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Articles & News Tagged “Blue Whale”

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Outrage over blue whale killing by Icelandic whalers grows Photo

Outrage over blue whale killing by Icelandic whalers grows

Outrage is growing virally since images of a slaughtered blue whale (most likely) have surfaced online. The whale was killed by the Icelandic whaling company Hvalur hf, run by Kristján Loftsson, as part of their annual whaling hunt. So far the company has killed 22 whales, including the whale in question. The company insists the whale is a hybrid between a blue whale, an internationally protected species since the 1960’s, and a fin whale, the species the company targets. Experts believe otherwise.

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Evidence that the largest animal on earth is left-handed Photo

Evidence that the largest animal on earth is left-handed

Scientists have recently found that the largest animals on earth, blue whales, have a preferred lateralization in their movements, and it seems to be for the left side. In a study led by Ari Friedlaender with the University of California, Santa Cruz and Oregon State University three-axis accelerometers were placed on 63 blue whales in the Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary. Image from Shutterstock.

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Video: Blue whale lunge feeding in Monterey Bay Photo

Video: Blue whale lunge feeding in Monterey Bay

Earth Touch News has published a video of a blue whale lunge feeding in Monterey Bay. Blue whales, the largest animals on earth, are some of the rarest to encounter in the wild. Even more so to get a perfect view of a blue whale feeding on krill, their main food source. But, wildlife photographer Slater Moore did just that while on a whale watching boat off Monterey last month.

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How blue whales became the largest animals to ever live on earth Photo

How blue whales became the largest animals to ever live on earth

In a study published this week in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B scientists have zeroed in on the cause and effect of blue whales colossal size. The scientists equated whale gigantism to climatic change and greater food source. Since baleen whales such as blues, fins, and bowhead whales filter feed on small organisms, a boom in krill and other similar food sources sparked the leap to giant size. Prior to the boom, which correlated with ice sheets covering the Northern Hemisphere 4.5 million years ago, blue whales were a fraction of the size they are today.

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