This seems to be from GROWLS (Gabriola Rescue of Wildlife Society); I’ve had a few copies forwarded to me. GROWLS has had calls about a sickly and injured looking seal on the beach. The seal has been identified as a juvenile elephant seal which is moulting. This is an unusual sight here on Gabriola. They [...]
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They met, and one became the other’s lunch murder victim. Can you guess which way the battle ended? BirdFellow has the story, complete with photographs.
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If you’re interested in reasons behind the reported increase of jellyfish populations, this Vancouver Sun article might be for you: Jellyfish thrive in adverse conditions, UBC study finds. Global warming, pollution and human activity in marine habitats are not generally regarded as good things — unless you’re a jellyfish. Then — according to a study [...]
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If you see killer whales around Gabriola, marine biologists want to hear from you. From the Daily News: Biologists urge public to report any whale sightings using hotline. Dr. John Ford, who studies killer whale populations around Vancouver Island, said there has been unusually large pods of meat-eating transient orcas spotted close to Nanaimo in [...]
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Can whales predict tsunamis? From the Guardian: Do whales hear earthquakes long before humans? As tsunami warnings hit the Indonesian and Sri Lankan coasts last week, observers at sea watched as every species of cetacean – from massive blue whales to diminutive spinner dolphins – disappeared within five minutes. British photographer and film-maker Andrew Sutton, [...]
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When you sit on the rocks at Drumbeg, do you see more marine mammals than you used to? Marine mammals are coming back to the Salish Sea, says a Vancouver Sun article, which notes that The shared inland waters of Juan de Fuca Strait, B.C.’s Strait of Georgia, and Washington state’s Puget Sound may once [...]
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It seems that magnets repel sharks. Aren’t you glad to know that?
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From the BBC: Eavesdropping on the squid world. Marine biologists are starting to get a good idea now of how squid hear and how they react to sounds in the ocean. It is only recently that scientists have come to accept that cephalopods have any auditory capability at all. But new experiments show noises of [...]
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The herring are spawning all around Gabriola, and that leads to scenes of nautical magic as huge numbers of birds and sea creatures gobble lunch and cavort past the beach. Have you been down to watch it all? Cheryl has, and she sent us this photo: Isn’t that stunning? This is even better: a close-up [...]
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Malcolm Island is a ways north of Gabriola — it’s near Port MacNeill, which is one of the northernmost communities on Vancouver Island. But anyway, look what washed ashore there: a pacific sleeper shark. Water Blogged explains and shows photos: One of the great benefits of living so near the ocean is that every once [...]
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Think some of the fish around Gabriola are odd-looking? Imagine a robotic fish swimming among them, and then you’ll need another wee dram before you’ll be able to sleep. From Wired: Real Fish Welcome Robotic Overlord Into Their School. A robotic fish has sailed across an aquatic uncanny valley by tricking real fish into following [...]
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Here’s something from National Geographic: Bubble Curtains: Can They Dampen Offshore Energy Sound for Whales? In other whale-related news, the Tyee posted this the other day: Appeal court upholds ruling on protection of orca habitat A federal appeal court ruled yesterday that the Department of Fisheries and Oceans failed in its legal responsibility to protect [...]
When you sit on the rocks at Orlebar Point and muse about what’s going on underwater, consider this: dolphins have been reported talking Whale in their sleep. From ABC News: News has come from France that some captive-born dolphins there have been recorded talking in their sleep — and talking in Whale, no less, not [...]
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I’d thought that Gabriola’s river otters hang out near the sea, but maybe I’m wrong about that. Today I saw a river otter cross North Road near Barrett. Is that typical? Where is the furthest-from-sea location that you’ve seen river otters on Gabriola? (Photo by Dmitry Azovtsev. Found here on the Wikimedia Commons site. This [...]
From Discovery News: Whales and Salmon: When Enemies Need Each Other. Both killer whales and Chinook salmon are endangered in the Pacific Northwest. And one of the biggest problems facing both animals is that one eats the other. According to a new study, a single small and vulnerable group of whales may eat close to [...]
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From Scientific American: Life at the Bottom: The Prolific Afterlife of Whales. On the final dive of the trip, the scanning sonar detected a large object on the seafloor. Piercing through the abyssal darkness down at 1,240 meters, Alvin’s headlights revealed a 20-meter-long whale skeleton partly buried in sediment. On reviewing the dive videotapes, expedition [...]
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Here’s something to ponder next time you watch orcas swim past Orlebar Point. From the Smithsonian Magazine: Understanding Orca Culture. Orcas have evolved complex culture: a suite of behaviors animals learn from one another. They communicate with distinctive calls and whistles. They can live 60 years or more, and they stay in tightknit matrilineal groups [...]
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