ORCAS HAVE BEEN SINKING BOATS

It's true... there have been a number of reports.


DIVE MAGAZINE : ORCAS SINK BOAT - PORTUGAL


OUTSIDE ONLIE : WE SAILED THROUGH ORCA ALLEY - BOATS RAMMED -SINKING


Excerpt: Along the Iberian Peninsula, where the North Atlantic collides with the rugged coastlines of Spain and Portugal before pinching into the Mediterranean Sea, an endangered subpopulation of orcas has developed the unfortunate habit of ramming into sailboats. The powerful animals target the rudders, often breaking them and destroying or disabling a boat’s steering. Such force can sometimes also damage a boat’s hull and cause a leak.

Orcas, also called killer whales (Orcinus orca), are known for their prowess as marine predators, and they’re intelligent and highly social. Across their global range, they’re unusually flexible in what they eat, how they hunt, and where they call home. Among their many talents, they’re masters of surprise.

ROBERT E. FULLER COMBINES ACTIVISM WITH ART : HUMPBACK WHALES IN ALASKAN WATERS

A few months ago I started watching Robert. E. Fullers YouTube channel.  What an amazing person! This short video on humpback whales is just one of his very many.  If you follow his channel you'll learn how to help birds survive by building safe nesting spots for them, and so much more.  Robert is also fine artist who sells his work.

DRONES RECORD HUNDREDS OF WHALES : CHANGES IN SIZE OF FEMALES AND CALVES : DROP IN BIRTHRATE : HEATWAVES EFFECT

SEATTLE TIMES : DRONES RECORD HUNDREDS OF WHALES by Brendan Rascius  of McClatchy News 

EXCERPT: ... scientists documented dramatic changes in the size of the mothers and calves and in humpback birthrates.
Changes in size

Between 2018 and 2022, “a total of 2,410 measurements were taken from 1,659 individuals, with 405 repeat measurements from 137 lactating females used to track changes in maternal body volume over migration,” Martin van Aswegen, one of the study authors, said in a news release from the University of Hawaii at Manoa.

In six months, they decreased in body volume by 17% on average. Specifically, the mothers off Hawaii — where the whales breed — lost about 214 pounds of blubber each day.

Comparatively, nonpregnant and pregnant females off Alaska — where the whales feed — gained size much faster than new mothers, putting on weight between two and six times the rate of lactating females.

Calves, in contrast, rapidly put on weight. They increased their body volume by about 395%, and their length increased by nearly 60%.

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KEEP READING! 

WINTER ANIMALS ON ICE

Which one is the WALRUS?

 

ARE HAWAII's WHALES "MISSING" OR JUST FEEDING ELSEWHERE

WHALE WATCHING TOURISM is big in Hawaii, but what about the Hump Backed Whales.  Various articles suggest that they have died, or are feeding elsewhere because of the changes in water temperatures of the ocean due to Global Warming. 

INQUISITOR - MISSING WHALES - ALASKA DEATHS RELATED?

EXCERPT:

Hawaii’s humpback whales are missing in large numbers based upon early 2016 reports. Normally, beginning in early November, around 10,000 humpback whales travel from Alaska to Hawaii in order spend the winter in the warmer waters off the Hawaian islands. But, so far, officials at the Humpback Whale Marine Sanctuary say they have not been seeing the usual number of humpback whale sightings, making it a mystery to be solved. While it’s possible the El Nino weather patterns are a factor, earlier in the fall of 2015 other researchers at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric

Administration (NOAA) noticed an alarming number of whale deaths near Alaska.
Read more at http://www.inquisitr.com/2679321/hawaii-humpback-whales-missing-in-2016-are-alaska-whale-deaths-related/#OajoED1ETQryOwgl.99

35,000 WALRUS HAUL OUT ON SAND INSTEAD OF ICE IN ALASKA

NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC - 35,000 WALRUS - GLOBAL WARMING - ALASKA

EXCERPT: Summer sea ice is retreating far north of the shallow continental shelf waters of the Chukchi Sea in U.S. and Russian waters, a condition that did not occur a decade ago," the USGS website says. "To keep up with their normal resting periods between feeding bouts to the seafloor, walruses have simply hauled out onto shore."

...

The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), which tracks the status of species worldwide, says there's not enough information about walrus population trends to say whether the species—which has three subspecies, the Atlantic, Pacific, and Laptev walrus—is in decline.

However, "climate change is expected to have negative consequences for Walruses, and particularly severe consequences for the Pacific subspecies," according to the IUCN website.

For one, calves are particularly at risk of disease and from stampedes. Upon a disturbance, whether that's a polar bear or a boat in the distance, walruses tend to rush to the water.

SNEAKY WHALES CAUGHT STEALING MEALS

"Sperm whales (Physeter macrocephalus), which are the largest of the toothed whales, echolocate to pinpoint their prey. Basically, they wmit clicking sounds that bounce off potential meals, including large squid and other fish. Scientists think an organ inside the animal's massive head (which can take up 25 to 35 percent of its body length) plays a role in transmitting the clicks." Jeanna Bryner