Do whales live in the Indian Ocean?
Killer whale
Information for offshore regions and warmer waters is more scarce, but widespread sightings indicate the killer whale can survive in most water temperatures. They have been sighted, though more infrequently, in the Mediterranean, the Arabian Sea, the Gulf of Mexico, and the Caribbean. Over 50 individual whales have been documented in the northern Indian Ocean, including two individuals that were sighted in the Persian Gulf in 2008 and off Sri Lanka in 2015. Those orcas may occasionally enter the Red Sea through the Gulf of Aden. The modern status of the species along coastal mainland China and its vicinity is unknown. Recorded sightings have been made from almost the entire shoreline. A wide-ranging population is likely to exist in the central Pacific, with some sightings off Hawaii. Distinct populations may also exist off the west coast of tropical Africa, and Papua New Guinea. In the Mediterranean, killer whales are considered "visitors", likely from the North Atlantic, and sightings become less frequent further east. However, a small year-round population is known to exist in the Strait of Gibraltar, mostly on the Atlantic side. Killer whales also appear to regularly occur off the Galápagos Islands.
Cetacea
Cetaceans () (from Latin "cetus" "whale", from Greek κῆτος "kētos" "huge fish") are aquatic mammals constituting the order cetacea. There are around 89 living species, which are divided into two suborders. The first is the Odontoceti, the toothed whales, which consist of around 70 species, including the dolphin, porpoise, beluga whale, narwhal, sperm whale, and beaked whale. The second is the Mysticeti, the baleen (from Latin "balæna", whale) whales, which have a filter-feeder system, and consist of 15 species divided into 3 families, and include the right whale, bowhead whale, rorqual, pygmy right whale, and gray whale.
The ancient and extinct ancestors of modern whales (Archaeoceti) lived 53 to 45 million years ago. They diverged from even-toed ungulates; their closest living relatives are hippopotamuses and others such as camels and pigs. They were amphibious, and evolved in the shallow waters that separated India from Asia. Around 30 species adapted to a fully oceanic life. Baleen whales split from toothed whales around 34 million years ago.
Pilot whale
The short-finned pilot whale is less populous. It is found in temperate and tropical waters of the Indian, Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. Its population overlaps slightly with the long-finned pilot whale in the temperate waters of the North Atlantic and Southern Oceans. About 150,000 individuals are found in the eastern tropical Pacific Ocean. More than 30,000 animals are estimated in the western Pacific, off the coast of Japan. Pilot whales are generally nomadic, but some populations stay year-round in places such as Hawaii and parts of California. They prefer the waters of the shelf break and slope. Once commonly seen off of Southern California, short-finned pilot whales disappeared from the area after a strong El Niño year in the early 1980s, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. In October 2014, crew and passengers on several boats spotted a pod of 50–200 off Dana Point, California.
Southern right whale
Historical populations which summered in the Crozet Islands and the Kerguelen Islands, and migrated to La Roche Godon and Île Saint-Paul, Île Amsterdam, and Central Indian Ocean once existed, and that might be distinct from whales seen on Mozambique coasts. Repopulation these whales among these areas in Indian Ocean is likely to be even at lower rates than other areas. Sightings have been fewer in modern periods among Crozet, Réunion, Mauritius, Marion Islands, Île Amsterdam, and Kerguelen.
Blue whale
Migratory patterns of these subspecies are not well known. For example, pygmy blue whales have been recorded in the northern Indian Ocean (Oman, Maldives and Sri Lanka), where they may form a distinct resident population. Furthermore, sightings have been recorded from elsewhere in and adjacent to Arabian Sea, including from Gulf of Aden, Persian Gulf, coasts of Bay of Bengal including Bangladesh to Myanmar, and within the Strait of Malacca. The first official confirmation within Thailand's EEZ occurred at Trang in 2013.
Whale shark
The whale shark is popular in the few public aquariums that keep it, but its large size means that a very large tank is required and it has specialized feeding requirements. Their large size and iconic status have also fuelled an opposition to keeping the species in captivity, especially after the early death of some whale sharks in captivity and certain Chinese aquariums keeping the species in relatively small tanks.
The first attempt at keeping whale sharks in captivity was in 1934 when an individual was kept for about four months in a netted-off natural bay in Izu, Japan. The first attempt of keeping whale sharks in an aquarium was initiated in 1980 by the Okinawa Churaumi Aquarium (then known as Ocean Expo Park) in Japan. Since 1980, several have been kept at Okinawa, mostly obtained from incidental catches in coastal nets set by fishers (none after 2009), but two were strandings. Several of these were already weak from the capture/stranding and some were released, but initial captive survival rates were low. After the initial difficulties in maintaining the species had been resolved, some have survived long-term in captivity. The record for a whale shark in captivity is an individual that, as of 2017, has lived for more than 18 years in the Okinawa Churaumi Aquarium. Following Okinawa, Osaka Aquarium started keeping whale sharks and most of the basic research on the keeping of the species was made at these two institutions. Since the mid-1990s, several other aquariums have kept the species in Japan (Kagoshima City Aquarium, Kinosaki Marine World, Notojima Aquarium, Oita Ecological Aquarium, and Yokohama Hakkeijima Sea Paradise), South Korea (Aquaplanet Jeju), China (Chimelong Ocean Kingdom, Dalian Aquarium, Guangzhou Aquarium in Guangzhou Zoo, Qingdao Polar Ocean World and Yantai Aquarium), Taiwan (National Museum of Marine Biology and Aquarium), India (Thiruvananthapuram Aquarium) and Dubai (Atlantis, The Palm), with some maintaining whale sharks for years and others only for a very short period. The whale shark kept at Dubai's Atlantis, The Palm was rescued from shallow waters in 2008 with extensive abrasions to the fins and after rehabilitation it was released in 2010, having lived 19 months in captivity. Marine Life Park in Singapore had planned on keeping whale sharks, but scrapped this idea in 2009.
Killer whale
The killer whale or orca ("Orcinus orca") is a toothed whale belonging to the oceanic dolphin family, of which it is the largest member. Killer whales have a diverse diet, although individual populations often specialize in particular types of prey. Some feed exclusively on fish, while others hunt marine mammals such as seals and other species of dolphin. They have been known to attack baleen whale calves, and even adult whales. Killer whales are apex predators, as no animal preys on them. A cosmopolitan species, they can be found in each of the world's oceans in a variety of marine environments, from Arctic and Antarctic regions to tropical seas, absent only from the Baltic and Black seas, and some areas of the Arctic Ocean.
Fauna of India
Some scientists have suggested that the Deccan lava flows and the gases produced were responsible for the global extinction of dinosaurs however these have been disputed.
"Himalayacetus subathuensis" the oldest-known whale fossil of the family Protocetidae (Eocene), about 53.5 million years old was found in the Simla hills in the foothills of the Himalayas. This area was underwater (in the Tethys sea) during the Tertiary period (when India was an island off Asia). This whale may have been capable of living partly on land.
False killer whale
The false killer whale is known to be much more adaptable in captivity than other dolphin species, being easily trained and highly sociable with other species, and as such it is kept in several public aquariums around the world, such as in Japan, the United States, the Netherlands, Hong Kong, and Australia. Individuals were mainly captured off California and Hawaii, and then in Japan and Taiwan after 1980. It has also been successfully bred in captivity. However, Chester, an orphaned newborn who was stranded in Tofino on Vancouver Island in 2014 and rescued by Vancouver Aquarium, died from a bacterial erysipelas infection in 2017 at the age of three and a half. Being the fifth whale to die in the aquarium, Chester's death caused the Vancouver Park Board to ban the aquarium from acquiring more whales.
Whale vocalization
Most baleen whales make sounds at about 15–20 hertz. However, a team of marine biologists, led by Mary Ann Daher of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, reported in "New Scientist" in December 2004 that they had been tracking a whale in the North Pacific for 12 years that was "singing" at 52 Hz. The scientists are unable to explain this dramatic difference from the norm; however, they believe the whale is baleen and unlikely to be a new species, suggesting that currently known species may have a wider vocal range than previously thought. There is disagreement in the scientific community regarding the uniqueness of the whale's vocalization and whether it is a member of a hybrid whale such as the well documented Blue and Fin Whale hybrids.
Whale watching
In the Gulf of Corcovado and the waters of Guaitecas Archipelago a variety of whales and dolphins can be been spotted, including: Peale's dolphins, black dolphins, bottlenose dolphins, humpback whales, minke whales and killer whales. The Gulf of Corcovado is ""arguably the largest feeding and nursing ground for blue whales [...] in the entire Southern Hemisphere"". All of this makes Guaitecas Archipelago a privilidged place for whale watching. In the localities of Piñihuil, Quellón and Melinka local fishermen offer whale watching tours.
Whale
Whales have evolved from land-living mammals. As such whales must breathe air regularly, although they can remain submerged under water for long periods of time. Some species such as the sperm whale are able to stay submerged for as much as 90 minutes. They have blowholes (modified nostrils) located on top of their heads, through which air is taken in and expelled. They are warm-blooded, and have a layer of fat, or blubber, under the skin. With streamlined fusiform bodies and two limbs that are modified into flippers, whales can travel at up to 20 knots, though they are not as flexible or agile as seals. Whales produce a great variety of vocalizations, notably the extended songs of the humpback whale. Although whales are widespread, most species prefer the colder waters of the Northern and Southern Hemispheres, and migrate to the equator to give birth. Species such as humpbacks and blue whales are capable of travelling thousands of miles without feeding. Males typically mate with multiple females every year, but females only mate every two to three years. Calves are typically born in the spring and summer months and females bear all the responsibility for raising them. Mothers of some species fast and nurse their young for one to two years.
Whale shark
The whale shark inhabits all tropical and warm-temperate seas. The fish is primarily pelagic, living in the open sea but not in the greater depths of the ocean, although it is known to occasionally dive to depths of as much as . Seasonal feeding aggregations occur at several coastal sites such as the southern and eastern parts of South Africa; Saint Helena Island in the South Atlantic Ocean; Gulf of Tadjoura in Djibouti, Gladden Spit in Belize; Ningaloo Reef in Western Australia; Kerala,Lakshadweep, Gulf of Kutch and Saurashtra coast of Gujarat in India; Útila in Honduras; Southern Leyte; Donsol, Pasacao and Batangas in the Philippines; off Isla Mujeres and Isla Holbox in Yucatan and Bahía de los Ángeles in Baja California, México; Maamigili island, Maldives; Ujung Kulon National Park in Indonesia; Cenderawasih Bay National Park in Nabire, Papua, Indonesia; Flores Island, Indonesia; Nosy Be in Madagascar; off Tofo Beach near Inhambane in Mozambique; the Tanzanian islands of Mafia, Pemba, Zanzibar; Gulf of Tadjoura in Djibouti, the Ad Dimaniyat Islands in the Gulf of Oman and Al Hallaniyat islands in the Arabian Sea; and, very rarely, Eilat, Israel and Aqaba, Jordan. Although typically seen offshore, it has been found closer to land, entering lagoons or coral atolls, and near the mouths of estuaries and rivers. Its range is generally restricted to about 30° latitude. It is capable of diving to depths of at least , and is migratory. On 7 February 2012, a large whale shark was found floating off the coast of Karachi, Pakistan. The length of the specimen was said to be between , with a weight of around .
North Pacific right whale
A few Native American tribes hunted in the North Pacific. Their catches were much lower than the Japanese. The Inuit along the western and northwestern coasts of Alaska have hunted whales for centuries. They prefer the bowhead whale, and occasionally the gray whale. They hunted at or beyond the northern limits of the right whale's range.
Blue whale
The Aquarium of the Pacific in Long Beach, California, features a life-size model of a mother blue whale with her calf suspended from the ceiling of its main hall. The Beaty Biodiversity Museum at the University of British Columbia, Canada, houses a display of a blue whale skeleton (skull is cast replica) directly on the main campus boulevard. A real skeleton of a blue whale at the Canadian Museum of Nature in Ottawa was also unveiled in May 2010. The Royal Ontario Museum obtained a blue whale, which died in Newfoundland and Labrador in 2014, and began an exhibition in 2016 to display its skeleton in Toronto.
Irish Sea
Whales, dolphins and porpoises all frequent the Irish Sea, but knowledge of how many there may be and where they go is somewhat sketchy. About a dozen species have been recorded since 1980, but only three are seen fairly often. These are the harbour porpoise, bottlenose dolphin and common dolphin. The more rarely seen species are minke whale, fin whale, sei whale, humpback whale, North Atlantic Right Whales which are now considered to be almost extinct in eastern North Atlantic, sperm whale, northern bottlenose whale, long-finned pilot whale, orca, white-beaked dolphin, striped dolphin and Risso's dolphin. In 2005, a plan to reintroduce grey whales by airlifting 50 of them from the Pacific Ocean to the Irish Sea was claimed to be logically and ethically feasible; it had not been implemented by 2013.
Churna Island
On 14 September 2017, a mother blue whale was spotted near the island along with her cub. The mother was 17 meters in length. This was a first sighting of a living blue whale in the Pakistani sea, as previous blue whales were just beached skeleton of the dead whales with last specimen was observed at Khuddi Creek along the coast of Sindh in August 2014. There have been 47 sightings of Baleen whales in this area but none of them was blue whale.
On 22 November 2017, a killer whale was spotted near the island, it is a rare sighting as killer whales are found in deep water where as thedepth of the water where the whale was sighted was only 72 meters deep. It was also first sighting of killer whale in Karachi as no killer whale was reported in this area since 2003.
Other marine life around Charna includes yellow-bellied sea snake, great barracuda, narrow-barred Spanish mackerel, cobia, mahi-mahi, skipjack tuna, angel fish, sea urchin, sea fan, oyster, ray fish and rare green turtle. Pakistan Game Fishing Association (PGFA) holds national angling competitions near Charna. It is the presence of coral reefs around this island that attracts the number of big game fish around it. However, illegal net sizes used by fishing trawlers are destroying this natural treasure.
Whale watching
In the past this area was the US whaling industry's capital, particularly Nantucket, an island just off the coast of Massachusetts. Though strict laws prohibit molestation of these large wild mammals, it is not unknown for the whales to approach whale watching boats uninvited, particularly curious calves and juveniles: it is not unknown in particular, for example, for juvenile humpbacks to approach the boat and spyhop to get a better look at the humans aboard. In recent years it is also not uncommon to see these animals playing and feeding in harbors, including New York City or Boston where fish species of interest to the whales have lately returned in astonishing numbers. As of 2011, an expert from Cornell University has recorded the vocalizations of six whale species including the humpback, the fin whale, and the massive blue whale within close proximity of the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge in the lower portion of New York Harbor and there is at least one company offering marine life tours out of The Rockaway Peninsula in Queens. Due to these increasingly frequent visits, new laws address the safety of boaters, commercial fishermen, and the whales themselves: off the coast of Boston, for example, cargo vessels must slow down to protect the much slower North Atlantic right whale and there is talk of erecting an apparatus for the much more heavily trafficked waters surrounding New York City that can warn boats of a whale's presence and location so as to avoid accidentally striking the animal. Because of the relative diversity of whales and dolphins within easy access of shore, cetacean research takes place at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute, and the Riverhead Foundation among other centers.
Eastern Canada has many whale watching tours in Newfoundland and Labrador, Nova Scotia or New Brunswick. Twenty-two species of whales and dolphins frequent the waters of Newfoundland and Labrador, although the most common are the humpback, minke, fin, Beluga and killer whales. Another popular whale-watching area is at Tadoussac, Quebec, where Belugas favor the extreme depth and admixture of cold fresh water from the Saguenay River into the inland end of the Gulf of Saint Lawrence. Humpbacks, minkes, fin and blue whales are also frequently seen off Tadoussac.The Bay of Fundy is an equally important feeding ground for large baleen whales and dozens of other creatures of the sea; it shares a population of migrating humpbacks with America and is a known summer nursery for mother right whales with calves.
Gray whale
They had been seasonal migrants to coastal waters of both sides of Atlantic, including the Baltic Sea, Wadden Sea, the Gulf of St. Lawrence, the Bay of Fundy, Hudson Bay (possibly), and Pamlico Sound. Radiocarbon dating of subfossil or fossil European (Belgium, the Netherlands, Sweden, the United Kingdom) coastal remains confirms this, with whaling the possible cause. Remains dating from the Roman epoch were found in the Mediterranean during excavation of the antique harbor of Lattara near Montpellier, France in 1997, raising the question of whether Atlantic gray whales migrated up and down the coast of Europe from Wadden Sea to calve in the Mediterranean. A 2018 study utilizing ancient DNA barcoding and collagen peptide matrix fingerprinting confirmed that Roman era whale bones east of the Strait of Gibraltar were gray whales (and North Atlantic right whales), confirming that gray whales once ranged into the Mediterranean. Similarly, radiocarbon dating of American east coastal subfossil remains confirm that gray whales existed there at least through the 17th century. This population ranged at least from Southampton, New York, to Jupiter Island, Florida, the latest from 1675. In his 1835 history of Nantucket Island, Obed Macy wrote that in the early pre-1672 colony a whale of the kind called "scragg" entered the harbor and was pursued and killed by the settlers. A. B. Van Deinse points out that the "scrag whale", described by P. Dudley in 1725 as one of the species hunted by the early New England whalers, was almost certainly the gray whale.
Pygmy blue whale
The pygmy blue whale ("Balaenoptera musculus brevicauda") is a subspecies of the blue whale ("Balaenoptera musculus") found in the Indian Ocean and the southern Pacific Ocean.
Pygmy killer whale
A resident population of pygmy killer whales lives in the waters around Hawaii. Most sightings have been around the main island, however there are occasional sightings around several of the other islands. The population has a tightly connected social structure with affiliations between individuals that can last up to 15 years. Despite the existence of this resident population, sightings of pygmy killer whales around Hawaii are still quite rare; they accounted for less than 1.5% of all cetaceans sighted in a study lasting from 1985 to 2007. This population has been observed associating with false killer whales, short-finned pilot whales, and bottlenose dolphins.
Blue whale
A fourth subspecies, "B. m. indica", was identified by Blyth in 1859 in the northern Indian Ocean, but is now thought to be the same subspecies as "B. m. brevicauda", the pygmy blue whale. Records for Soviet catches seem to indicate that the female adult size is closer to that of the pygmy blue than "B. m. musculus"; the populations of "B. m. indica" and "B. m. brevicauda" appear to be discrete, and the breeding seasons differ by almost six months. Along mainland Indian coasts, appearances of whales had been scarce excluding unconfirmed record(s), the first blue whale since after the last stranding record in Maharashtra in 1914, was sighted off Kunkeshwar along with several Bryde's whales in May 2015.
Fin whale
Summer distribution of fin whales in the North Pacific is the immediate offshore waters from central Baja California to Japan and as far north as the Chukchi Sea bordering the Arctic Ocean. They occur in high densities in the northern Gulf of Alaska and southeastern Bering Sea between May and October, with some movement through the Aleutian passes into and out of the Bering Sea. Several whales tagged between November and January off southern California were killed in the summer off central California, Oregon, British Columbia, and in the Gulf of Alaska. Fin whales have been observed feeding 250 miles south of Hawaii in mid-May, and several winter sightings have been made there. Some researchers have suggested that the whales migrate into Hawaiian waters primarily in the autumn and winter.
Anti-whaling
In 1979 the influence of environmentalists was realized in the membership of the International Whaling Commission through the nation of Seychelles. Dr. Sidney Holt, a well known marine biologist and former IWC scientific committee member (one of the "Three Wise Men"), envisioned an ocean refuge for whales. Holt's companion, Lyall Watson, a respected nature writer in Seychelles, put him in contact with the nation's president, Albert Rene. The tiny island country joined the IWC and Holt watched from an NGO observer's seat as Lyall Watson led the Seychelles delegation to propose and succeed in establishing an Indian Ocean whale sanctuary.
Blainville's beaked whale
This species of beaked whale is found in tropical and warm waters in all oceans, and has been known to range into very high latitudes. Strandings have occurred off Nova Scotia, Iceland, the British Isles, Japan, Rio Grande do Sul, South Africa, central Chile, Tasmania, and New Zealand. The most common observations take place off Hawaii, the Society Islands, and the Bahamas. The species does not migrate. It inhabits water 1600 to 3000 feet deep. Despite the relatively common nature of the whale, no population estimates are available.
Persian Gulf
Along the mediterranean regions of the Arabian Sea, including the Persian Gulf, the Red Sea, the Gulf of Kutch, the Gulf of Suez, the Gulf of Aqaba, the Gulf of Aden, and the Gulf of Oman, dolphins and finless porpoises are the most common marine mammals in the waters, while larger whales and orcas are rarer today. Historically, whales had been abundant in the gulf before commercial hunts wiped them out. Whales were reduced even further by illegal mass hunts by the Soviet Union and Japan in the 1960s and 1970s. Along with Bryde's whales, these once common residents can still can be seen in deeper marginal seas such as Gulf of Aden, Israel coasts, and in the Strait of Hormuz. Other species such as the critically endangered Arabian humpback whale, (also historically common in Gulf of Aden and increasingly sighted in the Red Sea since 2006, including in the Gulf of Aqaba), omura's whale, minke whale, and orca also swim into the gulf, while many other large species such as blue whale, sei, and sperm whales were once migrants into the Gulf of Oman and off the coasts in deeper waters, and still migrate into the Red Sea, but mainly in deeper waters of outer seas. In 2017, waters of the Persian Gulf along Abu Dhabi were revealed to hold the world's largest population of Indo-Pacific humpbacked dolphins.
Cetacea
In repeated attempts in the 1960s and 1970s, narwhals kept in captivity died within months. A breeding pair of pygmy right whales were retained in a netted area. They were eventually released in South Africa. In 1971, SeaWorld captured a California gray whale calf in Mexico at Scammon's Lagoon. The calf, later named Gigi, was separated from her mother using a form of lasso attached to her flukes. Gigi was displayed at SeaWorld San Diego for a year. She was then released with a radio beacon affixed to her back; however, contact was lost after three weeks. Gigi was the first captive baleen whale. JJ, another gray whale calf, was kept at SeaWorld San Diego. JJ was an orphaned calf that beached itself in April 1997 and was transported two miles to SeaWorld. The calf was a popular attraction and behaved normally, despite separation from his mother. A year later, the then whale though smaller than average, was too big to keep in captivity, and was released on April 1, 1998. A captive Amazon river dolphin housed at Acuario de Valencia is the only trained river dolphin in captivity.
Blue whale
Blue whales may be wounded, sometimes fatally, after colliding with ocean vessels, as well as becoming trapped or entangled in fishing gear. Ship strikes in particular have killed many blue whales in California. In September 2007, three dead blue whales washed up in southern California after being killed by ship strikes. A similar incident occurred in northern California in 2017, possibly also 2010. Ship strikes are also a serious problem in Sri Lanka, and scientists believe this problem could be nearly eliminated by moving the shipping lanes 15 nautical miles to the south. The ever-increasing amount of ocean noise, including sonar, drowns out the vocalizations produced by whales, which makes it harder for them to communicate. Blue whales stop producing foraging D calls once a mid-frequency sonar is activated, even though the sonar frequency range (1–8 kHz) far exceeds their sound production range (25–100 Hz). Research on blue whales in the Southern California Bight has shown that mid-frequency sonar use interferes with foraging behavior, sometimes causing the whales to abandon their feeding. Human threats to the potential recovery of blue whale populations also include accumulation of polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) chemicals within the whale's body.
Baleen whale
Baleen whales range in size from the and pygmy right whale to the and blue whale the largest known animal to have ever existed. They are sexually dimorphic. Baleen whales can have streamlined or large bodies, depending on the feeding behavior, and two limbs that are modified into flippers. Though not as flexible and agile as seals, baleen whales can swim very fast, with the fastest able to travel at . Baleen whales use their baleen plates to filter out food from the water by either lunge-feeding or skim-feeding. Baleen whales have fused neck vertebrae, and are unable to turn their head at all. Baleen whales have two blowholes. Some species are well adapted for diving to great depths. They have a layer of fat, or blubber, under the skin to keep warm in the cold water.
Whale
Current whaling nations are Norway, Iceland, and Japan, despite their joining to the IWC, as well as the aboriginal communities of Siberia, Alaska, and northern Canada. Subsistence hunters typically use whale products for themselves and depend on them for survival. National and international authorities have given special treatment to aboriginal hunters since their methods of hunting are seen as less destructive and wasteful. This distinction is being questioned as these aboriginal groups are using more modern weaponry and mechanized transport to hunt with, and are selling whale products in the marketplace. Some anthropologists argue that the term "subsistence" should also apply to these cash-based exchanges as long as they take place within local production and consumption. In 1946, the IWC placed a moratorium, limiting the annual whale catch. Since then, yearly profits for these "subsistence" hunters have been close to US$31 million (UK£20m) per year.
Whale shark
Outside Asia, the first and so far only place to keep whale sharks is Georgia Aquarium in Atlanta, United States. This is unusual because of the comparatively long transport time and complex logistics required to bring the sharks to the aquarium, ranging between 28 and 36 hours. Georgia keeps four whale sharks: two females, Alice and Trixie, that arrived in 2006, and two males, Taroko and Yushan, that arrived in 2007. Two earlier males at Georgia Aquarium, Ralph and Norton, both died in 2007. Georgia's whale sharks were all imported from Taiwan and were taken from the commercial fishing quota for the species, usually used locally for food. Taiwan closed this fishery entirely in 2008.
Pilot whale
Pilot whales can be found in oceans nearly worldwide, but data about current population sizes is deficient. The long-finned pilot whale prefers slightly cooler waters than the short-finned, and is divided into two populations. The smaller group is found in a circumpolar band in the Southern Ocean from about 20 to 65°S. It may be sighted off the coasts of Chile, Argentina, South Africa, Australia, and New Zealand. An estimated more than 200,000 individuals were in this population in 2006. The second, much larger, population inhabits the North Atlantic Ocean, in a band from South Carolina in the United States across to the Azores and Morocco at its southern edge and from Newfoundland to Greenland, Iceland, and northern Norway at its northern limit. This population was estimated at 778,000 individuals in 1989. It is also present in the western half of the Mediterranean Sea.
Humpback whale
Whales again migrate off Japanese archipelagos and into the Sea of Japan. Connections between these stocks and whales seen in the Sea of Okhotsk, on Kamchatka coasts and around the Commander Islands have been studied. Historical wintering distributions could have been much wider and more southerly distributed, as whales were seen in areas along the Batanes, Sulu and Celebes Seas including off Palawan, Luzon, Malaysia and Mindanao, with higher densities around today's Cape Eluanbi and Kenting National Park. Unconfirmed sightings have been reported near Borneo in modern times. The first confirmation in modern Taiwan was of a pair off Hualien in 1994, followed by a successful escape from entanglement off Taitung in 1999, and continuous sightings around Orchid Island in 2000. Few/none regularly migrate into Kenting National Park. In addition, despite sightings reported almost annually off Green and Orchid Islands, relatively short stays in these waters indicate recoveries as winter foraging has not occurred. Sightings, including of a cow-calf pair, have occurred along the east coast of Taiwan. Around Hong Kong, two documented sightings were recorded in 2009 and in 2016. One of the first documented sightings within the Yellow Sea was of a group of 3 or 4 individuals, including a cow/calf pair in Changhai County in October, 2015.
Whale shark
The whale shark is found in open waters of the tropical oceans and is rarely found in the water below . Modeling suggests a lifespan of about 70 years, but measurements have proven difficult. Whale sharks have very large mouths and are filter feeders, which is a feeding mode that occurs in only two other sharks, the megamouth shark and the basking shark. They feed almost exclusively on plankton and small fishes, and pose no threat to humans.
Sei whale
Sei whales have been recorded from northern Indian Ocean as well such as around Sri Lanka and Indian coasts.
Cetacea
Cetaceans are found in all places. River dolphin species live exclusively in fresh water. While many marine species, such as the blue whale, the humpback whale and the killer whale, have a distribution area that includes nearly the entire ocean, some species occur only locally or in broken populations. These include the vaquita, which inhabits a small part of the Gulf of California and Hector's dolphin, which lives in some coastal waters in New Zealand. Both species prefer deeper marine areas and species that live frequently or exclusively in coastal and shallow water areas.
Perrin's beaked whale
This species has only been found off the coast of California between San Diego and Monterey. It likely lives off the Pacific coast of North America - and possibly elsewhere in the North Pacific - in waters 1,000 meters deep or more. However, evidence is lacking and the northern and southern limits of its range are entirely unknown (though biogeography of beaked whales suggests it does not reach the Equator). No population estimate or assessment of conservation status has hitherto been possible. San Clemente Island holds a sonar research facility of the US Navy; such research has in the past been implicated in causing strandings of cetaceans.
North Atlantic right whale
Parts of the western group, especially for those seen regularly in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, display different migratory or calving routines than other whales and these are so-called "Offshore Whales". There could be various areas along or off the west coasts where could have been frequented by whales potentially and might be re-colonized in the future such as Quoddy, Eastport, Plymouth Harbor, Sagamore Beach, Island of Nantucket, Florida Bay, Pamlico Sound, Gulf of Mexico (as far as to Texas), Bahamas, Long Island Sound and vicinity to New York City, the mouth of Potomac River, Delaware and Chesapeake Bay, the mouth of Altamaha River, Cape Canaveral, Sebastian Inlet and around Melbourne, and so on. As the population grows, it's also highly possible that more whales would start using rivers or river mouths, shallow estuaries, smaller inlets or bays. Whales have already seen repeatedly at various of these such as Indian River Inlet, Delaware River, Cape Cod Canal, Jacksonville Drum, and so on.
Whale
Whales are descendants of land-dwelling mammals of the artiodactyl order (even-toed ungulates). They are related to the "Indohyus", an extinct chevrotain-like ungulate, from which they split approximately 48 million years ago. Primitive cetaceans, or archaeocetes, first took to the sea approximately 49 million years ago and became fully aquatic 5–10 million years later. What defines an archaeocete is the presence of anatomical features exclusive to cetaceans, alongside other primitive features not found in modern cetaceans, such as visible legs or asymmetrical teeth. Their features became adapted for living in the marine environment. Major anatomical changes included their hearing set-up that channeled vibrations from the jaw to the earbone ("Ambulocetus" 49 mya), a streamlined body and the growth of flukes on the tail ("Protocetus" 43 mya), the migration of the nostrils toward the top of the cranium (blowholes), and the modification of the forelimbs into flippers ("Basilosaurus" 35 mya), and the shrinking and eventual disappearance of the hind limbs (the first odontocetes and mysticetes 34 mya).
Gray whale
Several whales seen off Sakhalin and on Kamchatka Peninsula are confirmed to migrate towards eastern side of Pacific and join the larger eastern population. In January 2011, a gray whale that had been tagged in the western population was tracked as far east as the eastern population range off the coast of British Columbia. Recent findings from either stranded or entangled specimens indicate that the original western population have become functionally extinct and possibly all the whales appeared on Japanese and Chinese coasts in modern times are vagrants or re-colonizers from the eastern population.
Whale barnacle
"C. diadema" inhabits mainly the humpback whale ("Megaptera novaengliae"), but also the southern right whale ("E. australis"), the blue whale ("Balaenoptera musculus"), the fin whale ("B. physalus"), the sperm whale ("Physeter macrocephalus"), and the northern bottlenose whale ("Hyperoodon ampullatus"). "C. reginae" inhabits the humpback whale, blue whale, fin whale, sei whale ("B. borealis"), the common minke whale ("B. acutorostrata"), and the loggerhead sea turtle ("Caretta caretta"). "Cetopirus" inhabits exclusively the southern right whale. "Cryptolepas" almost exclusively inhabits the gray whale, but has been recorded on the killer whale, the beluga whale, and in the stomach of the topsmelt silverside ("Atherinops affinis"). Topsmelt are known to pick off the dead skin and whale lice often found in association with barnacles. "T. major" has been recorded on the southern right whale.
Killer whale
Resident killer whales in the eastern North Pacific live in particularly complex and stable social groups. Unlike any other known mammal social structure, resident whales live with their mothers for their entire lives. These family groups are based on matrilines consisting of the eldest female (matriarch) and her sons and daughters, and the descendants of her daughters, etc. The average size of a matriline is 5.5 animals. Because females can reach age 90, as many as four generations travel together. These matrilineal groups are highly stable. Individuals separate for only a few hours at a time, to mate or forage. With one exception, a killer whale named Luna, no permanent separation of an individual from a resident matriline has been recorded.
Cetacea
Although cetaceans are widespread, most species prefer the colder waters of the Northern and Southern Hemispheres. They spend their lives in the water of seas and rivers; having to mate, give birth, molt or escape from predators, like killer whales, underwater. This has drastically affected their anatomy to be able to do so. They feed largely on fish and marine invertebrates; but a few, like the killer whale, feed on large mammals and birds, such as penguins and seals. Some baleen whales (mainly gray whales and right whales) are specialised for feeding on benthic creatures. Male cetaceans typically mate with more than one female (polygyny), although the degree of polygyny varies with the species. Cetaceans are not known to have pair bonds. Male cetacean strategies for reproductive success vary between herding females, defending potential mates from other males, or whale song which attracts mates. Calves are typically born in the fall and winter months, and females bear almost all the responsibility for raising them. Mothers of some species fast and nurse their young for a relatively short period of time, which is more typical of baleen whales as their main food source (invertebrates) aren't found in their breeding and calving grounds (tropics). Cetaceans produce a number of vocalizations, notably the clicks and whistles of dolphins and the moaning songs of the humpback whale.
Indohyus
DNA studies show a close connection between Hippopotamus and whales but there is an age and geographical gap. Hippopotamus are found in Africa and show up in the geological record 15 million years ago, while the earliest whales found in India and Pakistan are 50 million years old.
Wildlife of China
Whales were historically abundant along Chinese and Taiwanese waters especially in winter and spring seasons where they come to coastal areas to breed and calve while especially baleen whales other than those migrated from outer pacific and Sea of Japan swam northward to feed in Yellow and Bohai basins during warmer seasons. Most of large whales in Taiwan were recorded prior to 1952. In imperial times, villages along the coast of the Leizhou Peninsula in Guangdong hunted whales and made offerings of whale oil to the emperor in Beijing. On the other hand, however, like among other nations such as in Korea, China, Ebis in Japan, Indonesia, among Indochina including , regarded as the "King of the sea", the "Dragon emperor in the ocean", or "Dragon Soldiers" in almost entire coastal regions excluding above mentioned Hainan and Leizhou, as when whales were seen, fishermen and boats had to make ways for them and wait the whales to pass. In Chinese mythology, for example, "Yu-kiang", the ruler of the sea, is said to be a whale with arms and legs. Indigenous tribes on Taiwan also recognized the presences of large whales and representing whales in their local myths and folklores.
Blue whale
Blue whales may be encountered (but rarely) on whale-watching cruises in the Gulf of Maine and are the main attractions along the north shore of the Gulf of Saint Lawrence and in the Saint Lawrence estuary. Blue whales can also be seen off Southern California, starting as early as March and April, with the peak between July and September. More whales have been observed close to shore along with fin whales.
Coral Triangle
While only covering 1.6% of the planet’s oceanic area, the region has 76% of all known coral species in the world. As a habitat for 52% of Indo-Pacific reef fishes and 37% of the world's reef fishes, it encompasses the highest diversity of coral reef fishes in the world More than 3,000 species of fish live in the Coral Triangle, including the largest fish - the whale shark, and the coelacanth. The Coral Triangle is the epicentre for the biodiversity of not only corals and fish, but many other marine organisms as well. It also provides habitat to six out of the world's seven marine turtle species.
Wildlife of China
Baleen whales found in the ocean off China's coast include the blue whale, the world's largest animal, as well as the Eden's, Omura's, Bryde's, common minke, fin, sei, and humpback whale. There had been an endemic, resident population of fin whales in Yellow and Bohai Sea to East China Sea historically. Minke whales are also resident in the same regions. Bryde's whales were considered to be historical residents along Taiwan and southern coasts.
Cryptolepas rhachianecti
"Cryptolepas rhachianecti" is now only known from the northern Pacific Ocean where gray whales are to be found. This whale was present in the northern Atlantic Ocean between the Late Pleistocene and recent times and the barnacle must also have been present as is shown by the fact that fossils of the barnacle have been found on a beach in the Netherlands. This barnacle has been found between January and March for several years in captive beluga whales in San Diego Bay, near a route used by migratory gray whales. The barnacles have evoked a skin reaction in the beluga whales resulting in the eviction of the barnacles which suggests an immune response.
True's beaked whale
True's beaked whale ("Mesoplodon mirus") is a medium-sized whale in the mesoplodont genus. The common name is in reference to Frederick W. True, a curator at the United States National Museum (now the Smithsonian). There are two distinct populations in the Atlantic and Indian Oceans (this species is absent in the tropics) which may be separate subspecies.
Sperm whale
Populations are denser close to continental shelves and canyons. Sperm whales are usually found in deep, off-shore waters, but may be seen closer to shore, in areas where the continental shelf is small and drops quickly to depths of . Coastal areas with significant sperm whale populations include the Azores and Dominica. In Asian waters, whales are also observed regularly in coastal waters in places such as Commander and Kuril Islands, Shiretoko Peninsula where is one of few locations whales can be observed from shores, off Kinkasan, vicinity to Tokyo Bay and Boso Peninsula to Izu and Izu Islands, Volcano Islands, Yakushima and Tokara Islands to Ryukyu Islands, Taiwan, Northern Mariana Islands, and so forth. Historical catch records suggest there could have been smaller aggression grounds in the Sea of Japan as well. Along Korean Peninsula, the first confirmed observation within Sea of Japan, 8 animals off Guryongpo, was made in 2004 since after the last catches of 5 whales off Ulsan in 1911. while 9 whales were observed in East China Sea side of the peninsula in 1999.
Environmental impact of shipping
The Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species has identified ocean noise as a potential threat to marine life.
The disruption of whales' ability to communicate with one another is an extreme threat and is affecting their ability to survive. According to Discovery Channel's article on Sonic Sea Journeys Deep Into the Ocean, over the last century, extremely loud noise from commercial ships, oil and gas exploration, naval sonar exercises and other sources has transformed the ocean's delicate acoustic habitat, challenging the ability of whales and other marine life to prosper and ultimately to survive. Whales are starting to react to this in ways that are life-threatening. Kenneth C. Balcomb, a whale researcher and a former U.S Navy officer, states that the day March 15, 2000, is the day of infamy. As Discovery says, where him and his crew discovered whales swimming dangerously close to the shore. They're supposed to be in deep water. So I pushed it back out to sea, says Balcomb. Although sonar helps to protect us, it is destroying marine life. According to IFAW Animal Rescue Program Director Katie Moore, "There's different ways that sounds can affect animals. There's that underlying ambient noise level that's rising, and rising, and rising that interferes with communication and their movement patterns. And then there's the more acute kind of traumatic impact of sound, that's causing physical damage or a really strong behavioral response. It's fight or flight".
Right whale
Whale lice, parasitic cyamid crustaceans that live off skin debris, offer further information through their own genetics. Because these lice reproduce much more quickly than whales, their genetic diversity is greater. Marine biologists at the University of Utah examined these louse genes and determined their hosts split into three species 5–6 thousand years ago, and these species were all equally abundant before whaling began in the 11th century. The communities first split because of the joining of North and South America. The rising temperatures of the equator then created a second split, into northern and southern groups, preventing them from interbreeding. "This puts an end to the long debate about whether there are three ["Eubalaena"] species of right whale. They really are separate beyond a doubt", Jon Seger, the project's leader, told BBC News.
Fin whale
Like many large rorquals, the fin whale is a cosmopolitan species. It is found in all the world's major oceans and in waters ranging from the polar to the tropical. It is absent only from waters close to the ice pack at both the north and south extremities and relatively small areas of water away from the large oceans, such as the Red Sea although they can reach into the Baltic Sea, a marginal sea of such conditions. The highest population density occurs in temperate and cool waters. It is less densely populated in the warmest, equatorial regions.
Baleen whale
Baleen whales (systematic name Mysticeti), known earlier as whalebone whales, form a parvorder of the infraorder Cetacea (whales, dolphins and porpoises). They are a widely distributed and diverse parvorder of carnivorous marine mammals. Mysticeti comprise the families Balaenidae (right and bowhead whales), Balaenopteridae (rorquals), Cetotheriidae (the pygmy right whale), and Eschrichtiidae (the gray whale). There are currently 15 species of baleen whales. While cetaceans were historically thought to have descended from mesonychids, (which would place them outside the order Artiodactyla), molecular evidence supports them as a clade of even-toed ungulates (Artiodactyla). Baleen whales split from toothed whales (Odontoceti) around 34 million years ago.
Short-finned pilot whale
Short-finned pilot whales, unlike the related long-finned pilot whale, are found in most waters around the world. They primarily inhabit warm tropical waters, but usually stay offshore in the deeper waters. They also tend to be found in areas with a high density of squid. Known populations are found in the North Atlantic stretching all the way south to northern South America, including the Gulf of Mexico and to Africa, as well. They are thought to migrate south into the western North Atlantic in the late winter/early spring. Other populations are recorded throughout the entire Pacific stretching from Japan to southern Guatemala, as well as the Red Sea and Indian Ocean.
Marine mammal
A number of whales are still subject to direct hunting, despite the 1986 moratorium ban on whaling set under the terms of the International Whaling Commission (IWC). There are only two nations remaining which sanction commercial whaling: Norway, where several hundred common minke whales are harvested each year; and Iceland, where quotas of 150 fin whales and 100 minke whales per year are set. Japan also harvests several hundred Antarctic and North Pacific minke whales each year, ostensibly for scientific research in accordance with the moratorium. However, the illegal trade of whale and dolphin meat is a significant market in Japan and some countries.
The most profitable furs in the fur trade were those of sea otters, especially the northern sea otter which inhabited the coastal waters between the Columbia River to the south and Cook Inlet to the north. The fur of the Californian southern sea otter was less highly prized and thus less profitable. After the northern sea otter was hunted to local extinction, maritime fur traders shifted to California until the southern sea otter was likewise nearly extinct. The British and American maritime fur traders took their furs to the Chinese port of Guangzhou (Canton), where they worked within the established Canton System. Furs from Russian America were mostly sold to China via the Mongolian trading town of Kyakhta, which had been opened to Russian trade by the 1727 Treaty of Kyakhta.
Rorqual
Distribution is worldwide: the blue, fin, humpback, and the sei whales are found in all major oceans; the common (northern) and Antarctic (southern) minke whale species are found in all the oceans of their respective hemispheres; and either of Bryde's whale and Eden's whale occur in the Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian oceans, being absent only from the cold waters of the Arctic and Antarctic.
Bryde's whale
"B. brydei" occurs throughout the Indian Ocean north of about 35°S. Those of the southern Indian Ocean appear to correspond to "B. brydei", as do the individuals illegally caught by the Soviets in the 1960s in the northwest Indian Ocean, as well as the Maldives. Individuals sighted in the Red Sea may or may not be "B. brydei". Bryde's whales are considered to be more common in Red Sea than previously thought, and possibly a local resident group exists within the sea. Whales still migrate through coastal areas nearby such as in Gulf of Aden, Gulf of Aquaba, and in Persian Gulf through the Strait of Hormuz.
Whale
Whaling decreased substantially after 1946 when, in response to the steep decline in whale populations, the International Whaling Commission placed a moratorium which set a catch limit for each country; this excluded aboriginal groups up until 2004. As of 2015, aboriginal communities are allowed to take 280 bowhead whales off Alaska and two from the western coast of Greenland, 620 grey whales off Washington state, three common minke whales off the eastern coast of Greenland and 178 on their western coast, 10 fin whales from the west coast of Greenland, nine humpback whales from the west coast of Greenland and 20 off St. Vincent and the Grenadines each year. Several species that were commercially exploited have rebounded in numbers; for example, grey whales may be as numerous as they were prior to harvesting, but the North Atlantic population is functionally extinct. Conversely, the North Atlantic right whale was extirpated from much of its former range, which stretched across the North Atlantic, and only remains in small fragments along the coast of Canada, Greenland, and is considered functionally extinct along the European coastline.
Indian swellshark
The Indian swellshark ("Cephaloscyllium silasi") is a catshark of the family Scyliorhinidae found in the western Indian Ocean from Quilon, India and Sauqira Bay, Oman between latitudes 16° N and 10° N, from the surface to 300 m. It grows to about 36 cm in length, and can expand its body by taking in air or water to make it appear larger to predators.
Whale watching in Australia
In Western Australia, whales are watched near Cape Naturaliste in the south-east Indian Ocean and at Cape Leeuwin where the Indian and Southern Oceans meet. Whale watching cruises operate along the west coast around Perth and Fremantle and as far north as Broome.
Whale vocalization
Two groups of whales, the humpback whale and the subspecies of blue whale found in the Indian Ocean, are known to produce a series of repetitious sounds at varying frequencies known as whale song. Marine biologist Philip Clapham describes the song as "probably the most complex in the animal kingdom."
Humpback whale
Humpbacks inhabit all major oceans, in a wide band running from the Antarctic ice edge to 77° N latitude. The four global populations are North Pacific, Atlantic, Southern Ocean and Indian Ocean populations. These populations are distinct. Although the species has cosmopolitan distribution and is usually not considered to cross the equator line, seasonal observations at Cape Verde suggest possible interactions among populations from both hemispheres. Aside from the Arabian Sea group, year-round presences have been confirmed among British and Norwegian waters. Parts of wintering grounds around the globe have been poorly studied or being undetected, such as around Pitcairn Islands, Northern Mariana Islands (e.g. Marpi and CK Reefs vicinity to Saipan ), Daitō Islands, Volcano Islands, Pasaleng Bay, Trindade and Martin Vaz, Mauritius, Aldabra, and so on.
Sei whale
In the North Pacific, it ranges from 20°N to 23°N latitude in the winter, and from 35°N to 50°N latitude in the summer. Approximately 75% of the North Pacific population lives east of the International Date Line, but there is little information regarding the North Pacific distribution. , the U.S. National Marine Fisheries Service estimated that the eastern North Pacific population stood at 374 whales. Two whales tagged in deep waters off California were later recaptured off Washington and British Columbia, revealing a possible link between these areas, but the lack of other tag recovery data makes these two cases inconclusive. Occurrences within the Gulf of California have been fewer. In Sea of Japan and Sea of Okhotsk, whales are not common, although whales were more commonly seen than today in southern part of Sea of Japan from Korean Peninsula to the southern Primorsky Krai in the past, and there had been a sighting in Golden Horn Bay, and whales were much more abundant in the triangle area around Kunashir Island in whaling days, making the area well known as sei – ground, and there had been a sighting of a cow calf pair off the Sea of Japan coast of mid-Honshu during cetacean survey.
Minke whale
Due to their relative abundance, minke whales are often the focus of whale-watching cruises setting sail from, for instance, the Isle of Mull in Scotland, County Cork in Ireland and Húsavík in Iceland, and tours taken on the east coast of Canada. They are also one of the most commonly sighted whales seen on whale-watches from New England and eastern Canada. In contrast to humpback whales, minkes do not raise their flukes out of the water when diving and are less likely to breach (jump clear of the sea surface). This, combined with the fact that minkes can stay submerged for as long as 20 minutes, has led some whale-watchers to label them 'stinky minkes'.
Chiloé National Park
What feature made the island of Chiloe and Gulf of Corcovado as world-famous locations is the presence of local population of pygmy blue whales (The Cetacean Conservation Center carries out the Blue Whale Project). There are only 4 or more known forging grounds of them and blue whales in Southern Hemisphere including Chiloe region. In this area, it is notable that whales often enter into narrow fiords either to feed or rest. This area is also an important habitats for other whale species such as humpbacks, finbacks, seis, and possibly for critically endangered, only around 30 animals-remaining Peru/Chilean stock of southern right whales as well. Whales can also be observed close to shore in southern side of the island, such as near Caleta Zorra.
Captive killer whales
Captive killer whales are live killer whales (Orcinus orca) which are held in captivity by humans, often for breeding or performance purposes. The practice of capturing and displaying these whales in exhibitions began in the 1960s, soon becoming popular attractions at public aquariums and aquatic theme parks due to their intelligence, trainability, striking appearance, playfulness, and sheer size. As of September, 2016, there were 56 orcas in captivity worldwide, 33 of which are captive-born. There are 13 live orcas in the Seaworld parks.
North Pacific right whale
There have been a record of rather aggressive interspecies interactions between a right whale and a pod of grey whales off California, making it the only record of possible interspecies aggression among baleen whales, but there have been an observation of social behaviors between the two species on Sakhalin. Furthermore, there is no decent population of grey whales existing outside of North Pacific as of 2014, therefore extents of interspecies competitions, if ever happened, or peaceful habitat sharing between these coastal species, before whaling, are unknown. A theory of humpback whales to invade and become a dominant species over Hawaiian islands, former wintering ground for right whales, in the past few centuries, corresponding with the timing of right whale hunts across the Pacific Ocean, had been claimed as well.
Humpback whale
In the North Atlantic, feeding areas range from Scandinavia to New England. Breeding occurs in the Caribbean and Cape Verde. In the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans, whales may breed off Brazil, as well the coasts of central, southern and southeastern Africa (including Madagascar). Whale visits into Gulf of Mexico have been infrequent, but occurred in the gulf historically. In the South Atlantic, about 10% of world population of the species possibly migrate to the Gulf of Guinea. Comparison of songs between those at Cape Lopez and Abrolhos Archipelago indicate that trans-Atlantic mixings between western and southeastern populations occur.
Baleen whale
Baleen whales continue to be harvested. However, only three nations take whales: Iceland, Norway, and Japan. All these nations are part of the IWC, with Norway and Iceland rejecting the moratorium and continuing commercial whaling. Japan, being part of the IWC, whales under the Scientific Permit stated in Article VIII in the Convention for the Regulation of Whaling, which allows the taking of whales for scientific research. Japan has had two main research programs: the Joint Aquatic Resources Permit Application (JARPA) and the Japanese Research Program in the North (JARPN). JARPN is focused in the North Pacific and JARPA around the Antarctic. JARPA mainly caught Antarctic minke whales, catching nearly 7,000; to a far lesser extent, they also caught fin whales. Animal-rights activist groups, such as the Greenpeace, object to Japan's scientific whaling, with some calling it a substitute for commercial whaling. In 2014, the International Court of Justice (the UN judicial branch) banned the taking of whales for any purpose in the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary; however, Japan refuses to stop whaling and has only promised to cut their annual catches by a third (around 300 whales per year).
Baleen whales can also be affected by humans in more indirect ways. For species like the North Atlantic right whale, which migrates through some of the world's busiest shipping lanes, the biggest threat is from being struck by ships. The Lloyd's mirror effect results in low frequency propeller sounds not being discernible near the surface, where most accidents occur. Combined with spreading and acoustic shadowing effects, the result is that the whale is unable to hear an approaching vessel before it has been run over or entrapped by the hydrodynamic forces of the vessel's passage. A 2014 study noted that a lower vessel speed correlated with lower collision rates. The ever-increasing amount of ocean noise, including sonar, drowns out the vocalizations produced by whales, notably in the blue whale which produces the loudest vocalization, which makes it harder for them to communicate. Blue whales stop producing foraging D calls once a mid-frequency sonar is activated, even though the sonar frequency range (1–8 kHz) far exceeds their sound production range (25–100 Hz). Poisoning from toxic substances such as Polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) is generally low because of their low trophic level. Some baleen whales can become victims of bycatch, which is especially serious for North Atlantic right whales considering its small number. Right whales feed with a wide-open mouth, risking entanglement in any rope or net fixed in the water column. Rope wraps around their upper jaw, flippers and tail. Some are able to escape, but others remain entangled. If observers notice, they can be successfully disentangled, but others die over a period of months. Other whales, such as humpback whales, can also be entangled.
True's beaked whale
One population, possibly genetically distinct, lives in the Northern Hemisphere and has stranded from Nova Scotia in the western Atlantic to Ireland in the eastern Atlantic and as far south as Florida, the Bahamas, and Canary Islands. Another population lives in the Southern Hemisphere and has stranded in South Africa, New Zealand and Australia. The species does not inhabit the Southern Atlantic or Northern Indian Ocean, and appears to avoid tropical waters. No population estimates have been established, but it is believed to be one of the rarest species of whale.
Sei whale
The sei whale ( or ) ("Balaenoptera borealis") is a baleen whale, the third-largest rorqual after the blue whale and the fin whale. It inhabits most oceans and adjoining seas, and prefers deep offshore waters. It avoids polar and tropical waters and semienclosed bodies of water. The sei whale migrates annually from cool and subpolar waters in summer to winter in temperate and subtropical waters, with a lifespan of 70 years.
Bryde's whale
"B. brydei" occurs in the Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian Oceans between the 40th parallels of latitude, preferring highly productive, tropical, subtropical, and warm, temperate waters of . In the North Pacific, they occur as far north as Honshu to the west and southern California in the east, with vagrants reported as far north as Washington in the United States. A resident population is found in the Gulf of California and they occur throughout the eastern tropical Pacific, including Peru and Ecuador, where they are absent from July to September. They have also been reported in an upwelling area off Chile between 35° and 37°S. In the southwestern Pacific, they occur as far south as the North Island of New Zealand.
Narwhal
The white whales, dolphins (Delphinidae) and porpoises (Phocoenidae) together comprise the superfamily Delphinoidea, which are of likely monophyletic origin. Genetic evidence suggests the porpoises are more closely related to the white whales, and that these two families constitute a separate clade which diverged from the rest of Delphinoidea within the past 11 million years. Fossil evidence shows that ancient white whales lived in tropical waters. They may have migrated to Arctic and sub-Arctic waters in response to changes in the marine food chain during the Pliocene.
Gulf of California
The narrow sea is home to a rich ecosystem. In addition to a wide range of endemic creatures, such as the critically endangered vaquita, it hosts many migratory species, such as the humpback whale, California gray whale, killer whale, manta ray, Humboldt squid and leatherback sea turtle, and the world's largest animal, the blue whale. The unusual resident populations of fin whales and sperm whales do not migrate annually. The area near the delta of the Colorado river has a small remnant population of the totoaba fish. This region has historically been a magnet for world-class sport fishing activities, with a rich history of sporting world records.
North Pacific right whale
In winter, the whales' distribution is particularly mysterious. There have been a few sightings close to shores in California and even Baja, particularly in the 1990s along locations like La Jolla, Point Sur, Big Sur coasts, Piedras Blancas, San Simeon, Point Montara, and in Santa Barbara Channel. They have been rare, of short duration and none since 1998. Largest numbers of whales sighted at one times in eastern Pacific outside of SE Bering Sea since after the late 20th century were of 8 animals off Destruction Island in 1959, sightings off Cape Flattery of 3 whales in and 1967 and 6 or 7 whales in 1973, 4 whales at the mouth of Yakutat Bay in March 1979, a pod of 2 or 3 whales at Three Arch Rocks in Oregon in 1994, and likely a pair seen off southwest of San Miguel Island in February 2015. In the western Pacific, the latest of recent records were of a close encounter by a yachter with a cow-calf pair off Sajima Island in Sagami Bay in the early 2000s and a pod appeared close to the pier on Mikura Island in 2008.
Killer whale
Organizations such as World Animal Protection and the Whale and Dolphin Conservation campaign against the practice of keeping them in captivity. In captivity, they often develop pathologies, such as the dorsal fin collapse seen in 60–90% of captive males. Captives have vastly reduced life expectancies, on average only living into their 20s. In the wild, females who survive infancy live 46 years on average, and up to 70–80 years in rare cases. Wild males who survive infancy live 31 years on average, and up to 50–60 years. Captivity usually bears little resemblance to wild habitat, and captive whales' social groups are foreign to those found in the wild. Critics claim captive life is stressful due to these factors and the requirement to perform circus tricks that are not part of wild killer whale behavior, see above. Wild killer whales may travel up to in a day, and critics say the animals are too big and intelligent to be suitable for captivity. Captives occasionally act aggressively towards themselves, their tankmates, or humans, which critics say is a result of stress. Between 1991 and 2010, the bull orca known as Tilikum was involved in the death of three people, and was featured in the critically acclaimed 2013 film, "Blackfish". Tilikum lived at SeaWorld from 1992 until his death in 2017.
Omura's whale
Omura's whale appears to be restricted to the shelf and deep waters of tropical and subtropical regions, with records from the Indian (including the Strait of Hormuz, Madagascar, Thailand, Malaysia, off Cocos Islands, Sri Lanka, and Western and South Australia), the Pacific (including Borneo and Indonesia, the Philippines, Hong Kong, China, Taiwan, the Sea of Japan, the Seto Inland Sea, the Timor Sea, Queensland (Eastern Australia), New Caledonia, and the Solomon Sea) and in the Atlantic Ocean (Mauritania and Brazil).
Sperm whale
They are relatively abundant from the poles to the equator and are found in all the oceans. They inhabit the Mediterranean Sea, but not the Black Sea, while their presence in the Red Sea is uncertain. The shallow entrances to both the Black Sea and the Red Sea may account for their absence. The Black Sea's lower layers are also anoxic and contain high concentrations of sulphur compounds such as hydrogen sulphide. First ever sighting in Pakistan was made in 2017. First ever record on west coast of Korean Peninsula (Yellow Sea) was made in 2005. followed by one on Ganghwa Island in 2009.
Right whale
Because the oceans are so large, it is very difficult to accurately gauge whale population sizes. Approximate figures:Almost all of the 400 North Atlantic right whales live in the western North Atlantic Ocean. In northern spring, summer and autumn, they feed in areas off the Canadian and northeast U.S. coasts in a range stretching from New York to Newfoundland. Particularly popular feeding areas are the Bay of Fundy and Cape Cod Bay. In winter, they head south towards Georgia and Florida to give birth. There have been a smattering of sightings further east over the past few decades; several sightings were made close to Iceland in 2003. These are possibly the remains of a virtually extinct eastern Atlantic stock, but examination of old whalers' records suggests they are more likely to be strays. However, a few sightings are regular between Norway, Ireland, Spain, Portugal, the Canary Islands and even Italy and Sicily; at least the Norway individuals come from the Western stock.
North Atlantic right whale
The North Atlantic right whale ("Eubalaena glacialis", which means "good, or true, whale of the ice") is a baleen whale, one of three right whale species belonging to the genus "Eubalaena", all of which were formerly classified as a single species. Because of their docile nature, their slow surface-skimming feeding behaviors, their tendencies to stay close to the coast, and their high blubber content (which makes them float when they are killed, and which produced high yields of whale oil), right whales were once a preferred target for whalers.
At present, they are among the most endangered whales in the world, and they are protected under the U.S. Endangered Species Act and Marine Mammal Protection Act and Canada's Species at Risk Act. There are about 400 individuals in existence in the western North Atlantic Ocean—they migrate between feeding grounds in the Labrador Sea and their winter calving areas off Georgia and Florida, an ocean area with heavy shipping traffic. In the eastern North Atlantic, on the other hand—with a total population reaching into the low teens at best—scientists believe that they may already be functionally extinct. Vessel strikes and entanglement in fixed fishing gear, which together account for nearly half of all North Atlantic right whale mortality since 1970, are their two greatest threats to recovery.
Like other right whales, the North Atlantic right whale, also known as the northern right whale or black right whale, is readily distinguished from other whales by the callosities on its head, a broad back without a dorsal fin, and a long arching mouth that begins above the eye. The body of the whale is very dark grey or black, occasionally with white patches on the belly. The right whale's callosities appear white due to large colonies of cyamids or whale lice.
Indian whiting
The Indian whiting ("Sillago indica") is a poorly known species of coastal marine fish of the smelt-whiting family Sillaginidae. The species was named in 1985, having previously being misidentified as another species of Sillago, "S. parvisquamis". The Indian whiting inhabits the east and west coasts of the Indian subcontinent, apparently not extending to the southern tip of India. Like all sillaginids, it is benthic in nature, living in depths to 30 m where it is caught by fishermen alongside other species of "Sillago".
Whale
As marine creatures that reside in either the depths or the poles, humans knew very little about whales over the course of history; many feared or revered them. The Nords and various arctic tribes revered the whale as they were important pieces of their lives. In Inuit creation myths, when 'Big Raven', a deity in human form, found a stranded whale, he was told by the Great Spirit where to find special mushrooms that would give him the strength to drag the whale back to the sea and thus, return order to the world. In an Icelandic legend, a man threw a stone at a fin whale and hit the blowhole, causing the whale to burst. The man was told not to go to sea for twenty years, but during the nineteenth year he went fishing and a whale came and killed him.
Whale shark
The whale shark ("Rhincodon typus") is a slow-moving, filter-feeding carpet shark and the largest known extant fish species. The largest confirmed individual had a length of and a weight of about . The whale shark holds many records for size in the animal kingdom, most notably being by far the largest living nonmammalian vertebrate. It is the sole member of the genus Rhincodon and the only extant member of the family Rhincodontidae which belongs to the subclass Elasmobranchii in the class Chondrichthyes. Before 1984 it was classified as "Rhiniodon" into Rhinodontidae.
Fin whale
Very little information has been revealed about the ecology of current migration from Antarctic waters are unknown, but small increases in sighting rates are confirmed off New Zealand, such as off Kaikoura, and wintering grounds may exist in further north such as in Papua New Guinea, Fiji, and off East Timor. Confirmations in Rarotonga have been increased recently where interactions with humpback whales occur on occasions. Finbacks are also relatively abundant along the coast of Peru and Chile (in Chile, most notably off Los Lagos region such as Gulf of Corcovado in Chiloé National Park, , port of Mejillones, and Caleta Zorra. Year-round confirmations indicate possible residents off pelagic north eastern to central Chile such as around coastal and Pingüino de Humboldt National Reserve, east of Juan Fernández Islands, and northeast of Easter Island and possible wintering ground exist for eastern south Pacific population. They are known to make mixed groups with other rorquals such as blue whales and sei whales. Their recovery is confirmed vicinity to various subantarctic islands such as South Georgia and Falkland, but unknown in other historical habitats including Campbell Island, Kermadec to Chatham Islands, Tristan da Cunha, and Gough Island.
Wildlife of Oman
Oman is also rich in marine diversity, especially cetaceans. There is a population of humpback whales that may be the most isolated, possibly the most endangered, and the only non-migratory population in the world. Off Muscat there are other humpback whales, pygmy blue whales, Bryde's whales, sperm whales, false killer whales, Risso's dolphins, spinner dolphins, bottlenose dolphins, Indo-Pacific humpbacked dolphins, and the occasional killer whale.
Humpback whale
Whales were historically common in continental and marginal waters such as Hallaniyat Islands, along Indian coasts, Persian Gulf and Gulf of Aden and recent migrations into the gulf including by cow-calf pairs. It is unknown whether whales seen in the Red Sea originate in this population, however sightings increased since in 2006 even in the northern part of the sea such as in Gulf of Aqaba. Individuals may reach the Maldives, Sri Lanka, or further east. Humpbacks have been considered rather vagrant into Persian Gulf, however new studies indicate more regular presences can be expected.
Killer whale
In steeply banked beaches off Península Valdés, Argentina, and the Crozet Islands, killer whales feed on South American sea lions and southern elephant seals in shallow water, even beaching temporarily to grab prey before wriggling back to the sea. Beaching, usually fatal to cetaceans, is not an instinctive behaviour, and can require years of practice for the young. Killer whales can then release the animal near juvenile whales, allowing the younger whales to practice the difficult capture technique on the now-weakened prey. "Wave-hunting" killer whales spy-hop to locate Weddell seals, crabeater seals, leopard seals, and penguins resting on ice floes, and then swim in groups to create waves that wash over the floe. This washes the prey into the water, where other killer whales lie in wait.
Asha de Vos
De Vos had served as a senior programme officer in the marine and coastal unit of the International Union for Conservation of Nature. She founded the Sri Lankan Blue Whale Project in 2008, which forms the first long term study on blue whales within the northern Indian Ocean. Through her research, the International Whaling Commission has designated Sri Lankan blue whales as a species in urgent need of conservation research and has started collaborating with the Sri Lankan government on whale ship-strikes. De Vos is an invited member of the IUCN Species Survival Commission’s Cetacean Specialist Group. She was a post-doctoral scholar at the University of California Santa Cruz and a guest blogger for National Geographic.
Whale Wars
Whale Wars is a weekly American documentary-style reality television series that premiered on November 7, 2008 on the Animal Planet cable channel. The program followed Paul Watson, founder of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, as he and the crew aboard their various vessels attempted to stop the killing of whales by Japanese vessels (whalers) off the coast of Antarctica.
Southern right whale
In oceanic islands and offshore waters other than the above-mentioned areas, very little about the presence and recovery status of southern right whales is known. Right whales' historical ranges were much greater than today as whales were known to occur in lower latitude areas such as around Pacific Islands during the whaling era such as catches off Kiribati, and also frequented lower latitudes of the central Indian Ocean.
Fin whale
For Asian stocks, resident groups may exist in the Yellow Sea and East China Sea, and the Sea of Japan (though these populations are critically endangered and the population off China, Korea, and Japan are either near extinction or in very small numbers). Very small increases in sightings have been confirmed off Shiretoko Peninsula, Abashiri, and Kushiro in Hokkaido, Tsushima, Sado Island, off Maiduru in the Sea of Japan since in late 2000s as whales in Sea of Okhotsk might have started recolonizing into former habitats (for coastal Sakhalin, as well). Whales possibly used to migrated into Seto Inland Sea.
Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary
After populations of large whales were decimated by whaling in the last two centuries, several species are rebounding. Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary is a seasonal home to several species of those large whales. From Early Spring to late Fall the sanctuary sees increasing numbers of humpback, blue and fin whales- with seasonally migrating gray whales transiting the sanctuary on their trips between the North Pacific and the lagoons of Baja California. At times, large whales aggregate in tremendous numbers, with as many as 186 unique photo identifications occurring in a single day. Understanding the causes of this aggregation, such as bloom dynamics of the krill the whales feed on, can provide valuable forecasting information to predict where whales are likely to be in the near term. This information in turn could aid in reducing whale-ship interactions. Ongoing work has focused on behavioral responses of large whales to close encounters with large vessels transiting the Santa Barbara Channel. This work is being extended to focus on two problems: how variability in krill depth is key to whale decision making, and how the whales are selecting specific sized prey within pools of mixed-age krill. To get after these questions, sanctuary staff and contractors are combining an ongoing program of tagging large whales with time-depth-location recording tags with systematic mapping of krill fields around the sanctuary. The sanctuary is assisting the work of partners from Cascadia Research Collective and Scripps Institution of Oceanography.
Blue whale
In June 2015, a female blue whale estimated at and 20 tonnes (22 tons) was stranded on a beach in Maharashtra, India, the first live stranding in the region. Despite efforts by the Albaug forest department and local fishermen, the whale died 10 hours after being stranded. In August 2009, a wounded blue whale was stranded in a bay in Steingrímsfjördur, Iceland. The first rescue attempt failed, as the whale (thought to be over 20 meters long) towed the >20 ton boat back to shore at speeds of up to . The whale was towed to sea after 7 hours by a stronger boat. It is unknown whether it survived. In December 2015, a live blue whale thought to be over long was rescued from a beach in Chile. Another stranded blue whale, thought to be about long, was rescued in India in February 2016. Boats were used in all successful cases.
Whale
As of 2013, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) recognized 86 cetacean species, 40 of which are considered whales. Six are considered at risk, as they are ranked Critically Endangered (the North Atlantic right whale), "Endangered" (blue whale, fin whale, North Pacific right whale, and sei whale), and "Vulnerable" (sperm whale). Twenty-one species have a "Data Deficient" ranking. Species that live in polar habitats are vulnerable to the effects of recent and ongoing climate change, particularly the time when pack ice forms and melts.
Hainan
Hainan island has rich bio-diversity of cetaceans and is the site of studying these in Chinese waters. Many whales such as North Pacific right whales, western gray whales, humpback whales, and blue whales (all of these are almost extinct in Chinese waters) were historically seen in the winter and spring to mate and calve. These gentle giants of the sea had been hunted heavily and were wiped out by Japanese whalers (established whaling stations on various sites on Chinese and Korean coasts including Hainan and Daya Bay). A few Bryde's whales and minke whales may still occur in the adjacent waters along with on Leizhou Peninsula and the Gulf of Tonkin. Smaller species of whale and dolphins, such as short-finned pilot whales and pantropical spotted dolphins, but most notably the endangered Chinese white dolphin. Declared sanctuary for the species extends along the coasts. These dolphins may appear among clearer waters such as vicinity to Sanya.
Tropical bottlenose whale
The tropical bottlenose whale ("Indopacetus pacificus"), also known as the Indo-Pacific beaked whale and Longman's beaked whale, was considered to be the world's rarest cetacean until recently, but the spade-toothed whale now holds that position. As of 2010, the species is now known from nearly a dozen strandings and over 65 sightings.
Whale
Mysticetes are also known as baleen whales. They have a pair of blowholes side-by-side and lack teeth; instead they have baleen plates which form a sieve-like structure in the upper jaw made of keratin, which they use to filter plankton from the water. Some whales, such as the humpback, reside in the polar regions where they feed on a reliable source of schooling fish and krill. These animals rely on their well-developed flippers and tail fin to propel themselves through the water; they swim by moving their fore-flippers and tail fin up and down. Whale ribs loosely articulate with their thoracic vertebrae at the proximal end, but do not form a rigid rib cage. This adaptation allows the chest to compress during deep dives as the pressure increases. Mysticetes consist of four families: rorquals (balaenopterids), cetotheriids, right whales (balaenids), and grey whales (eschrichtiids).
Jonah
The largest whales—baleen whales, a group which includes the blue whale—eat plankton and "it is commonly said that this species would be choked if it attempted to swallow a herring." As for the whale shark, Dr. E. W. Gudger, an Honorary Associate in Ichthyology at the American Museum of Natural History, notes that, while the whale shark does have a large mouth, its throat is only four inches wide, with a sharp elbow or bend behind the opening, meaning that not even a human arm would be able to pass through it. He concludes that "the whale shark is not the fish that swallowed Jonah."
Humpback whale
Whales were once uncommon in the Mediterranean and the Baltic Sea, but have increased their presence in both waters as global populations have recovered. Recent increases within the Mediterranean basin, including re-sightings, indicate that more whales may migrate into the inland sea in the future, not only for wintering but also for feeding. Humpbacks are also showing signs of re-expanding into former ranges, such as Scotland, Skagerrak and Kattegat, as well as Scandinavian fjords such as Kvænangen, where they had not been observed for decades.