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Whale Conservation
Whale conservation refers to the critical global effort aimed at protecting and preserving whale populations that have been historically threatened by human activities, particularly whaling. The ongoing conservation efforts involve complex debates surrounding whale protection, including discussions about scientific research, cultural practices, economic considerations, and ethical concerns about whale hunting. Conservation initiatives focus on various strategies such as legal protections, habitat preservation, and mitigating threats from fishing gear entanglements and marine pollution. With an emphasis on international cooperation and scientific research, these efforts aim to maintain marine biodiversity and support the ecological balance vital to ocean health. Conservation status Prior to the setting up of the International Whaling Commission, IWC in 1946, unregulated whaling had depleted a number of whale populations to a significant extent, and several whales species were sever ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Anti-whaling
Anti-whaling refers to actions taken by those who seek to end whaling in various forms, whether locally or globally in the pursuit of marine conservation. Such activism is often a response to specific conflicts with pro-whaling countries and organizations that practice commercial whaling and/or Whaling in Japan#Research whaling, research whaling, as well as with indigenous groups engaged in aboriginal whaling, subsistence whaling. Some anti-whaling factions have received criticism and legal action for extreme methods including violent direct action. The term ''anti-whaling'' may also be used to describe beliefs and activities related to these actions. History Anti-whaling activism has a short history compared to other forms of activism and environmental awareness. Early members of environmental organizations began protesting whale hunts around the world in the 20th century. These actions were in direct response to the global depletion of whale populations due to over-exploitati ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
North Atlantic Right Whale
The North Atlantic right whale (''Eubalaena glacialis'') is a baleen whale, one of three right whale species belonging to the genus ''Eubalaena'', all of which were formerly classified as a single species. Because of their docile nature, their slow surface-skimming feeding behaviors, their tendencies to stay close to the coast, and their high blubber content (which makes them float when they are killed, and which produces high yields of whale oil), right whales were once a preferred target for whalers. At present, they are among the most endangered whales in the world, and they are protected under the U.S. Endangered Species Act and Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972, Marine Mammal Protection Act and Canada's Species at Risk Act. There are an estimated 356 individuals in existence in the western North Atlantic Ocean—they migrate between feeding grounds in the Labrador Sea and their winter calving areas off Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia and Florida, an ocean area with heavy ship ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Spindle Neuron
Von Economo neurons, also called spindle neurons, are a specific class of mammalian Cerebral cortex, cortical neurons characterized by a large Spindle (textiles), spindle-shaped soma (biology), soma (or body) gradually tapering into a single apical axon (the wikt:ramification , ramification that ''transmits'' signals) in one direction, with only a single dendrite (the ramification that ''receives'' signals) facing opposite. Other cortical neurons tend to have many dendrites, and the Bipolar neuron, bipolar-shaped morphology of von Economo neurons is unique here. Von Economo neurons are found in two very restricted regions in the brains of Hominidae, hominids (humans and other great apes): the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) and the fronto-insular cortex (FI) (which each make up the salience network). In 2008, they were also found in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex of humans. Von Economo neurons are also found in the brains of a number of cetaceans, African elephant, African a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sperm Whales
The sperm whale or cachalot (''Physeter macrocephalus'') is the largest of the toothed whales and the largest toothed predator. It is the only living member of the genus '' Physeter'' and one of three extant species in the sperm whale superfamily Physeteroidea, along with the pygmy sperm whale and dwarf sperm whale of the genus '' Kogia''. The sperm whale is a pelagic mammal with a worldwide range, and will migrate seasonally for feeding and breeding. Females and young males live together in groups, while mature males (bulls) live solitary lives outside of the mating season. The females cooperate to protect and nurse their young. Females give birth every four to twenty years, and care for the calves for more than a decade. A mature, healthy sperm whale has no natural predators, although calves and weakened adults are sometimes killed by pods of killer whales (orcas). Mature males average in length, with the head representing up to one-third of the animal's length. Plungin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Humpback Whales
The humpback whale (''Megaptera novaeangliae'') is a species of baleen whale. It is a rorqual (a member of the family Balaenopteridae) and is the monotypic taxon, only species in the genus ''Megaptera''. Adults range in length from and weigh up to . The humpback has a distinctive body shape, with long pectoral fins and tubercles on its head. It is known for Cetacean surfacing behaviour, breaching and other distinctive surface behaviors, making it popular with whale watching, whale watchers. Males produce a complex Whale sound, song that typically lasts from 4 to 33 minutes. Found in oceans and list of seas, seas around the world, humpback whales typically animal migration, migrate between feeding areas towards the poles and breeding areas near the equator. They feed in Polar region, polar waters and migrate to tropics, tropical or subtropical waters to breed and give birth. Their diet consists mostly of krill and small fish, and they usually Bubble-net feeding, use bubbles to c ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fin Whales
The fin whale (''Balaenoptera physalus''), also known as the finback whale or common rorqual, is a species of baleen whale and the second-longest cetacean after the blue whale. The biggest individual reportedly measured in length, with a maximum recorded weight of . The fin whale's body is long, slender and brownish-gray in color, with a paler underside to appear less conspicuous from below (countershading). At least two recognized subspecies exist, one in the North Atlantic and one across the Southern Hemisphere. It is found in all the major oceans, from polar to tropical waters, though it is absent only from waters close to the pack ice at the poles and relatively small areas of water away from the open ocean. The highest population density occurs in temperate and cool waters. Its prey mainly consists of smaller schooling fish, small squid, or crustaceans, including copepods and krill. Mating takes place in temperate, low-latitude seas during the wint ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Brain
The brain is an organ (biology), organ that serves as the center of the nervous system in all vertebrate and most invertebrate animals. It consists of nervous tissue and is typically located in the head (cephalization), usually near organs for special senses such as visual perception, vision, hearing, and olfaction. Being the most specialized organ, it is responsible for receiving information from the sensory nervous system, processing that information (thought, cognition, and intelligence) and the coordination of motor control (muscle activity and endocrine system). While invertebrate brains arise from paired segmental ganglia (each of which is only responsible for the respective segmentation (biology), body segment) of the ventral nerve cord, vertebrate brains develop axially from the midline dorsal nerve cord as a brain vesicle, vesicular enlargement at the rostral (anatomical term), rostral end of the neural tube, with centralized control over all body segments. All vertebr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Melon-headed Whale
The melon-headed whale (''Peponocephala electra''), also known less commonly as the electra dolphin, little killer whale, or many-toothed blackfish, is a toothed whale of the oceanic dolphin family (Delphinidae). The common name is derived from the head shape. Melon-headed whales are widely distributed throughout deep tropical and subtropical waters worldwide, but they are rarely encountered at sea. They are found near shore mostly around oceanic islands, such as Hawaii, French Polynesia, and the Philippines. Taxonomy The melon-headed whale is the only member of the genus ''Peponocephala''. First recorded from a specimen collected in Hawaiʻi in 1841, the species was originally described as a member of the dolphin family and named ''Lagenorhynchus electra'' by John Edward Gray in 1846. The melon-headed whale was later determined to be sufficiently distinct from other ''Lagenorhynchus'' species to be accorded its own genus. A member of the subfamily Globicephalinae, melon-headed w ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Southern Bottlenose Whale
The southern bottlenose whale (''Hyperoodon planifrons'') is a species of whale, in the ziphiid family, one of two members of the genus ''Hyperoodon''. Seldom observed, the southern bottlenose whale is resident in Antarctic waters. The species was first described by English zoologist William Henry Flower in 1882, based on a water-worn skull from Lewis Island, in the Dampier Archipelago, Western Australia. They live in deep ocean waters over 1000 meters. Taxonomy No subspecies of the southern bottlenose whale are named (Mead 1989). A mtDNA study of two southern bottlenose whales from different regions of New Zealand was conducted and found that mtDNA differed 4.13%, which is higher than the interspecific variation of 2% found in other beaked whales (Dalebout et al., 1998). Intraspecific coloration variation may be due to genetics; however, variation based on geographical location is not ruled out (Van Waerebeek et al., 2005). Description The southern bottlenose whale measures 7 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Southern Right Whale
The southern right whale (''Eubalaena australis'') is a baleen whale, one of three species classified as right whales belonging to the genus ''Eubalaena''. Southern right whales inhabit oceans south of the Equator, between the latitudes of 20° and 60° south. In 2009 the global population was estimated to be approximately 13,600. Taxonomy Right whales were first classified in the genus '' Balaena'' in 1758 by Carl Linnaeus, who at the time considered all right whales (including the bowhead) to be a single species. In the 19th and 20th centuries the family Balaenidae was the subject of great taxonometric debate. Authorities have repeatedly recategorised the three populations of right whale plus the bowhead whale, as one, two, three or four species, either in a single genus or in two separate genera. In the early whaling days, they were all thought to be a single species, ''Balaena mysticetus''. The southern right whale was initially described as ''Balaena australis'' by Des ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bowhead Whale
The bowhead whale (''Balaena mysticetus''), sometimes called the Greenland right whale, Arctic whale, and polar whale, is a species of baleen whale belonging to the family Balaenidae and is the only living representative of the genus '' Balaena''. It is the only baleen whale endemic to the Arctic and subarctic waters, and is named after its characteristic massive triangular skull, which it uses to break through Arctic ice. Bowheads have the largest mouth of any animal representing almost one-third of the length of the body, the longest baleen plates with a maximum length of , and may be the longest-lived mammals, with the ability to reach an age of more than 200 years. The bowhead was an early whaling target. Their population was severely reduced before a 1966 moratorium was passed to protect the species. Of the five stocks of bowhead populations, three are listed as "endangered", one as " vulnerable", and one as "lower risk, conservation dependent" according to the IUCN Red ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
