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Sep 9 2011 - 6:05pm
Smithsonian surveys along the lower north shore of Hare Harbor in Quebec, Canada have revealed evidence of a long history of Native American occupation, beginning with the Maritime Archaic Indian culture beginning 8000 years ago. Their later descendants of 3,500 years ago built longhouses with...
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Jan 4 2011 - 5:17pm
Hoping to hear bowhead whales, NOAA marine mammal scientist Sue Moore listens to real-time sounds from an underwater hydrophone.
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Jan 26 2010 - 11:45am
There were fewer than 450 North Atlantic right whales in 2006. Yet it has been illegal to hunt them since 1935. Why haven’t populations increased? Traits that made right whales easy to hunt make them vulnerable to ship collisions and fishing gear. Sometimes, as the whales feed, they get entangled...
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Oct 11 2012 - 9:46am
An adult giant squid struggles for survival in an encounter with a sperm whale - its only known predator. The whale will probably overpower and eat the squid. More about the giant squid can be found in our Giant Squid section.
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Jan 26 2010 - 11:45am
This illustration shows how fishing lines attached to traps and buoys on the ocean floor present a potentially deadly hazard to North Atlantic right whales.
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Jan 26 2010 - 11:45am
North Atlantic right whales and ocean-going vessels often cross paths.
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Sep 30 2009 - 2:03pm
Meet Phoenix—One of about 450 remaining North Atlantic Right Whales
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Jan 26 2010 - 11:45am
Since 1987, researchers have been tracking the North Atlantic right whale named Phoenix. More about Phoenix can be found in the Tale of a Whale photo essay.
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Jan 26 2010 - 11:45am
This magnified photo provides a close-up look at copepods—tiny crustaceans that right whales feed on. There are many species of copepods that live throughout the water column, from floating at the surface to buried at the bottom of the sea. They are very small so right whales need to eat a lot of...
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Jan 26 2010 - 11:45am
This radio device is used to track North Atlantic right whales. Suction cups hold the device to a whale's back, where it records data such as depth, water, temperature, and underwater sounds. Read more about right whales and the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History in Ocean Portal's 'A...
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Jan 26 2010 - 11:45am
This photograph was snapped as Phoenix swam in the Gulf of Maine in July 2008. More about the right whale can be found in our Tale of a Whale featured story.
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Sep 12 2011 - 11:43am
Offshore Peru, during the Eocene (~56-34 million years ago), showing three archaeocetes (ancient whales), along with a previously described fossil penguin.
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Jan 26 2010 - 11:45am
Since 1987, researchers have been tracking Phoenix. More about whales can be found in our Tale of a whale featured story.
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Jan 26 2010 - 11:45am
Fargo, the dog pictured here, is not just having a nice day at sea. He is helping researchers at the New England Aquarium in Boston detect scat (or poop) from North Atlantic right whales. The dogs find about four times more whale poop with their scent detection than the researchers would using...
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Jan 26 2010 - 11:45am
A life-size, meticulously detailed model of the North Atlantic right whale Phoenix hangs in the Smithsonian’s Sant Ocean Hall in the National Museum of Natural History, Washington, DC. More about Phoenix can be found in the Tale of a Whale photo essay.
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Jan 26 2010 - 11:45am
Workers prepare to hoist the model of Phoenix, a model of an actual North Atlantic right whale, into position above the exhibit hall floor in the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History in Washington, DC. Learn the story of Phoenix in the Tale of a Whale photo essay.
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May 11 2012 - 11:46am
Nick Pyenson, curator of fossil marine mammals at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History, holds an arm bone from a "toothed" mysticete from Vancouver Island. This is the second specimen found at this locality on the remote western side of Vancouver Island. Nick used a rock saw to...
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Jan 5 2011 - 10:55am
Many animals depend on their eyes to navigate, find food, locate mates, and for other important activities. But marine mammals often rely on sound—sometimes far more than sight—for such critical daily tasks. Increasingly though, boat traffic, energy extraction, and other noisy human activities echo...
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Jan 26 2010 - 11:45am
The rough patches of skin known as callosities occur in unique patterns on all North Atlantic right whales and help researchers identify and track individual whales. This whale is named Phoenix. More about the right whale can be found in our Tale of a Whale featured story.
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Jan 26 2010 - 11:45am
Whalers harpoon a right whale in this 1856 Currier & Ives print.
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Jan 23 2013 - 12:35pm
In the 19th century, "whalebone" was an important fashion tool—however, it wasn't made out of bone, but whale baleen. Dried baleen was flexible yet strong, and used to create structure in clothing, such as tight corsets, used by high-fashion women to present a curvy waistline, collars and hooped...
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Nov 18 2011 - 11:20am
Dr. Stefan Huggenberger from the University of Cologne explains sound production in sperm whales in "Moby Dick's Boom Box: Nasal Complex of Sperm Whales," a presentation at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History on Nov. 16, 2011.
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Jan 16 2013 - 10:49am
A close up view of Phoenix and the rough patches of skin known as callosities that are found on all North Atlantic right whales. These callosities are inhabited by small amphipods called whale lice and they can be used to identify an individual right whale much like fingerprints. More about the...
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Jan 26 2010 - 11:45am
Vertebrates evolved in the sea and eventually moved onto land. The ancestors of whales later returned to the sea, taking advantage of its rich food supplies. As early whales adapted to their new marine surroundings, a diversity of species evolved. Explore the the interactive "Did Whale Evolution Go...
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