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☆ ‘Save the Whales’ was a shining success. Now can humpbacks save us from ourselves?
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-04 | by ( Bill Weir | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +15 min

Antarctic Peninsula CNN —About 15 billion miles from where you sit, two 12-inch golden records are hurtling through outer space with multilingual greetings to the universe from 55 humans and one humpback whale. WWF's Johnson said the whales are not harmed by this -- to the whales, the dart feels like "a mosquito bite." It feels like “a mosquito bite” to the whales, Johnson said, but what they can test for is priceless: from stress hormones to toxins to — most importantly — pregnancy rates. Ten million copies were inserted into National Geographic magazine in 1979 — the largest single pressing in history — and a global movement to Save The Whales grew big enough to … save the whales. Seth Wenig/AP“I don’t think a wind turbine can kill a whale,” Friedlaender told CNN.

Persons: Anderson Cooper, Carl Sagan, ” Sagan, could’ve, “, Ari Friedlaender, Friedlaender, ”, Chris Johnson, ” Eva Prendergast, WWF's Johnson, Evelio Contreras, Bill Weir, Johnson, ” Friedlaender, Shepherd, WWF’s Johnson, Roger, Katy Payne, David Keyton, Frank Watlington, cetologist Scott McVay, Donald Trump, ” Trump, Seth Wenig, that’s, Biden, ” Johnson, Twain, CNN “, ” Brenda McCowan, Fred Sharpe, ” McCowan, ’ ” Sharpe, Natalia Botero, Acosta, ’, Maria Camila Medina Martínez, Julian Quinones, ” Carl Sagan Organizations: Antarctic Peninsula CNN, “, ” CNN CNN, University of California, International Monetary Fund, World Wildlife Fund, Ocean Endeavor, CNN, UC Santa Cruz, Shepherd Global, Norwegian Aker, United Nations, Geographic, Whales, International Whaling Commission, Atlantic, Republican, Templeton Foundation, Whale SETI, UC Davis Locations: Santa Cruz, Colombia, British, Antarctica, Norwegian, Southern, Orkney, Bermuda, Japan, Norway, Iceland, Atlantic, South Carolina, Lido Beach , New York, Davis, Alaska, Columbia, Colombian, Tribuga, United Nations, Palau, Chile, Maldives

☆ How the Azores islands went from whale hunting to whale watching
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-12 | by ( Anne Pinto | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +10 min

Soon, factories processing whale oil, meat and bones sprung up on the islands. After crude oil was discovered in 1859, the demand for whale oil decreased dramatically in the following decades. In 1990, French national Serge Viallele set up the first whale watching company in the archipelago, on Pico island. The number of whale watching boats is strictly limited by a license system, which issues a maximum number per island – or per zone for the smaller islands. For now, whale watching remains a major draw for visitors to the islands.

Persons: ”, Rui de Souza Martins, Azorean, they’d, De Agostini, –, – didn’t, José Carlos Garcia, São Miguel, Pedro Madruga, wasn’t, Francois Gohier, Serge Viallele, “ Viallele, Miguel Cravinho, Francisco Garcia, ” de Souza Martins, you’ll, Martin Zwick, Jean, Michel Cousteau, Luís Silva, Garcia, “ Organizations: CNN, University of, Whaling, Whalers, Netflix, International Whaling Commission, IWC, Azul, World Cetacean Alliance, Centre for Research Locations: Azores, Lisbon, Azoreans, Portugal, United States, Nantucket and New Bedford , Massachusetts, Massachusetts, Pico, Francois, Terra Azul, Miguel, Europe

☆ Whales swimming behind fishing vessels catch an easy feast of escaped fish, but experts warn this 'free meal' is risky, potentially lethal behavior
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-03 | by ( Rupendra Brahambhatt | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

Sperm and bottlenose whales are known to pursue fishing boats to catch fish that escape the nets. Hal Whitehead, a sperm whale expert and biology professor at Dalhousie University, told Insider. What's even more interesting is that it's not only whales that have learned to catch fish escaping the fishermen's nets. Usua Oyarbide"As time goes on we hear more and more reports of everything from sperm whales to dolphins doing this. "I've known about sperm whales being engaged with different fisheries but I wasn't aware northern Bottlenose whales show similar behavior, so I've learned something new."

Persons: It's, Whales, Usua, Usua Oyarbide, Oyarbide, Hal Whitehead, wasn't, Andrew Trites, Vince Streano, Whitehead, Trites, I've Organizations: Service, Greenland, Dalhousie University, Marine Mammal Research, University of British, International Whaling Commission, National Oceanic, Atmospheric Administration Locations: Wall, Silicon, Newfoundland, Greenland, University of British Columbia, Canada, Africa, China, Australia

☆ Iceland resumes fin whale hunting, but killing needs to be faster
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-31 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

REUTERS/Sigtryggur Johannsson/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsOSLO, Aug 31 (Reuters) - Iceland's government said on Thursday it will resume hunting fin whales after a two-month halt, but with new guidelines aimed at killing them as quickly as possible to reduce suffering. Iceland resumed hunting fin whales, which can reach lengths of over 20 metres (65 feet), in 2006 after a 20-year pause. Although several are still endangered or even on the brink of extinction, Iceland, along with Norway and Japan, have resumed commercial whaling. The hunting will be resumed after a government working group concluded that it was possible to improve the hunting methods. Iceland's public broadcaster said whale hunters would be required to complete a course in whale biology, pain perception and stress.

Persons: Sigtryggur, Nerijus, Sandra Maler Organizations: REUTERS, Rights, International Whaling Commission, Ministry of Food, Agriculture, Fisheries, Thomson Locations: Reykjavik, Rights OSLO, Iceland, Norway, Japan

☆ Virgin Galactic’s first space tourists had a ‘surreal experience’
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-12 | by ( Ashley Strickland | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

Billionaire Richard Branson founded Virgin Galactic in 2004, and it built up a backlog of 800 paying passengers. Andres Leighton/APVirgin Galactic’s rocket-powered space plane carried its first group of tourists on a brief trip Thursday. Entrepreneur and health and wellness coach Keisha Schahaff and her daughter Anastatia Mayers were the first space travelers from Antigua. The skull’s lower jaw has particularly confounded scientists because it combines features of Homo sapiens and another ancient human relative — the mysterious Denisovans. ConsequencesA close-up shot reveals the details of the ancient moss Takakia growing on the Tibetan Plateau.

Persons: Richard Branson, Jon Goodwin, Anastatia Mayers, Keisha Schahaff, Andres Leighton, Mayers, Goodwin, Xuedong Li, Hupehsuchus nanchangensis, Shu, Long Cheng, James Webb, Ashley Strickland, Katie Hunt Organizations: CNN, Virgin Galactic, AP Virgin Galactic’s, International Whaling Commission, Wuhan Center, China Geological Survey, University of Bristol, James Webb Space, CNN Space, Science Locations: Antigua, Russia, India, China, Tibetan, Wuhan, Egypt, Thailand, Switzerland

☆ Vaquita porpoise: Extinction alert issued for critically endangered marine mammal
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-09 | by ( Amaya Mcdonald | Ashley Strickland | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

CNN —The International Whaling Commission released its first-ever extinction alert Monday to warn of the potential danger facing the critically endangered vaquita porpoise. The scientific committee believes the vaquita population has a chance of recovery if stronger enforcement is placed on the ban on gillnets in their habitat. The vaquita population has varied from a few thousand to 5,000 over the last 250,000 years, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. But maintaining a small population for so long has actually helped the vaquitas, which have a 21-year lifespan, reducing the risks of inbreeding because they have less genetic variation among them. The marine mammals are also less susceptible to harmful genetic mutations that might otherwise cause their offspring to die.

Persons: ” Vaquitas “, Kate Wilson, ” Kirk Lohmueller, CNN’s Kristen Rogers Organizations: CNN, Whaling Commission, International Union for Conservation, IWC, Gulf of, National Oceanic, Atmospheric Administration, University of California Locations: Gulf of California, Mexico, Gulf, China, Mexico’s Gulf of California, Cortez, Los Angeles

☆ Extinction alert issued for Mexico's threatened vaquita porpoise
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-07 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

A mother and calf vaquita, a critically endangered small tropical porpoise native to MexicoÕs Gulf of California, surface in the waters off San Felipe, Mexico in this handout picture taken in 2008. Paula Olson/NOAA Fisheries/Handout via REUTERS/ File PhotoMEXICO CITY, Aug 7 (Reuters) - The International Whaling Commission (IWC) said on Monday it has issued an extinction alert for the endangered vaquita porpoise, whose population is estimated to have shrunk to less than a dozen, marking the institution's first-ever extinction warning. The critically endangered vaquita, the world's smallest porpoise and native to Mexico's Gulf of California, has been imperiled by illegal gill net fishing for an endangered fish called the totoaba, whose bladder is highly valued in Asia. The alert, the IWC said, stems from its belief that a new mechanism is needed "to voice extinction concerns for an increasing range of cetacean species and populations." "The extinction of the vaquita is inevitable unless 100% of gillnets are substituted immediately with alternative fishing gears that protect the vaquita and the livelihoods of fishers," it said.

Persons: Paula Olson, Matthew Lewis Organizations: NOAA Fisheries, REUTERS, Whaling Commission, IWC, U.S, Carolina, Thomson Locations: MexicoÕs Gulf of California, San Felipe, Mexico, MEXICO, Mexico's Gulf of California, Asia, U.S

☆ Japan launches whale meat vending machines to promote sales
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-28 | by ( Associated Press | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +2 min

“As a result, many consumers who want to eat it cannot find or buy whale meat. Kashiwabara says she is aware of the whaling controversy but that whale meat brings back her childhood memories of eating it at family dinners and school lunches. But whale meat is part of Japanese food culture and we can respect the lives of whales by appreciating their meat,” Kashiwabara said. Still, conservative governing lawmakers staunchly support commercial whaling and consumption of the meat as part of Japan’s cultural tradition. Conservationists say whale meat is no longer part of the daily diet in Japan, especially for younger generations.

☆ Japan whaling firm pins hopes on vending machines to revive sales
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-24 | by ( Chris Gallagher | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

[1/6] A customer buys whale meat on the opening day of the shop by a Japanese whale-hunting company with vending machines, in Yokohama, Japan, January 24, 2023. REUTERS/Androniki ChristodoulouYOKOHAMA, Jan 24 (Reuters) - A Japanese whaling firm unveiled vending machines offering whale sashimi, whale steak and whale bacon in Yokohama on Tuesday in hopes of reviving sales of a food long in decline and shunned by many supermarkets. At its peak in 1962, annual whale meat consumption was 233,000 tonnes. Conservationists say moves to promote whale meat are desperate attempts to revive interest in a struggling business. Whale meat advocates point to its high protein content and low carbon footprint compared with other meats.

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