whales

The younger generation of critically endangered North Atlantic right whales are on average about three feet shorter than whales were 20 years, drone and aircraft data show in a study in Thursday’s journal Current Biology.

When a killer whale circled back toward wildlife photographer Brian Skerry in the middle of the ocean after discarding the giant sting ray it was devouring, panic is not what came to mind: “Part of my brain is thinking I can’t believe what I’m seeing,” recalled Skerry.

Scientists say critically endangered North Atlantic right whales gave birth over the winter in the greatest numbers seen since 2015

A New Jersey beach is the final resting place for a 15-ton whale whose lifeless body washed ashore on Christmas day. State and local officials used heavy equipment to bury the 31-foot male humpback whale on a beach Monday morning. The whale was frozen solid and could not be cut into pieces for removal, as is commonly done in other…

A Connecticut fishing captain is sharing his once-in-a-lifetime sighting—he saw several whales on the Long Island Sound. When Captain Joe Diorio set out from Old Lyme Wednesday on a fishing charter, a whale was the last thing he expected to see… until it happened. “Basically I just see this huge whale come right out of the water. I was like...

A Connecticut fishing captain spotted several whales of the coast in the Long Island Sound.

If you’re young and hungry, the place to go is New York City — even if you weigh 25 tons and have a blowhole. Whale watch captains and scientists around America’s most populous city say recent years have seen a tremendous surge in the number of whales observed in the waters around the Big Apple. Many of the whales are…

The COVID-19 pandemic has prevented researchers from helping identify Right Whales in danger.

Climate change has been impacting North Atlantic Right Whales for decades and now, COVID-19 is creating an added challenge for the species. Ten right whale calves were born this spring. It is a low number, but a big improvement for the struggling population. Tragically, several of the calves born this year have already been found dead. “The population is now…

Ships are hitting and killing whales off the California coast at some of the highest rates in more than a decade, according to data obtained and tabulated by the NBC Bay Area Investigative Unit. The spike in ‘ship strikes’ comes despite a 5-year government initiative to slow down vessels as they make their way into San Francisco Bay.

The assistant curator at Mystic Aquarium talks about the fun she has at her job and why the aquarium’s mission is so important.