Terms of exhibition permit suggest the late Russ Rector was almost right in betting he would outlive the aging Miami Seaquarium, even if Lolita did not MIAMI, Florida––MV Leisure, the new owner of the 67-year-old Miami Seaquarium, will not be allowed to exhibit the 56-year-old orca whale Lolita and her Pacific white-sided dolphin companion Lili as […]
Hidden Beach: why grey whales feast while orcas starve
What the whales are telling us HIDDEN BEACH, Washington––A single well-timed photo on a recent April 2018 morning could have captured in one frame almost the whole story of marine mammals in the Saratoga Passage, on Puget Sound, and indeed worldwide, amid intensified competition for food, accentuated by the effects of global warming. […]
Granny, the oldest known wild whale, missing & declared dead
Was believed to be 95-105 years old FRIDAY HARBOR, Washington––Granny, the oldest known and perhaps the most famous wild whale in the world, and certainly the most recognizable and oldest orca whale among the Puget Sound and Salish Sea populations, was declared dead on January 2, 2017 by Center for Whale Research founder Ken […]
NOAA suspends satellite-tagging orcas after death of whale L95
Or, could Homer Simpson retrain as a marine mammologist? FRIDAY HARBOR, Washington––Suspending all permits to satellite-tag orca whales, effective at the beginning of October 2016, the National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration acknowledged the death of the endangered young male orca L95, also called Nigel, with a profusion of crocodile tears and a pledge to […]
War of the Whales
by Joshua Horwitz Simon & Schuster (1230 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10020), 2014. 448 pages, hardcover. $28.00. Kindle $12.74. Reviewed by Merritt Clifton Ken Balcomb, the former U.S. Navy pilot who in 1976 founded the Center for Whale Research in Friday Harbor, Washington, was back in the news on October 21, 2014, […]