https://phys.org/ en-us Phys.org internet news portal provides the latest news on science including: Physics, Nanotechnology, Life Sciences, Space Science, Earth Science, Environment, Health and Medicine. Whales, dolphins and other marine mammals are highly social, but those social ties can also help diseases spread through populations of rare or threatened species. https://phys.org/news/2026-01-marine-mammal-social-diseases-ocean.html Plants & Animals Fri, 16 Jan 2026 08:49:29 EST news687775741 After a dead whale was found on the bow of a container ship docked in New Jersey, authorities were working Tuesday to remove the carcass and determine the endangered animal's cause of death. https://phys.org/news/2026-01-dead-whale-ship-jersey.html Ecology Wed, 07 Jan 2026 04:45:12 EST news686983484 New research has revealed that marine mammals who live far below the ocean's surface are not immune from the burden of toxic forever chemicals, with whales and dolphins showing unprecedented levels of PFAS contamination. https://phys.org/news/2025-11-unprecedented-chemicals-dolphins-whales.html Environment Thu, 27 Nov 2025 09:20:01 EST news683212807 Knowing the age of an animal reveals key information about how long it lives and when it reproduces. https://phys.org/news/2025-11-age-dolphins-window-iconic-animals.html Plants & Animals Fri, 14 Nov 2025 07:27:04 EST news682327622 Bottlenose dolphins have been dying from Morbillivirus at alarming rates in recent decades. Infected and sick animals suffer a combination of symptoms similar to pneumonia, encephalitis, and a damaged immune system. https://phys.org/news/2025-08-synchronized-diseases-bottlenose-dolphins-cetaceans.html Plants & Animals Thu, 21 Aug 2025 15:00:01 EDT news675006061 Paleontologists from the University of Zurich have announced the discovery of a new species of freshwater dolphin in the Peruvian Amazon region. Surprisingly, its closest living relatives can be found in the river dolphins of South Asia. https://phys.org/news/2024-03-ancient-giant-dolphin-amazon.html Paleontology & Fossils Wed, 20 Mar 2024 14:00:01 EDT news630146931 An international team of marine scientists has observed multiple instances of bottlenose dolphins attacking manatee calves over many years. In their paper published in the open-access journal PLOS ONE, the group describes the behavior they observed and suggest possible explanations for what they describe as antagonistic interactions between dolphins and young manatee. https://phys.org/news/2024-01-bottlenose-dolphins-manatee-calves.html Plants & Animals Tue, 23 Jan 2024 10:15:19 EST news625227317 A team of zoologists, environmental scientists, marine biologists and life scientists affiliated with several institutions in Ireland and the U.K. has found that despite international bans, persistent organic pollutants (POPs) continue to be both widespread and pervasive in the environment, including the world's oceans. https://phys.org/news/2023-11-years-persistent-pollutants-threat-marine.html Plants & Animals Tue, 28 Nov 2023 10:13:38 EST news620388816 Research shows Amazon river dolphins are under threat from fishing and proposed new dams and dredging. Scientists have used satellite tags to track eight dolphins in the Peruvian Amazon, to discover where they went in relation to fishing areas and proposed dams and dredging sites. https://phys.org/news/2023-06-amazon-dolphins-fishing-dredging.html Plants & Animals Mon, 03 Jul 2023 05:00:01 EDT news607350246 Dolphins and porpoises are welcome features of Australia's coastline however little is known about the predation risk they face from sharks in their habitat. https://phys.org/news/2023-05-reveals-incidence-shark-predation-australian.html Plants & Animals Thu, 25 May 2023 12:41:26 EDT news604237283 France's top administrative court on Monday ordered the government to ban fishing in parts of the Atlantic to protect dolphins which have washed up dead in their hundreds. https://phys.org/news/2023-03-french-court-fishing-dolphins.html Ecology Mon, 20 Mar 2023 14:12:28 EDT news598540343 Cambodian premier Hun Sen on Monday ordered the creation of conservation zones on the Mekong river to protect critically endangered dolphins, after three were killed by fishing nets and lines last month. https://phys.org/news/2023-01-cambodian-leader-mekong-safe-zones.html Plants & Animals Mon, 02 Jan 2023 07:17:52 EST news591866270 Three endangered freshwater dolphins have died within 10 days of each other, alarming conservationists in Cambodia. https://phys.org/news/2022-12-deaths-endangered-cambodian-dolphins-alarm.html Ecology Mon, 26 Dec 2022 06:34:34 EST news591258870 A team of researchers, including experts from the University of St Andrews, have documented the longest recorded movement in an inshore bottlenose dolphin—an incredible journey of 2,053 km (approximately 1,276 miles). https://phys.org/news/2022-12-preeren-dolphin-long-distance.html Plants & Animals Thu, 22 Dec 2022 13:26:03 EST news590937961 Two spinner dolphins died from toxoplasmosis after becoming infected with the parasite Toxoplasma gondii, according to researchers at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa Health and Stranding Lab. One dolphin was stranded on Hawaiʻi Island in 2015 and the other on Oʻahu in 2019. https://phys.org/news/2022-11-disease-cats-pigs-spinner-dolphins.html Ecology Fri, 18 Nov 2022 11:23:40 EST news587993017 An Irrawaddy dolphin calf who was rescued and nursed day and night for weeks by veterinarians and volunteers after his rescue from a tidal pool on Thailand's shore has died despite all their efforts, officials who were providing emergency care for the animal said Wednesday. https://phys.org/news/2022-09-irrawaddy-dolphin-calf-dies-weeks.html Ecology Wed, 07 Sep 2022 04:29:25 EDT news581743763 The Irrawaddy dolphin calf—sick and too weak to swim—was drowning in a tidal pool on Thailand's shore when fishermen found him. https://phys.org/news/2022-08-sick-dolphin-calf-tube-fed.html Ecology Sat, 27 Aug 2022 04:28:51 EDT news580793326 Dozens of turtles, dolphins and other marine species have been found dead on Guatemala's Pacific coast, prompting an official investigation, authorities said Thursday. https://phys.org/news/2022-06-dozens-turtles-dolphins-dead-guatemala.html Ecology Fri, 24 Jun 2022 04:35:06 EDT news575264104 Twenty million years ago, the Swiss Plateau region, or Mittelland, was an ocean in which dolphins swam. Researchers at the University of Zurich's Paleontological Institute have now discovered two previously unknown species related to modern sperm whales and oceanic dolphins, which they identified based on ear bones. https://phys.org/news/2022-05-previously-unknown-dolphin-species-ancient.html Paleontology & Fossils Tue, 17 May 2022 13:05:59 EDT news572011557 Ocean-dwelling dolphins have repeatedly adapted to life in coastal areas throughout history. https://phys.org/news/2021-12-dolphins-coast.html Plants & Animals Wed, 08 Dec 2021 09:47:33 EST news558179248 Lowering gillnets into the water—instead of using them on the surface—can lower the chances of tuna fishermen accidentally hauling in dolphins and whales, according to new research led by Florida International University and World Wildlife Fund (WWF) in Pakistan. https://phys.org/news/2021-09-nets-surface-fishermen-percent-dolphins.html Plants & Animals Tue, 21 Sep 2021 16:06:00 EDT news551459157 In their search for pink river dolphins, researchers in the Peruvian Amazon scooped up river water sloshing with genetic material that they hoped could trace the elusive creatures. https://phys.org/news/2021-09-world-dna-tool-nature-tracking.html Ecology Tue, 07 Sep 2021 11:54:45 EDT news550234480 Freshwater dolphins are flourishing in a stretch of Pakistan's main river after a helping hand from fishermen mobilised to defend a rare species driven to near-extinction. https://phys.org/news/2021-07-foe-friend-fishermen-endangered-pakistan.html Ecology Thu, 15 Jul 2021 03:40:01 EDT news545538925 After two decades of research, a scientific study, led by the University of St Andrews, has recognized the endangered Indus and Ganges river dolphins as separate species. https://phys.org/news/2021-03-endangered-dolphins-species-scientists.html Plants & Animals Wed, 24 Mar 2021 08:45:07 EDT news535794303 Scientific evidence shows specialized features in the large brains of whales and dolphins that are adapted for heat production. https://phys.org/news/2021-03-whale-dolphin-brains-specialfor-production.html Plants & Animals Tue, 09 Mar 2021 10:18:08 EST news534507484 A dolphin species considered regionally extinct in the Adriatic has been spotted there repeatedly off the Italian and Slovenian coast, according to research led by a marine scientist at the University of St Andrews. https://phys.org/news/2020-08-uncommon-dolphin-repeatedly-northern-adriatic.html Plants & Animals Mon, 24 Aug 2020 10:52:26 EDT news517485141 Cooperation is one of the most important abilities for any social species. From hunting, breeding, and child rearing, it has allowed many animals—including humans—to survive and thrive. As we better understand the details on how animals work together, researchers have been focusing on the degree of cooperation and the cognitive abilities required for such activity. https://phys.org/news/2019-10-flipper-dolphins-cooperation.html Plants & Animals Mon, 28 Oct 2019 10:45:11 EDT news491478304 Active sensors are incorporated into a number of technologies, such as meteorology devices and self-driving cars, and use the echo from sound, radio or light waves to locate objects. But despite nearly a century of development, these active sensing technologies still fail to replicate the performance of sonars (sound waves) used in the biological world by dolphins and bats for echolocation. https://phys.org/news/2018-11-dolphins-ultimate-sonar.html Plants & Animals Thu, 08 Nov 2018 09:17:38 EST news460891049 China's critically endangered Yangtze River porpoise is a distinct species, meaning it cannot interbreed with other porpoise types to pass on its DNA, a major analysis of the creature's genome revealed on Tuesday. https://phys.org/news/2018-04-porpoise-gene-river-pig-unique.html Plants & Animals Tue, 10 Apr 2018 12:29:44 EDT news442582176 Mexico announced plans Friday to use trained dolphins to corral the last remaining vaquita marina porpoises into a protected breeding ground, a last-ditch bid to save the critically endangered species. https://phys.org/news/2017-07-mexico-dolphins-endangered-vaquita-porpoise.html Ecology Sat, 01 Jul 2017 04:23:01 EDT news418101754