In the 2016 sci-fi movie "Arrival," a linguist and a theoretical physicist race against time to communicate with endangered extraterrestrial heptapods wishing to share their wisdom and technologies with the human race so ...
Plants & Animals
Jul 15, 2022
2
1616
The winter calving season for critically endangered right whales has nearly ended with zero newborns spotted in the past four months—a reproductive drought that scientists who study the fragile species haven't seen in three ...
Plants & Animals
Mar 26, 2018
1
814
Scientists know that age and weight are risk factors in the development of cancer. That should mean that whales, which include some of the largest and longest-lived animals on Earth, have an outsized risk of developing cancer.
Molecular & Computational biology
May 9, 2019
1
266
Whales undertake some of the longest migrations on earth, often swimming many thousands of miles, over many months, to breed in the tropics. The question is why—is it to find food, or to give birth?
Plants & Animals
Feb 21, 2020
1
444
Baleen whales are the titans of the ocean, the largest animals to have ever lived. The record holder is the blue whale (Balaenoptera musculus), which can reach lengths of up to 30 meters. That's longer than a basketball court.
Evolution
Dec 20, 2023
0
199
Endangered Southern Resident killer whales prey on a diversity of Chinook and other salmon. The stocks come from an enormous geographic range as far north as Alaska and as far south as California's Central Valley, a new analysis ...
Ecology
Mar 3, 2021
0
375
One is the largest animal known to have ever existed. The other is a revered predator at the top of its food chain. But would a blue whale and a great white shark ever find themselves at odds with each other in the wild?
Plants & Animals
Sep 2, 2022
0
44
A small team of oceanographers from the West Iceland Nature Research Center, Orca Guardians Iceland and Dalhousie University, has observed an adult female orca swimming with and caring for a young long-finned pilot whale. ...
Female killer whales live up to 90 years in the wild, and most live an average of 22 years after menopause. Scientists have long wondered why humans and some whale species spend a significant portion of their life not reproducing.
Plants & Animals
Jul 20, 2023
0
176
Newborn humpback whales and their mothers whisper to each other to escape potential predators, scientists reported Wednesday, revealing the existence of a previously unknown survival technique.
Plants & Animals
Apr 26, 2017
0
536
