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Whales

Whaling captured the popular imagination.

The Real-Life Whale That Gave Moby Dick His Name

Mocha Dick had encounters with around 100 ships before he was finally killed

Cool Finds

Stunning Video Captures Humpback Whales Catching Fish With Nets of Bubbles

It’s a complicated but ingenious way to catch a meal

Having shown that it’s possible to identify whale species from baleen, Solazzo says, “Now we have a new tool to study those collections.”

The Innovative Spirit fy17

These Ancient Whale Baleen Artifacts Can Now Tell New Stories

How an innovative protein analysis technique helped solve a decades-old mystery

A baby gray whale surfaces in Magdalena Bay, Baja, Mexico.

A Whale’s Baleen Bristles Reveal the Story of Its Life

Like tree rings, these layered plates hold chemical clues to how the animals adapt to a changing world

Humpback whales sounding in Windham Bay, Alaska.

What Humpback Whales Can Teach Us About Compassion

Are these orca-fighting, seal-saving good Samaritans really just in it for themselves?

Kyara swimming next to her mother, Takara. At the time of her death, Kyara was just three months old.

Trending Today

Last Orca Born at SeaWorld Dies

The three-month-old creature succumbed to a case of pneumonia, according to the park

A "flukeprint" is a patch of calm water on the surface created when a whale flaps its tail as it cruises along just out of sight.

How to Spot a Hidden Whale

Just as a hunter leaves a trail in the snow, a whale forms prints on the water’s surface

The preserved whale heart weighs approximately 400 pounds.

Canada

The Painstaking Process of Preserving a 400-Pound Blue Whale Heart

This massive specimen is now on display in Canada’s Royal Ontario Museum

Southern Resident orcas frolic in Puget Sound.

New Research

Two Thirds of Southern Resident Orca Pregnancies Fail

But now scientists think they know why

A blue whale swims through the Indian Ocean. These massive creatures are the largest animals on Earth.

New Research

Why Did Whales Get So Massive?

The answer is a tale of massive proportions

Cool Finds

New Drone Footage Shows One Way Narwhals Use Their Tusks

The narwhals were observed using their signature appendages to hit and stun prey

Illustration of Mystacodon selenensis

New Research

This 36-Million-Year-Old Fossil Is a “Missing Link” in Whale Evolution

Discovered in Peru, the new fossil has tiny remnants of hind limbs

U.K. Killer Whale Contained Staggering Levels of Toxic Chemical

Lulu had one of the highest concentrations of PCBs ever recorded in a marine mammal

This copy of the first chart of the Gulf Stream was printed in 1786, ten years after Benjamin Franklin first drew it up.

Benjamin Franklin Was the First to Chart the Gulf Stream

Franklin’s cousin, Timothy Folger, knew how the then-unnamed current worked from his days as a whaler

New Research

Why Mother and Baby Humpback Whales Whisper to One Another

The quiet communication helps them avoid killer whales and randy male humpbacks

SeaWorld Announces Birth of Last Orca Bred in Captivity

The calf’s mother was pregnant when SeaWorld cancelled its controversial breeding program

Cool Finds

Jaw-Dropping Video Shows Blue Whale Chowing Down on Krill

A drone captured the giant cetaceans plowing through krill clouds to get their fill

Orcas Are Killed in Front of Tourists, Now Caribbean Nation Wrangles With Whaling Laws

The prime minister of St. Vincent will introduce legislation to outlaw orca hunting

This Japanese vessel is supposedly researching whales in Australia—but opponents say it's just whaling under another name.

Trending Today

A Japanese Fleet Killed Over 300 Whales This Season

The creatures were supposedly collected for the sake of research

Outside of the U.S., international whale capture is alive and well.

What Will It Take to End International Killer Whale Capture?

The West may have rejected whale captivity, but the painful relationship between humans and orcas is far from over

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