#gray whales

[antiqueanimals]

Gray whale. These are Endangered; written by Charles Cadieux and illustrated by Bob Hines. 1981.

Internet Archive

[rebeccathenaturalist]

It's Tell a Friend Friday!

Please enjoy this photo I took of the Discovery Trail's gray whale skeleton and carvings in Long Beach, WA. Then tell someone you know about my work--you can reblog this post, or send it to someone you think may be interested in my natural history writing, classes, and tours. Here's where I can be found online:

Website - http://www.rebeccalexa.com

Rebecca Lexa, Naturalist Facebook Page – https://www.facebook.com/rebeccalexanaturalist

Tumblr Profile – http://rebeccathenaturalist.tumblr.com

Twitter Profile – http://www.twitter.com/rebecca_lexa

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LinkedIn Profile – http://www.linkedin.com/in/rebeccalexanaturalist

iNaturalist Profile – https://www.inaturalist.org/people/rebeccalexa

Finally, if you like what I’m doing here, you can buy me a “coffee” at http://ko-fi.com/rebeccathenaturalist

[seaofkimchi]

Yay living, healthy whales 🐋 🩵

[namu-the-orca]

Here it finally is, the full cetacean eye colour info sheet! A long time coming, and an even longer time in the making. I hope that all you cetacean eye curious people will find this one as fascinating as the killer whale eye colour post. It’s a wild world out there! 

[ballpitwitch]

KEANU REEVES | DON'T QUIT YOUR DAY DREAM | FENDER

[reasonsforhope]

"GNN has reported several times over the last three years about large baleen whales returning to waters in which they haven’t been sighted for decades.

Now again, news from Argentina shows that the benefits of the 1946 International Convention for the Regulation of Whaling are still compounding, with sei whales returning to the South American nation’s coastal waters for the first time in nearly a [century].

Overhunting during the 1920s and 1930s led these massive blue-grey giants to abandon their ancestral waters in Argentina.

“After nearly a century of being hunted to near extinction, sei whale populations are now bouncing back and returning to their former habitats,” said Mariano Coscarella, a biologist and marine ecosystem researcher at Argentina’s CONICET scientific agency, who added that the whales “reproduce every two or three years, so it nearly took 100 years for their population to reach a level where people could notice their presence.”

The third largest whale in the world, the sei can grow up to 64 feet (20 meters) in length and weigh up to 31 tons (28 tonnes). It’s also among the fastest whales in the world, and is certainly the fastest for its size group. It can swim 31 mph over short distances.

Despite being recognized on the IUCN Red List as Endangered, there are estimated to be 50,000 sei whales in a global population that is trending up.

Apart from sei whales and Argentina, a recent survey in the Seychelles sighted 10 groups of at least a few blue whales, the first such observations since 1966.

Back in March, a New England Aquarium aerial survey team sighted a gray whale off the New England coast last week, a species that has been extinct in the Atlantic for more than 200 years.

The largest animal on Earth, the blue whale, is returning to coastal Californian waters in numbers not seen since before the whaling industry, GNN reported in 2023 based on a 2014 survey.

And down in Antarctica, where many different whale species come to feed and breed, recent surveys have found the Southern Ocean is once again becoming a Sarengetti for whales, with an estimated 8,000 Southern fin whales found between 2018 and 2019."

-via Good News Network, May 16, 2024

[wildkratts-screenshots]

Backgrounds!

[antiqueanimals]

Walt Disney's White Wilderness: Animals of the Arctic. By Robert Louvain and the Staff of the Walt Disney Studio. 1958.

Internet Archive

[naffeclipse]

Hey I was wondering, I dunno if it was already ask or not but… have you heard of 52 blue ? The loneliest whale on earth because it communicate at a frequency of 52hertz (it found a partner after 40 years), meaning they can’t communicate with other.

I was wondering what would’ve happened if our lonely orca!Eclipse found out a "52 blue" reader who’s lonely because of their condition ? With how he seems to like to hear his littles birdies singing and all…

A barrier such as not being able to communicate would not keep Orca!Eclipse from courting a siren reader. It would confuse him at first to realize he can't quite hear you, despite your desperation in attempting to communicate in the hope he won't attack/eat you, but he takes it in stride. He immediately begins finding ways to help you communicate by making symbols and gestures with his hands to convey his meaning, and you begin to catch on: Fish. Ice. Air. Breaching. Gift. A courting gift. A gift for you. You start to find ways to express longer, complex thoughts, and he listens. You... don't remember the last time someone listened. You're alone. Eclipse says he is too, but not anymore. And neither are you.

The last time you sang... You can't recall. No one could understand you, and there is nothing lonelier than singing alone. Sirens are meant to share choruses and harmonies and when Eclipse asks you to sing, you tell him no. He's disappointed and coaxes you, promising it will be alright. He wants to sing with you too, but he won't understand your melody and it will turn sour and fall flat and—

Eclipse takes your face in his hands and cradles you close. He promises. It will be okay. Please. Sing for him.

You swallow heavily. He holds your gaze with his burning eyes, and you dare to try.

A croak slips from you. You try to turn away but Eclipse holds tight to you, urging you to do it again. Don't get up. You almost shake your head but there's a hum in your chest. It wants to be free, and you clear your throat and try again.

A song no other siren can understand emerges from your lips, but Eclipse listens. He closes his eyes lays, his head against yours, and sways softly as you sing louder and stronger, lifting it to the starry sky before he joins you.

You almost falter—his song is so beautiful and it doesn't go well with yours, but Eclipse doesn't stop and neither do you. His voice dips low and settles into a gentle layer of sound underneath your own, and though it is strange and unlike anything you have ever heard... it sounds lovely. Your song. Yours and his.

[heartnosekid]

dancing with a gentle giant, the whale shark | source

[gina025]

Rainbow-breathing whale

[chasingrainbowsforever]

By Brooke Pyke

[namu-the-orca]

Big Bearded Beasts

In other words: new baleen whale friends! These were for Pappyr, an Icelandic company that sells posters and postcards. They are currently working on a new poster showing Icelandic cetaceans (I've seen the preview, it's super sweet!) with my illustrations on it. Most I had ready to go, but a couple had to be made anew.

Amongst which these three ladies. Blue whales I've illustrated a bunch now, but the ones I've had were too small for this poster. So finally an illustration made at a large size (7000px) befitting the largest animal to ever have lived. Every time I work on them I discover something new to change compared to the last version!

Bowhead whales I feel I still haven't sussed out. There are so few good photos of them that actually show overall body proportions, and their faces seem different every time. They're fascinating animals though and I hope this one does them enough justice. They are probably the longest living mammal, reaching upwards of 200 years of age!!

The Gray whale is by far my favourite of this bunch. Last I illustrated them was over 10 years ago, in 2012. While I was still fond of the old illustration, working on this new one made me realise how much could be improved. They've such beautiful, unique faces, and painting all those spots and scratches that mark their skin (in part natural colouration, but mostly scars from barnacles and other hitchhikers) was a lot of fun. Gray whales too are record holders, making the longest migration of any mammal. Their yearly round trips between the Arctic feeding grounds and calving grounds off Baja California are good for 16,000 - 22,500 kms.