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Jan 26 2010 - 11:45am
During whale hunts, this carved whale box stored harpoon blades like the three shown beside it. "Living" inside the box was meant to give the blades spiritual powers to carry a harpoon back to the blade's "home" in the whale.
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Jan 26 2010 - 11:45am
A view of the injured fluke belonging to Phoenix’s mother, Stumpy. It is not known what caused this injury. It possibly could have been an entanglement. More about whales can be found in our Tale of a whale featured story.
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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
This close-up photo of a right whale's head shows dozens of hitchhikers—tiny crustaceans known as whale lice, or cyamid amphipods. They live on the rough patches of skin (known as callosities) on North Atlantic right whales, eating algae that settles there and only causing minor skin damage....
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Jan 26 2010 - 11:45am
How do right whales size up? North Atlantic Right whales (Eubalaena glacialis) are big, but they're not the biggest whales. That distinction goes to the Blue whale (Balaenoptera musculus), the largest animal on Earth. While the Orca, or Killer whale size of up to 31 feet make it the largest dolphin.
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Sep 12 2011 - 12:24pm
For over a decade, Smithsonian Arctic Archaeologists have been investigating an early European whaling site at Hare Harbor in Quebec, Canada. The site and the artifacts that have been recovered has revealed important information about the relationships between Inuit peoples of Northern Canada and...
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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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Sep 20 2012 - 11:45am
Sperm whales have conical teeth on their long, narrow, lower jaw. The teeth fit neatly into sockets in the upper jaw, which has no teeth. This arrangement is a perfect adaptation for slurping up soft-bodied squids—giant or otherwise. The sperm whale is listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN's Red List of...
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Jun 22 2011 - 5:44pm
Paeleobiologist Dr. Nicholas Pyenson, Curator of Fossil Marine Mammals for the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History (NMNH), set out with Jorge Velez-Juarbe, NMNH Research Student and Ph. D. Candidate at Howard University and Aaron O'Dea from the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute...
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Sep 12 2011 - 1:10pm
CREDIT: Smithsonian Arctic Studies Center
Basque Whalers Background
Having already learned to hunt large whales in the Bay of Biscay in the 13th through 15th centuries, Basques began arriving in the rich whaling grounds of southern Labrador, Newfoundland, and the Gulf of St. Lawrence...
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Oct 25 2010 - 6:18pm
In the episode of One Species at a Time, writer Karen Romano Young takes an icebreaker to Barrow, Alaska, to join in the festival of Naluqatak and learn about the intimate relationship between the Inupiat Eskimos and the bowhead whale (Balaena mysticetus). Listen as she tells Ari Daniel Shapiro how...
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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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Aug 2 2012 - 10:51am
Breaching is a behavior seen in some baleen whales, where they launch their entire body out of the water headfirst and land with a large splash.
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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
Yankee Whalers: An 1856 Currier & Ives print shows whalers harpooning a right whale. More about whales can be found in our Tale of a Whale photo essay.
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Jul 2 2012 - 3:24pm
Ships are well-known for their tiny rooms and tight quarters. But have you heard of a sea vessel that has toilets and sinks sticking out of the walls, and staircases and doors on the ceiling? This unique research vessel is real -- and, in June 2012, the Office of Naval Research and Scripps...
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Jun 21 2011 - 12:28pm
“For the past few years I have visited the island of Dominica to enjoy its beauty both above and below the surface. This photo was taken during a lucky encounter with a member of the ‘group of 7’ pod. A very young calf measuring about 25 feet long came over and played with us for well over 45...
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Jan 26 2010 - 11:45am
This ivory sculpture from Point Barrow, Alaska, represents Kikámigo, a guardian spirit, holding a whale in each hand.
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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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May 6 2011 - 3:07pm
In honor of Mother's Day, the Citizens of the Sea blog salutes ocean-going mothers everywhere. Especially a 60 year-old albatross named Wisdom. She holds the seabird records for both oldest bird and oldest new mother. No stranger to motherhood, it is estimated that she has already birthed 30-35...
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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 - 11:46am
Whale baleen, the stiff bristly mouthparts that sieve small prey from the water, was strong yet flexible, and was used to provide structure in many human products, including umbrellas, corsets, and whips. Right whales were easy, lucrative prey. However, it's not used anymore: this species is...
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Nov 8 2010 - 2:03pm
The Whale Sanctuary of El Vizcaino site in Mexico was inscribed on the World Heritage List in 1993.
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Jun 23 2011 - 11:28am
Jorge and I packed up the night we arrived in Panama with Aaron O'Dea and his team from STRI. The road we took in two field vehicles mostly followed the Panama Canal heading northwards; we had to stop at a tanker ship crossing, where the locks separated the roadway. Quite an engineering marvel.
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