beluga whale

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In This River, Thousands of 'Social Butterflies'

Thousands of playful belugas frolic along Canada's Churchill River—and are now key to area's tourism

(Newser) - Playful large white beluga whales bring joy and healing to Hudson Bay. Their happy chirps leap out in an environment and economy threatened by the warming water that's melting sea ice, starving polar bears, and changing the entire food chain. Loud and curious belugas swarm boats here, clicking, nudging,...

Norway Says It Knows How Alleged 'Spy' Whale Died

Beluga who lived off coast of Norway succumbed to bacterial infection, police say

(Newser) - A beluga whale that lived off Norway's coast, and whose harness ignited speculation that it was a Russian spy , wasn't shot to death as claimed by animal rights groups but died of a bacterial infection, Norwegian police said Friday. A final autopsy by Norway's Veterinary Institute "...

Popular Whale Rumored to Be 'Russian Spy' Is Dead
We Now Know How the
'Russian Spy' Whale Died
UPDATED
Sep 10, 2024 9:35 AM CDT

We Now Know How the 'Russian Spy' Whale Died

Kind of—beluga known as Hvaldimir had a stick stuck in its mouth, per Norwegian police

(Newser) - On Monday, Norwegian police said they'd found zero evidence that supposed "Russian spy" whale Hvaldimir, found dead in Norway's waters last month, had been shot to death, as some animal rights activists had alleged, per the AP . Now, an answer on the marine creature's premature demise:...

It Was 'Likely the Most Complex Marine Mammal Rescue Ever'

2 beluga whales moved from war-torn eastern Ukraine to new home in Spain

(Newser) - War has costs for whales, too. Indeed, two beluga whales held at an aquarium in Kharkiv, eastern Ukraine, were considered unlikely to survive Russia's bombing of the region—until animal lovers thousands of miles away found a way to help them. The two whales—a 15-year-old male named Plombir...

There's a Move to Get Lonely Beluga Out of 'Unethical' Home

Animal rights activists are fighting for release of Bella, housed in a shopping mall aquarium in Seoul

(Newser) - Efforts have kicked up again to "free Bella," a beluga whale housed in an aquarium in a South Korean shopping mall. Bella was caught in 2013 at the tender age of 2 in the Arctic Ocean, off the coast of Russia, and along with two other male belugas...

Friendly Beluga, an Escapee, Is at the Center of Controversy

'New York Times Magazine' digs into efforts underway to protect Hvaldimir

(Newser) - It's possible you've seen images or video of a beluga whale known as Hvaldimir. Maybe, for instance, when Ellen DeGeneres showed incredible video of him on her show in 2019 returning a phone to a woman who had accidently dropped it in the sea in Hammerfest, Norway. That...

Aquarium Welcomed 5 Whales in 2021. 3 Are Now Dead

Beluga named Kharabali, 9, had been swimming abnormally at Mystic Aquarium since November

(Newser) - A 9-year-old beluga whale at Mystic Aquarium named Kharabali has died, marking the third death among five whales that were transported there from Canada in 2021. Kharabali began swimming abnormally in November and "her strange behavior continued to progress." She was eventually moved to the intensive care facility...

Alleged Russian Spy Whale Turns Up in a New Country

Hvaldimir, first spotted off of Norway 4 years ago, is now in Swedish waters

(Newser) - In 2019, when a white beluga whale showed up off of Norway , experts suspected it was a spy whale that had defected from the Russian military. Scientists also feared the creature wouldn't be able to survive very long on its own after a lifetime in captivity—but now, four...

'Unprecedented' Rescue of Stranded Whale Is Too Late

Beluga taken out of Seine to be transported back to chillier waters dies

(Newser) - A beluga whale stranded in the Seine, far from the colder waters where it belongs, has died during an attempted rescue, reports CNN . The first part of a multistage relocation operation took place early Wednesday, with the 13-foot-long, 1,800-pound marine mammal lifted out of the waters in northern France...

In the Seine, a Whale Far From Home
Whale Is Stranded in the Seine
Aug 5, 2022 9:53 AM CDT

Whale Is Stranded in the Seine

Officials are now trying to save the beluga in France, far from its usual home in chillier waters

(Newser) - A beluga whale is stranded far from home, and now French officials are trying to figure out how to get it to safety. The BBC reports that the skinny-looking whale is right now floating near Vernon, 45 miles or so northwest of Paris and way south of the chilly Arctic...

Animal Activists Lose Battle As Whales Arrive to Aquarium

Five Belugas made a day-long trek from Canada to Connecticut

(Newser) - Five Beluga whales have arrived at their new home in a Connecticut aquarium after a years-long legal battle to import them and two others from Canada. The first three animals were flown from Ontario to Connecticut on Friday, per the AP . They arrived in Mystic on three tractor-trailers, where they...

5 Beluga Whales at Center of Lawsuit

Animal rights group does not want them transferred from Canada to US for research

(Newser) - An animals rights group is suing to stop a Connecticut aquarium from acquiring five more beluga whales for research, saying they would be harmed by the trip from Canada and by being torn from long-term relationships with others of their species. Friends of Animals, based in Connecticut, filed suit this...

Your TGIF Minute: A Whale Playing Fetch
Your TGIF
Minute: A
Whale
Playing
Fetch
VIDEO
Nov 8, 2019 1:33 PM CST

Your TGIF Minute: A Whale Playing Fetch

'It's crazy, yeah'

(Newser) - Get ready for what TMZ calls a minute "of awesome." The Guardian posted a video Thursday of a boat said to be near the North Pole, with South African rugby fans aboard, next to a beluga whale. That's not what makes the encounter awesome, however: It's...

Whale Suspected of Spying Is a Hit in Norway

Beluga entertains people, but experts say he should be left to forage

(Newser) - A white beluga whale discovered last week that might have slipped away from the Russian military has become at home along the coastline of northern Norway. The whale has been entertaining people, Forbes reports, by dancing in the water, playing with balls, and letting children tap its nose. The tame...

A Whale Rubbed Against a Boat. It Wore a Harness

Officials speculate harnessed beluga whale found off Norway escaped from Russian military facility

(Newser) - A beluga whale found with a tight harness that appeared to be Russian-made has raised the alarm of Norwegian officials and prompted speculation that the animal may have escaped from a Russian military facility. Joergen Ree Wiig of the Norwegian Directorate of Fisheries says "Equipment St. Petersburg" is written...

Illegal Russian 'Whale Jail' Investigated

Dozens of orcas, belugas seen in cramped pens

(Newser) - Some of the world's most majestic creatures are being kept in cramped conditions in an illegal "whale jail" in Russia, activists say. Prosecutors in the city of Vladivostok in Russia's Far East opened an investigation after drone video was released showing dozens of beluga whales and orcas...

In This Beluga Pod, One Does Not Belong

Narwhal gains new family in St. Lawrence River

(Newser) - The video appears to show a pod of young belugas splashing playfully in Canada's St. Lawrence River. But then a speckled body breaks the water's surface, standing out among the bright white whales. The narwhal, swimming more than 600 miles south of its usual Arctic homeland, "behaves...

3 Species Were Known to Go Through Menopause. Now It's 5

Aside from humans, they're all similar in one way

(Newser) - Menopause isn't a distinctly human condition—and now scientists have discovered two more species that experience it and then live well beyond it, bringing the total number to five. The four non-human species that go through menopause are similar in that they're all toothed whales. The new study,...

Whales Return to Long Island Sound After 2 Decades

Boaters are snapping pics of humpbacks and belugas, but NOAA issues warning

(Newser) - It's been more than 20 years since whales were spotted in the Long Island Sound—and even longer since the last humpback was spied—but that streak was broken this summer in what one maritime expert is calling "the year of the whale," the Hour reports. Boaters...

Beluga Whales Infected With Cat Parasite

Poses health threat to Inuits

(Newser) - The Toxoplasma gondii parasite, carried by cats, can cause rats to stop fearing the felines; in humans, it can cause blindness. Now, beluga whales in the Arctic have been discovered to have the parasite—and researchers fear it could infect the people who eat them. "The only way to...

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