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whales

Science

Intense video shows a humpback whale breaching on top of a fishing boat

"It was insane!"

Tod Perry

07.25.22

via Wikimedia Commons

Humpback whales can weigh as much as 80,000 pounds.

It’s fairly common for people to share videos of a large whale swimming by a boat or coming close to a kayak, but it’s extremely rare for a whale to make direct contact with the vessel.

A new video that is both terrifying and exhilarating shows a humpback whale breaching atop a 19-foot fishing boat. The good news, according to NBC10 Boston, is that no one was hurt and the boat wasn’t seriously damaged. A full-grown humpback whale can grow up to 52 feet long and weigh up to 80,000 pounds so it could do some serious damage.

The incident happened on Sunday, July 24, off the coast of Plymouth, Massachusetts.

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whales

Nature

'Whale nerd' zoologist says 'mind completely blown' filming 1,000 fin whales in one spot

Annie Reneau

01.20.22

Conor Ryan/Twitter

Zoologist and photographer Conor Ryan spotted 1,000 fin whales in one spot.

Conor Ryan has seen his fair share of whales, and his Twitter handle—@whale_nerd—isn't just a cutesy nickname. Ryan was just 14 years old when he published his first peer-reviewed scientific paper on killer whales with his best friend, Peter Wilson, in 2001. As a wildlife photographer, a zoologist specializing in marine biology and an expert in baleen whales and small cetaceans, he knows when he's looking at something special in the sea.

In other words, when Conor Ryan says his mind is "completely blown" by a whale sighting, you know it's a big deal. Seeing 1,000 fin whales at once? That's a very big deal.

Fin whales are the second-largest animal in the world, second only to the blue whale. In the 20th century, fin whales were hunted to near extinction before commercial whaling was outlawed. Nearly 725,000 were killed in the Southern Hemisphere alone in the mid- 1900s, and though whaling is no longer a threat, fin whales are still on the endangered species list.

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Nature

Lobster diver survives after being nearly swallowed—then spit out—by humpback whale

Annie Reneau

06.14.21

CBS This Morning/YouTube, Photo by Brad Lewis on Unsplash

"Oh my God, I'm in the mouth of a whale."

Those aren't the words commercial lobster diver Michael Packard expected to go through his head on Friday—or any day—but that's what he thought when he found himself swallowed whole by a humpback whale off the coast of Cape Cod.

Packard dives to the bottom of the ocean every day to collect lobsters, but he's never had an encounter like this one before. When he was about 45 feet down, he suddenly found himself enveloped in darkness. He told NBC 10 Boston it hit him like a truck, and for 30 seconds he was trapped inside a humpback whale's mouth. His scuba regulator fell out of his mouth, which caused extra concern momentarily, but he was able to retrieve it. However, during the ordeal, he was sure he was going to die.

"I just was struggling, but I knew this was this massive creature. There was no way I was going to bust myself out of there," Packard said. He thought of his two sons, ages 12 and 16, his wife, and his mother, believing he was going to die inside a whale and leave them all behind.

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animals

Nature

Here's the first ever footage of a baby sperm whale nursing from its mother

Annie Reneau

04.13.21

National Geographic/YouTube

We know that mammals feed their young with milk from their own bodies, and we know that whales are mammals. But the logistics of how some whales make breastfeeding happen has been a bit of a mystery for scientists. Such has been the case with sperm whales.

Sperm whales are uniquely shaped, with humongous, block-shaped heads that house the largest brains in the animal world. Like other cetaceans, sperm whale babies rely on their mother's milk for sustenance in their first year or two. And also like other cetaceans, a sperm whale mama's nipple is inverted—it doesn't stick out from her body like many mammals, but rather is hidden inside a mammary slit.

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animals

Nature

Amazing footage shows a beluga whale playing 'fetch' with marine researchers

Tod Perry

11.08.19

via The Guardian / YouTube

Beluga whales are affectionately known as sea canaries for their song-like vocalizations, and their name is the Russian word for "white."

They are sociable animals that live, hunt, and migrate together in pods, ranging from a few individuals to hundreds of whales. However, they are naturally reticent to interact with humans, although some solitary belugas are known to approach boats.

Once such beluga that's believed to live in Norwegian waters is so comfortable among humans that it played fetch with a rugby ball.

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Planet

Joe Rogan called out SeaWorld’s treatment of dolphins and whales and he makes a great point.

Tod Perry

07.22.19

The 2013 documentary "Blackfish" shined a light on the cruelty that orcas face in captivity and created a sea change in the public's perception of SeaWorld and other marine life parks.

This "Blackfish" backlash nearly deep-sixed SeaWorld and led Canada to pass a law that bans oceanariums from breeding whales and dolphins or holding them in captivity. Animals currently being held in Canada's marine parks are allowed to remain as well as those taken in for rehabilitation.

Podcaster and MMA announcer Joe Rogan saluted Canada's decision on a recent episode.

"First of all, what assholes are we that we have those goddman things in captivity? A big fucking shout out to Canada because Canada, mostly probably through the noise that my friend Phil Demers has created in trying to get MarineLand shut down, Canada has banned all dolphin and all whale captivity. It's amazing. I hope the United States does it well, I hope it goes worldwide," Rogan told his guest, economist and mathematician Eric Weinstein.

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popular

Canada just passed the “Free Willy” bill, making it illegal to keep dolphins and whales in captivity.

A historic win.

Annie Reneau

06.11.19

Canva

In a historic win for cetaceans and animal-rights activists, Canada is banning the practice of keeping whales, dolphins, and porpoises in captivity.

Remember the scene in Free Willy when the Orca who had been living in an amusement park finally leapt into the wide open ocean and the whole audience cheered? Well, that iconic scene is taking on new significance in Canada this week, as the nation's House of Commons just passed a bill making it illegal to keep dolphins, whales, and porpoises in captivity for breeding or entertainment purposes.

Bill S-203, or The Ending the Captivity of Whales and Dolphins Act (known colloquially as the "Free Willy Act") means anyone found capturing the animals, holding them captive, or procuring their embryos or sperm, can be fined up to $200,000.

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whales

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whales

Intense video shows a humpback whale breaching on top of a fishing boat

"It was insane!"

'Whale nerd' zoologist says 'mind completely blown' filming 1,000 fin whales in one spot

Lobster diver survives after being nearly swallowed—then spit out—by humpback whale

Here's the first ever footage of a baby sperm whale nursing from its mother

Amazing footage shows a beluga whale playing 'fetch' with marine researchers

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RELATED: A brutally honest kindergarten teacher shares five reasons why she quit the profession

Joe Rogan called out SeaWorld’s treatment of dolphins and whales and he makes a great point.

12-year-old makes and donates bow ties to help shelter animals find their forever homes.

It's save the vaquita week. What you should know about the world's most adorable and endangered porpoise.

Canada just passed the “Free Willy” bill, making it illegal to keep dolphins and whales in captivity.

A historic win.

In a historic win for cetaceans and animal-rights activists, Canada is banning the practice of keeping whales, dolphins, and porpoises in captivity.

The bill makes exceptions for animals that are being rescued and rehabilitated, and for limited scientific research.

It was a hard-won victory, taking four years for the bill to pass through the Canadian legislature.

Airbnb host wakes his guest up in the middle of the night so she wouldn't miss the northern lights

People are loving this Amazon delivery driver for warning a woman that her house is 'unsafe'

Guy shares the reason viral gym videos need to end, and it's so spot on

A group of vacationing young friends expose their buddy's secret: He's an 'airport dad'

Ricky the kitten spent 2 weeks at Gramma and Grampa's and the photobook is everything

A major UCLA study says that at least 65 species of animals laugh