“Finding a ‘#whale #necropolis’ where there are nearly 800 #skeletons per square kilometre is a surprise, and the mix of whale types is a puzzle.”
Deepest and most extensive whale #graveyard discovered in #IndianOcean | #Whales | The Guardian https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2026/jun/10/deepest-most-extensive-whale-graveyard-discovered-indian-ocean #science #biology #MarineBiology #ocean #cetaceans
"Bryde's whales form a major coastal aggregation in the Beibu Gulf, China. Using 1 year of continuous island-based seismic recordings from Xieyang Island, we established a large labeled data set of coastal Bryde's whale calls with more than 1.7 million samples. A convolutional neural network trained on these data achieved 99.7% accuracy in binary classification of seismic spectrograms as whale call or non-call. Analysis of the detected calls revealed ultralow frequencies down to 5 Hz and rhythmic repetition with variable interpulse intervals. Vocal activity persisted from January to July, with a preliminary suggestion of reduced calling during early afternoon hours. These results demonstrate the effectiveness of onshore seismometers and deep learning for continuous, low-cost monitoring of coastal baleen whales."
https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1029/2026GL122728?af=R
The findings provide the first quantitative evidence that nutritional stress and environmental shifts may be driving the decline of false killer whale populations, which now number fewer than 140 individuals.
Hidden beneath Arctic waters, beluga whales have long kept their family lives a mystery. By analyzing DNA from more than 600 belugas in Alaska’s Bristol Bay over 13 years, researchers uncovered a surprisingly flexible mating system: both males and females regularly have offspring with different partners over their lifetimes.
Canada's government endorsed a plan Wednesday to move the last remaining captive whales from a shuttered theme park in Ontario to aquariums in the United States and Spain—a plan that could save them from mass euthanasia if the deal goes through.
Dave J
Science | The Guardian
Kate 
Doug Bostrom
michael
Environment | The Guardian US
