Showing posts with label srkw. Show all posts
Showing posts with label srkw. Show all posts
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Orcas on Hydrophone!
If you want to hear the Southern Resident Killer Whales of the Salish Sea right now... Go to OrcaSound.net, click on "Listen to OrcaSound on San Juan Island" (works on RealPlayer, iTunes, WinAmp), and hear some of our resident orcas! I hear at least J pod and, thanks to MarineTraffic.com, the cargo ship, Star of Sawara.
Monday, February 23, 2009
Right Whales, Blue Whales, and Orcas; oh my!
Right whales got some CNN love with the help of the New England Aquarium's Right Whale Aerial Survey Team. Check out the team's blog for more on their visit with CNN. Apparently the whales were called "ugly" by CNN, but I don't think that's true at all! Right whales are very, very pretty. Don't you think?
Blue whales were featured in an article in the latest National Geographic magazine. The article -- called "Still Blue" -- takes readers on a journey to the Costa Rica Dome, an area of the ocean which, due to upwelling, brings the thermocline and lots of tasty critters up to the surface. The blue whales come to feast on nutrient-rich phytoplankton, and the researchers come to feast on knowledge. It's a win-win situation for all.
The Southern Resident Killer Whales (SRKW) passed by the Port Townsend Marine Science Center last Tuesday. Coincidentally, I was teaching a class of third graders about sound underwater and, as we listened to our hydrophone, we heard the orcas and reported to Orca Network. Since we were the first to report, we were even mentioned on the evening news! See the Port Townsend Marine Science Center's blog for more information on the experience.
Whew! How's that for your cetacean news download for the day?
Blue whales were featured in an article in the latest National Geographic magazine. The article -- called "Still Blue" -- takes readers on a journey to the Costa Rica Dome, an area of the ocean which, due to upwelling, brings the thermocline and lots of tasty critters up to the surface. The blue whales come to feast on nutrient-rich phytoplankton, and the researchers come to feast on knowledge. It's a win-win situation for all.
The Southern Resident Killer Whales (SRKW) passed by the Port Townsend Marine Science Center last Tuesday. Coincidentally, I was teaching a class of third graders about sound underwater and, as we listened to our hydrophone, we heard the orcas and reported to Orca Network. Since we were the first to report, we were even mentioned on the evening news! See the Port Townsend Marine Science Center's blog for more information on the experience.
Whew! How's that for your cetacean news download for the day?
Monday, February 16, 2009
Good Week for Orcas
I've just received word from Susan and Howard over at Orca Network that there have been two new calves sighted with the Southern Resident Killer Whales (SRKW)! Here's what they have to say in their weekly report:
Ken Balcomb of the Center for Whale Research confirmed "there are two new calves (one in J and one in L), but we are not officially specifying mums yet. We are conferring with Dr. John Ford and our Canadian colleagues before stating possible mothers. We would like to have several encounters with the babies and their mothers before assigning because grandma's may also confuse things."
After losing seven members of the SRKW within the last year, the announcement of two new calves is fantastic. I'll keep my ears and eyes open for any more news regarding an increase in our resident orca population. It may take a while to confirm the mothers of these young orcas, but this is certainly a good sign. Until then, think happy thoughts for these whales!
Sunday, January 11, 2009
Happiness is...
...reading the new book on blue whales, Wild Blue, by Dan Bortolotti. (Preview it on Google Books here.)
...watching a slideshow on the Southern Resident orca population, put together by the folks at The Whale Museum in Friday Harbor. (Want more? See part two here.)
...getting a package with blacklight and blacklight-sensitive paint for creating a class activity on marine mammal echolocation.
...preparing to work with Lee Post -- "The Boneman" -- on a bone/skeleton articulation project.
...the anticipation of the Ways of Whales workshop on Whidbey Island at the end of this month, put on by Orca Network.
...getting another cup of coffee, which I'm off to do right now.
Doesn't take a lot to make me happy, does it?
...watching a slideshow on the Southern Resident orca population, put together by the folks at The Whale Museum in Friday Harbor. (Want more? See part two here.)
...getting a package with blacklight and blacklight-sensitive paint for creating a class activity on marine mammal echolocation.
...preparing to work with Lee Post -- "The Boneman" -- on a bone/skeleton articulation project.
...the anticipation of the Ways of Whales workshop on Whidbey Island at the end of this month, put on by Orca Network.
...getting another cup of coffee, which I'm off to do right now.
Doesn't take a lot to make me happy, does it?
Monday, December 29, 2008
Disentangling Whales
I love the Internet. I love awesome websites. What I love most is when people on the Internet send me awesome websites. So, when Jives over at The New Blue sent me the link to the New England Aquarium Research Team site, I was pretty darn excited! Here's a group of people, so driven to help protect Right Whales, that they get out on the water and disentangle fishing gear from the whales. Let me say that again, they disentangle fishing gear from whales. Wow! How do I get a job like that?
With so many human-created dangers out there, it's a wonder the worldwide whale populations are not even worse off. With abandoned fishing gear littering the ocean and starving Southern Resident Orcas, there is so much set against the mystical megafauna. I'm thankful that there are people making an effort to even out the playing field. One whale at a time is much, much better than nothing.
With so many human-created dangers out there, it's a wonder the worldwide whale populations are not even worse off. With abandoned fishing gear littering the ocean and starving Southern Resident Orcas, there is so much set against the mystical megafauna. I'm thankful that there are people making an effort to even out the playing field. One whale at a time is much, much better than nothing.
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