Festive Underwater Whale “Party” Discovered Near East Timor Caps Exciting Year in Whale News
2008 was a busy year for whale news, and it seems like 2009 will not be any different.
Australian and East Timorese researchers say that while conducting research, they “found” an amazing whale “hotspot” off of East Timor’s coast.
As quoted by Reuters, the principal scientist working on the study said the following: “In just one day, more than 1,000 individuals and possibly as many as 2,000 whales in eight separate pods — each one containing up to 400 mammals — were spotted over a 50-kilometre (31-mile) stretch of coast.”
Wow! Personally I think that this is a very exciting and cool discovery. The researchers also claim that the area is rich in other forms of ocean animals, like sharks and sea turtles. It highlights the need for greater protection of biodiverse ocean areas like these from unregulated fishing– a challenge given East Timor’s desire to develop their fishing industry.
As mentioned earlier, 2008 was a gigantic year for whale news. Here’s a roundup of some of the stories that were written about whales on EcoWorldly and on other sites in the Green Options network.
- » See also: On the Brink of Extinction: Call to Close Cruel and Inhumane Tiger Farms
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Stories about Whale Research:
- Whales and Dolphins Can No Longer Hear in Oceans
- Scientists Use GPS to Spy on Whale Watch Tours, Uncover Ugly Secret
- Whale Shark Tagging Operation off Kenya Coast
Stories about the new Animal Planet hit series Whale Wars:
- Ready for Season 2? Over 1 Million Watched Whale Wars Finale
- Animal Planet, Daryl Hannah Join Sea Shepherd Crew for More Whale Wars
- Japan Accuses Animal Planet of EcoTerrorism Prior to “Whale Wars” Premiere
- Greenpeace vs. Sea Shepherd: An Unfortunate Conflict
- Sea Shepherd Activists Spray Whaling Ship with Rotten Butter
- Japan Plans to Arrest Sea Shepherd Crew
- “Madagascar Two” Movie Inaccurate According to Sea Shepherd
- Australia, Greenpeace Opt Out of This Winter’s ‘Whale Wars’
- Sea Shepherd Now has Former US Navy Lieutenant Onboard
- New “Whale Wars” TV Series Documents Anti-Whaling Activists
Stories about Sanctuaries and International Whale Politics:
- Australian Whale Images Cause Controversy
- Coast Guard Agrees to be Crossing Guard for Endangered Whale Schools
- Former Playboy Playmate Vanessa Carbone Stages Naked Protest Against Japanese Whaling
- Canada Ignores Rescue Option, Kills 500 Endangered Narwhals
- Bankrupt Iceland Flouts Treaty, Resumes International Trade in Endangered Fin Whale Meat
- Chile Declares Permanent Ban on Whaling, Japan Pressured to Follow Suit
- US Supreme Court Sides with Navy in Whale Sonar Case
- Japan Says We Are Witnessing the Death of the International Whaling Commission
- Korea vs. Japan: There’s No Sex in Whaling
- Japanese Schools Serve Whale Meat Despite Toxic Mercury Levels
- Greenpeace: Japan Cuts Whale Hunt Quota by 20%
- Brazil Establishes Whale Sanctuary Along its Entire Coast
Stories about Sarah Palin and Whales:
Other Whale-Related Stories:
Photo Credit: CD_Photo on Flickr under a Creative Commons license
Thank you for highlighting this Reuters news item and for providing a list of other articles that can be referenced on whale and marine research news. I will be interested to see whether the marine environment in this area is cleaner, quieter, safer for these animals to gather. It is a very exciting notion to think that we still have the opportunity to do right by these and other glorious creatures on our planet.
The refered country in that news is my country. I’m timorese. Yes the marine environment in that area in certainly more secure, cleaner, and quieter for those mammals to gather even perhaps can be used as their marine habitat to reproduce and expand. Giving the fact that in that maritime area there is less fishing activity in industrial scale and it’s not considered strategically good enough for comercial ship’s and military navals passage hence almost inexistence in that area any noise that can be prejudicial for whales and other species. Therefore it’s a hotspot for those marine animals to live in abundance. Any habitat of other species when given time, space, less perturbance from human greedy comercial and military activities will certainly find its own way to live, survive, reproduce and expand in greater numbers to the benefit of all living things in this planet we call Earth.
Thanks to put this information together. It is amazing to find so many whales together. However it might be a sign of the unbalanced of their ecosystem and human impacts. I will love to have more information about this findings.
[...] Levi Novey, however, is concerned: [...]
You are quoted on this GVO piece on the whale meeting up in East Timor! http://tinyurl.com/aytfoy
Find more about it!
Cheers,
sara