marine animal news stories on Newser

Whales and Dolphins May Deserve 'Personhood' Status

Jess Kilby — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 02:38:00 CDT

Whales and dolphins have highly evolved social structures and may deserve a “personhood” status similar to that being considered for members of the great ape family, Wired reports. The emotional and social areas of the cetacean brain are “enormously complex,” notes one researcher, “and in many species are “even more...

Google Earth Adds 'Depth,' Tackling World's Oceans

Harry Kimball — Mon, 02 Feb 2009 15:51:01 CST

Google has added a new feature to its Google Earth software, which now enables users to explore the world’s oceans and access information from scientists and explorers, AFP reports. “Google Earth is equipping itself with a new dimension: depth,” an engineer said. Surfers can “dive beneath the water surface, explore...

Team Frees Snared Right Whale

Rob Quinn — Tue, 30 Dec 2008 05:55:26 CST

A team of experts managed to free a right whale that became entangled in fishing lines off Florida, the Washington Post reports. Rescuers took three days to cut away hundreds of feet of line that had been trailing the young whale. Only 400 right whales are believed to remain in...

What to Do With a Dead Whale

Kevin Spak — Mon, 08 Oct 2007 09:59:32 CDT

The rash of dead whales washing onto California shores recently isn’t just an ecological tragedy; it’s a mammoth challenge. Disposing of whale carcasses is notoriously difficult, the LA Times explains. Pull one out to sea, and it will probably drift back—as a 70-ton whale did in Malibu twice last...

US Loggerhead Numbers Drop

Caroline Zimmerman — Sun, 23 Sep 2007 18:11:27 CDT

The US loggerhead turtle population is waning, and a federal report concludes that commercial fishing is probably to blame, the AP reports. The threatened species gained numbers through the '90s, but now the sea turtle is on the brink of becoming officially endangered. Ocean health advocates are calling for federal...

Whales Head Home after 2-Week Stay

Dustin Lushing — Wed, 30 May 2007 14:10:00 CDT

Moby-Dick and Jonah can rest easy—the most overexposed whales in the world appear to have returned to the obscurity of the Pacific Ocean. The two humpbacks, who sparked an international media frenzy after getting stuck in the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta 2 weeks ago, haven't been seen since late...