Skip to content

Paradise lost? Extraordinary encounters with sperm whales

Results of sperm whale strandings in Germany released

Results from investigations into the sperm whale strandings in Germany in February have revealed that the whales died from heart (cardiovascular) failure after beaching on the shoreline.  Without support from the water, the sheer weight of the whales crushed their lungs and other organs, leading to death.  Nearly 30 sperm whales stranded in the UK, France, Netherlands and…

Read More

New fingerprint techniques could foil whale tooth poaching

Scientists from King’s College London and University College London have collaborated with imaging and fingerprint experts from the Metropolitan Police to improve techniques that may help prevent the poaching of ivory and whale teeth. Previously, fingerprinting methods using conventional powders have been largely ineffective on porous materials like ivory. Using newly developed powders, fingerprint experts…

Read More

An Armada of Whales: WDC in Sri Lanka

Date: March 24th 2015 Country: Sri Lanka. Location: 8°35’12.10”N     79° 32’ 11.84” E Last week I was in Sri Lanka to help coordinate WDC’s Project BLUEprint training workshop for the local whale watch operators in Kalpitiya in the northwest. The event was a great success and during the course of the day the local operators…

Read More