional delegation are calling on the federal government to push back new fishing rules designed to protect whales so fishermen can comply with them.
ATHENS, Greece (AP) — A sick whale calf that had been the center of a rescue operation when it appeared in shallows off an Athens suburb has died several days after being led out to deeper waters, Greek authorities said.
PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — Maine's state government might set up a $30 million annual fund to help lobster harvesters and other commercial fishermen who have been economically hurt by new rules designed to protect rare whales.
HONOLULU (AP) — Federal officials say a yearling humpback whale off Hawaii has been freed from a life-threatening entanglement in mooring gear.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said a rescue team cut off about 140 feet (43 meters) of line and a plastic trawling buoy when they freed the whale off Maui on Wednesday.
ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Divers, vets and the coast guard were mounting a rescue operation Friday to help a whale calf that had become trapped in shallow water in a seaside area of the Greek capital, but tests carried out on the animal showed it was in serious condition.
PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — Greater reliance on genetic testing of baby whales and their mothers can provide more accurate information about a rare species and increase the chances of saving them from extinction, according to the authors of a new scientific study.
BANGOR, Maine (AP) — Lobstermen will have to start using weakened rope or special inserts to weaken existing rope beginning in May in some waters to help protect critically endangered North Atlantic right whales.
POIPU, Hawaii (AP) — A marine mammal rescue team is looking for an adult humpback whale entangled in debris off the coast of Hawaii.
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — There will be more Dungeness crab on the market just in time for New Year’s menus.
California’s Department of Fish and Wildlife announced Wednesday that the long-delayed commercial crab fishing season in coastal areas near San Francisco will begin Dec.
ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Greenpeace on Wednesday renewed calls against proposed deep-sea oil and gas exploration off southwest Greece, warning of “unbearable” consequences to endangered Mediterranean whales and dolphins.
SAVANNAH, Ga. (AP) — Scientists spotted an endangered right whale dragging a length of fishing rope caught in its mouth as it swam with a newborn calf off the Georgia coast, a rare confirmation of a birth by an entangled whale that experts determined they can't safely attempt to help.
PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — The U.S. Supreme Court ruled Friday against Maine lobster fishermen who sought to block new fishing restrictions that are designed to protect rare whales.
The new rules make an approximately 950-square-mile area of the Gulf of Maine essentially off limits to lobster fishing from October to January.
PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — A U.S. appeals court has reinstated a ban on lobster harvesting in hundreds of miles of productive fishing waters off the Maine coast to try to protect rare whales.
The Maine Lobstering Union had won emergency relief to stop the closure of lobstering grounds, which federal regulators ruled was needed to help protect endangered North Atlantic right whales from extinction.
PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — A federal court is allowing a team of environmental groups to continue with a lawsuit against the U.S. government that seeks to create stronger rules to protect rare whales from collisions with ships.
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — The start of the commercial Dungeness crab season will be delayed for some areas of Northern California for the third year in a row to protect whales and sea turtles from becoming entangled in trap and buoy lines.
PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — A type of whale that is one of the rarest marine mammals in the world lost nearly 10% of its population last year, a group of scientists and ocean life advocates said on Monday.
SEATTLE (AP) — In an early version of a story published September 24, 2021, about a judge’s recommendation that a Native American tribe in Washington state once again be allowed to hunt gray whales, The Associated Press erroneously reported that an animal welfare organization didn’t respond to an email for comment.
CAIRO (AP) — Egyptian scientists say the fossil of a four-legged prehistoric whale, unearthed over a decade ago in the country's Western Desert, is that of a previously unknown species. The creature, an ancestor of the modern-day whale, is believed to have lived 43 million years ago.
PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — America's lobster fishing industry will face a host of new harvesting restrictions amid a new push from the federal government to try to save a vanishing species of whale.
The new rules, which have loomed over the profitable lobster industry for years and were announced Tuesday by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, are designed to protect the North Atlantic right whale.