Thanks to its historic isolation, Madagascar has long been famed for its unique wildlife, ranging from lemurs and rare chameleons to exotic birds and the carnivorous, cat-like fossa. But now a new study published in the journal Endangered Species Research has revealed that the island nation is also a hotspot for whale sharks (the world’s largest fish). …
Shelby Eisenberg begins her record-setting descent in waters off Grand Cayman. (Courtesy: Joakim Hjelm ) KONA, HAWAII (HawaiiNewsNow) –A Kona resident set the U.S. freediving record on Saturday in Grand Cayman, according to USA Freediving, the sport’s governing body. Shelby “Shell” Eisenberg, a freediving instructor who lives and works in Kona, broke the Women’s National …
Ahmedabad: The satellite tagging of two whale sharks off the Gujarat coast by scientists of the Wildlife Trust of India (WTI) and the Gujarat forest department, some time ago, has allowed researchers a 350 -day and a 150-day peek into the lives of the world’s largest fish. The whale shark is among the least studied fish species. …
On Friday May 4, Patrick Cena, a local resident, spotted an injured green sea turtle washing ashore in Christmas Cove. According to Erica Palmer, a Coral World veterinary technician, who is also a sea turtle assistance and rescue responder, “Patrick contacted Coral World for assistance. He then transported Matt Tartaglio, Coral World assistant curator, and …
HARLINGEN — They came, they dug and they laid. The first big day of sea turtle nesting season on Texas beaches Monday resulted in 41 total nests confirmed from San Jose Island near Rockport south to Boca Chica Beach. On South Padre Island, Sea Turtle Inc. reported 13 turtle nests confirmed, along with an additional …
New research led by University of Otago scientists indicates there is growing evidence that whale and dolphin-watching activities can adversely affect the marine mammals. The study “Behavioural responses of spinner dolphins to human interactions” was published recently by the journal Royal Society Open Science. The research focused on populations of spinner dolphins off the coast …
In 2016, the International Union for Conservation of Nature moved the whale shark from ‘vulnerable’ status to ‘endangered’ after concluding that its population had fallen by about 50 per cent in the past 75 years. SIMON J. PIERCE The Maldives, a sandy necklace of islands that stretches 750 kilometres across the Indian Ocean, just north …
A whale shark has made the longest migration journey ever recorded travelling 12,000 miles across the Pacific Ocean. The large fish, named Anne by scientists, was tracked making the mammoth migration from near Panama in the south eastern Pacific, to an area close to the Philippines in the Indo-Pacific. Experts at the Smithsonian Tropical Research …
Whale sharks are filter feeders, eating plankton, fish eggs, krill, crab larvae as well as small squid and fish that enter their large mouths. They cannot digest plastic garbage. Credit: Kevan Mantell Little is known about the world’s largest living fish, gentle giants reaching 12 meters (40 feet) in length. Researchers from the Smithsonian Tropical …
How do you get inside a whale’s head? With a CT-scanner made for rocket bodies, that’s how. Researchers from San Diego State University stuck an entire juvenile minke whale inside a computed tomography (CT) scanning machine to virtually slice and dice its anatomy with X-rays. Their goal was to get a look at the structures …
