Whale songs are heard for the first time around New York City waters For the first time in waters surrounding New York City, the beckoning calls of endangered fin, humpback and North Atlantic right whales have been recorded, according to experts from the Bioacoustics Research Program at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC).
One of the strangest chapters in Cordovas history began on Nov. 10, 1930, when Jerry OLeary and Charles Gibson discovered the carcass of sea creature floating in Eagle Bay on Glacier Island. OLeary, a fox farmer, and Gibson, his employee, were making their rounds to feed their foxes and spotted the carcass floating on its back amid the icebergs from Columbia Glacier, six miles to the north. Read more
The Japanese whaling fleet has called-off its hunt for endangered humpbacks after mounting international pressure and passionate criticism from Australia. The U-turn comes as the fleet, after just a few weeks at sea, was understood to be only days away from catching its first humpback whale for more than 40 years. The surprise decision will not, however, put a stop to Japans traditional annual hunt for minke whales plans to land a record haul of 1,000 minkes remain unaltered.
A Japanese whaling fleet has set sail aiming to harpoon humpback whales for the first time in decades. The fleet is conducting its largest hunt in the South Pacific - it has instructions to kill up to 1,000 whales, including 50 humpbacks. The mission has drawn strong protests from environmentalists for breaking a 44-year moratorium on humpback hunting.
The endangered right whale is to get extra protection after a safe haven from shipping was set aside off Nova Scotia in Canada. The International Maritime Organization (IMO) ratified a Canadian proposal to designate the 1,800-sq-km zone an "Area to Be Avoided" at a meeting in Denmark. The voluntary restriction asks ship captains to steer around the area.
Iceland has said that they would resume commercial whaling after a nearly two-decade moratorium, defying a worldwide ban on hunting the mammals for their meat. Fisheries Minister Einar Kristinn Gudfinnsson told Iceland's parliament that his ministry would begin issuing licenses to hunt fin and minke whales. The ministry would permit the hunting of nine fin whales and 30 minke whales in the year ending Aug. 31, 2007.