It’s Time to Plan your Whale Watch!
The 2024 season is off to a fantastic start with numerous sightings of humpback, minke, and fin whales. Atlantic white sided dolphins were commonly seen in our first week and we’ve also spotted many gray seals. The first mom of the season for us was humpback whale Scylla, with her 3-4 month old calf close by her side.
We get excited not only by whales but all of the various species in the sea. A large and rather pale basking shark thrilled passengers on one trip and we’ve been observing schools of sand lance, herring, and even tuna just at the surface. As the weather turns warmer, it’s a great time of year to hop on the Whale Watcher and go for a boat ride!
Book your trip today.
Why menopause keeps evolving in whales
Comparing data on toothed whale species that do, and do not, experience menopause suggests that prolonged female postreproductive life allows whales to improve their offsprings’ and grand-offsprings’ survival chances. Older female whales such as killer whales (Orcinus orca) share food and become “repositories of long-term ecological knowledge”, explains animal-behaviour researcher and study co-author Sam Ellis. Menopause also seems to reduce reproductive competition between mothers and daughters. The hormone changes killer whales go through are similar to those in menopausal humans, but “as to hot and cold flushes, we’ve got no way of telling yet”, Ellis says.
To listen to the full Nature Podcast click here.
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