Two whales flown from Shanghai aquarium to sanctuary in Iceland

Marine life

Female 12-year-old beluga whales Little Grey and Little White arrive at Klettsvik Bay

AFP in Reykjavik

Thu 20 Jun 2019 00.21 BST

Two beluga whales from a Shanghai aquarium have arrived in Iceland to live out their days in a unique marine sanctuary that conservationists hope will become a model for rehoming 3,000 of the creatures currently in captivity.

Little Grey and Little White, two 12-year-old female belugas, left behind their previous lives entertaining visitors at the Changfeng Ocean World and were flown across the globe in specially tailored containers.

The whales, which each weigh about 900kg and are four metres long, will continue their epic journey by truck and ferry to the sanctuary at Klettsvik Bay at Heimaey, one of the Westman Islands off the south coast of Iceland.

The conservation charity Sea Life Trust, which has been at the forefront of the project, said the bay is the world’s first open water beluga sanctuary and had been selected to “provide a more natural sub-Arctic environment and wilder habitat for these amazing whales to call home”.

Continued

'Russian spy whale': the disturbing history of military marine mammals

APRIL 30, 2019

by Gervase Phillips, The Conversation

Norwegian fishermen were reportedly approached by a beluga whale wearing a Russian harness, complete with GoPro camera holder, sparking speculation that the animal had been trained to gather intelligence by the Russian Navy. While this theory has not been confirmed, it is entirely plausible: armed forces around the world have a long and disturbing history of exploiting marine mammals.

In the late 19th century, European militaries had come to appreciate that thoroughly-trained and well-handled dogs could perform useful military services, such as finding wounded soldiers on the battlefield and guarding military installations and outposts. Over the course of the 20th century, new roles were found for them: notably, detecting mines and explosives during World War II.

Given the success achieved with dogs, it was perhaps inevitable that experiments would begin with other intelligent and trainable animals, including marine mammals. The earliest of these experiments took place during World War I, when Britain's Royal Navy unsuccessfully attempted to train sea lions to locate German submarines.

The early training – conducted at a facility on Lake Bala in Gwynedd, Wales – went well. But once the sea lions were released into the open sea, they were generally found to be more interested in pursuing shoals of fish than U-boats – much to the frustration of the officers involved.

Read on

APRIL 30, 2019

Enigmatic Beluga whale off Norway so tame people can pet it

by Jan M. Olsen

A beluga whale found in Arctic Norway wearing a harness that suggests links to a military facility in Russia is so tame that residents can pet the mammal on its nose.

The white whale found frolicking in the frigid harbor of Tufjord, a hamlet near Norway's northernmost point, has become "a huge attraction" for locals, one resident said Tuesday. The whale is so comfortable with people that it swims to the dock and retrieves plastic rings thrown into the sea.

"The whale is so tame that when you call it, it comes to you," said Linn Saether, adding the whale also reacts to yells and when humans splash their hands in the water.

She said when she throws out a plastic ring, the Beluga whale brings it back to her as she sits on the dock.

"It is a fantastic experience, but we also see it as a tragedy. We can see that it has been trained to bring back stuff that is thrown at sea," Saether, 37, told The Associated Press.

The whale was found with a tight harness reading "Equipment St. Petersburg" in English. The hamlet has a dozen permanent residents and less than 100 people in the warmer season.

Read on

Benny the beluga whale forces firework display postponement

Council in Kent told that disturbing the whale would breach wildlife law

Kevin Rawlinson

Fri 19 Oct 2018 22.18 BSTLast modified on Fri 19 Oct 2018 22.39 BST

It has attracted plenty of spectators during its stay. But Benny the lost beluga whale, who took up residence in the Thames last month, may end up leaving the crowds disappointed after it was announced that a fireworks display would have to be postponed to protect him.

About 15,000 people were expected to gather for the annual bonfire night celebrations in Gravesend, Kent, on 2 November to see a display set off from a barge on the river.

However, council officials said on Friday that they had been advised to put back the event until the whale, who was first sighted in the Thames more than three weeks ago, left the area.

“While we understand this is also disappointing to the thousands of residents and visitors who enjoy our fantastic fireworks display every year, we have to ensure our special visitor is kept safe and well,” said David Turner, the leader of Gravesham borough council.

Continued

Beluga fever is tinged with sorrow for whale-watchers on Thames

The thrill of a once-in-a-lifetime sighting mingles with a fear that this story may not end well

Caroline Davies

Fri 28 Sep 2018 16.37 BSTLast modified on Fri 28 Sep 2018 17.30 BST

Grant Hazlehurst, a civil servant from Bromley, Kent has seen many whales. “Fin, sperm, Cuvier’s beaked, True’s beaked, sei, long-fin pilot …” most of them from his regular jaunts on a car ferry in the Bay of Biscay. “But I never thought I would see a beluga, not in the Thames,” he said. “So, I’m hoping.”

So were the two dozen or so others who, on Friday morning, gathered on a windy shore near Gravesend, scanning foam-flecked waves in anticipation that, for a fourth day, the beluga whale that has somehow got lost in the Thames, would show itself.

Two hours in and Bill, who had travelled from Somerset, had only managed to tick off a sparrowhawk. He had heard about the beluga on a birding app. “But I didn’t believe it. I was waiting for it to come up: ‘Correction. Albino porpoise,’” he said. Now he was here, and – ping – his alert went off: “Whale spotted, just west of the Ship and Lobster pub.” It was a couple of kilometres away. He was off at a trot. “I’m a happy man,” he said later, after managing to see it.

Peter Cartwright, was one of the first to spot it on Friday. “First you see this big melon head coming up, and then it rolls over. It’s just like a big white tyre,” said the counsellor from south-east London. He and his brother had, cunningly, split up and gone in different directions to maximise their chances. Was it exciting? “Absolutely. It’s a beluga,” he said.

Continued  

Arctic sea ice loss impacts beluga whale migration

Date: January 5, 2017

Source: University of Washington

 

The annual migration of some beluga whales in Alaska is altered by sea ice changes in the Arctic, while other belugas do not appear to be affected.

A new study led by the University of Washington finds that as Arctic sea ice takes longer to freeze up each fall due to climate change, one population of belugas mirrors that timing and delays its migration south by up to one month. In contrast, a different beluga population, also in Alaska, that migrates and feeds in the same areas doesn't appear to have changed its migration timing with changes in sea ice.

The paper was published Dec. 21 in the journal Global Change Biology.

"The biggest take-home message is that belugas can respond relatively quickly to their changing environment, yet we can't expect a uniform response across all beluga populations," said lead author Donna Hauser, a postdoctoral researcher at the UW's Polar Science Center.

"If we're trying to understand how these species are going to respond to climate change, we should expect to see variability in the response across populations and across time," Hauser said. "That may complicate our predictions for the future."

Continued

Video: Watch the amazing moment a beluga whale gives birth in Chinese aquarium

Incredible footage has emerged from an aquarium in China that shows the moment when one of their beluga whales gave birth to a calf she had been carrying for nearly 15 months.

The video which was taken by staff at the Changsha Underwater World in central China on 29 October shows the exact moment when the tiny calf enters the world.

According to a spokesman from the zoo, the mother, eight-year-old Zhuo Ya, had been in labour for five hours before the tiny calf appeared before amazed onlookers.

It is the first time that such an event has happened at a zoo in China and has provided Chinese marine biologists an important insight into labour process for Beluga whales.

Continued ...

Georgia Aquarium denied permission to import 18 beluga whales from Russia

NOAA Fisheries denies application to import 18 beluga whales for public display

August 2013. Following a public outcry, the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) have announced that it has denied the Georgia Aquarium's request for a permit to import 18 beluga whales from Russia for public display in the United States. NOAA Fisheries based the decision on requirements of the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA).

"The Georgia Aquarium clearly worked hard to follow the required process and submit a thorough application, and we appreciate their patience and cooperation as we carefully considered this case," said Sam Rauch, acting assistant NOAA administrator for NOAA Fisheries. "However, under the strict criteria of the law, we were unable to determine if the import of these belugas, combined with the active capture operation in Russia and other human activities, would have an adverse impact on this stock of wild beluga whales."

After careful review, NOAA Fisheries concluded that the application did not meet several of the MMPA permit criteria. NOAA Fisheries denied the permit application because:

NOAA Fisheries is unable to determine whether or not the proposed importation, by itself or in combination with other activities, would have a significant adverse impact on the Sakhalin-Amur beluga whale stock, the population that these whales are taken from;

NOAA Fisheries determined that the requested import will likely result in the taking of marine mammals beyond those authorized by the permit;

NOAA Fisheries determined that five of the beluga whales proposed for import, estimated to be approximately 1½ years old at the time of capture, were potentially still nursing and not yet independent. 

The Aquarium sought to import the whales from Utrish Marine Mammal Research Station on Russia's Black Sea Coast for public display at its own facility in Atlanta and at partner facilities, including SeaWorld of Florida, SeaWorld of Texas, SeaWorld of California and Shedd Aquarium in Chicago.

Read on

Baby Beluga Whale Is … a Girl!

A baby beluga whale born at the end of August is starting to shed its slate-colored skin for the more mature creamy-white covering, and the baby is a "she," aquarium staff have just announced.

The ever-growing calf, now 5 feet (1.5 meters) long, will make her public debut Friday (Oct. 26) at Shedd Aquarium in Chicago. Both mom and baby are plumping up, as the calf weighs about 205 pounds (93 kilograms) and is steadily packing on 12 to 15 pounds a week. Her 1,200-pound mom Mauyak has nearly tripled her normal diet — downing up to 88 pounds (40 kg) of fish daily — to accommodate a hungry, nursing calf.

"In just two months, the calf has gained weight and reached significant milestones, including bonding with mom, nursing and meeting all of the other belugas," Ken Ramirez, Shedd's executive vice president of animal care and training, said in a statement.

Read on:  http://www.livescience.com/24235-baby-beluga-whale-girl.html

Male Beluga Whale Mimics Human Voice

Move over, Moby Dick. Scientists have found a white whale capable of imitating human speech.

These findings, the first to show that whales can mimic the voices of humans, suggest that researchers might want to analyze other whales for similar abilities.

Beluga whales, also known as white whales, are known as "the canaries of the sea" because of how vocal they are. They are not the same kind of whale as the monstrous giant of the story "Moby Dick," which was a white sperm whale — belugas are actually among the smallest species of whales.

Read on: http://www.livescience.com/24166-beluga-whale-mimics-human-voice.html