The killer whales were in danger of starving, and they couldn’t get out on their own. It took a team of scientists and nearly half of Coffman Cove to save them.
Oceans
Ecosystem reports show continuing effects of warming in Alaska’s marine waters
Annual reports for the Bering Sea, Aleutian Islands and Gulf of Alaska reveal mixed signs for fish stocks in changing conditions.
Report details 37 known killer whale entanglements in Alaska over three decades
The report does not include this year’s unusually high number of cases, in which 10 killer whales were found ensnared in fishing gear.
Rare fin whale found dead near Kodiak
It’s unclear how it died, but the whale was in remarkably poor health.
Bottom-trawl gear to blame for most of this year’s fishery-related killer whale deaths, NOAA says
An investigation found that some whales were dead before becoming ensnared, but critics of bottom trawling have more questions about this year’s large death toll.
Only 51 of these U.S. whales remain. Little has been done to prevent their extinction
Rice’s whales are one of the world’s newly discovered whale species – and already one of the most endangered. Protections for the whales in the Gulf of Mexico are not coming fast.