Tag Archives: humpback whale

Nature’s Backbone at Risk

ANN ARBOR, Mich.— One-fifth of the world’s vertebrate species are threatened with extinction, but the situation would be worse if not for current global conservation efforts, a new study finds.

University of Michigan biologist Ronald Nussbaum is one of 174 researchers from 115 institutions and 38 countries who authored the study published this week in Science Express.

The study used data for 25,000 species from the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s Red List of Threatened Species to investigate the status of the world’s vertebrates (mammals, birds, amphibians, reptiles and fishes) and how this status has changed over time. The results show that, on average, 50 species of mammal, bird and amphibian move closer to extinction each year due to the impacts of agricultural expansion, logging, over-exploitation, and invasive alien species. (more…)

Read More

Mr. Splashy Pants & his friends

He is a humpback whale tracked via satellite by Greenpeace in an effort to protect him and his friends from harpooning mainly from the Japanese whale hunters. Humpbacks are migratory who travel thousands of kilometers from their feeding grounds in the Southern Ocean (Polar waters) to the tropical South Pacific for breeding and calving in Winter. (more…)

Read More