Whales

The carcass of sperm whale that became stranded on a sandbar and died Monday off a Venice-area beach has been towed out to sea.The Sea Tow Venice marine towing service used a heavy towline and rig line, provided by the City of Venice, to take the whale's remains 10-15 miles offshore on Tuesday.

The death of a sperm whale off the Venice coast this morning, while difficult even for marine experts who deal with such things, could be a learning experience for them."Every time you see a whale in distress, like we did yesterday, it's, it's always really hard. It's really hard. And so all we can do is utilize the opportunity to learn as much about them as we can," Laura Engleby, chief of NOAA's Marine Mammal branch, said Monday morning standing on the beach near the whale's carcass. "And then that helps us understand some of the things that we can do to ultimately recover and help them. And so, in that way, that's how we have to think about it. "

Venice Police and Sarasota County Sheriff's units on Sunday were assisting Mote Marine Laboratory staff with a beached sperm whale off the coast of Venice. The 70-feet-long whale was beached on a sandbar about 50 yards out from Service Club Park.

Federal officials’ rejection of a petition seeking to protect a rare whale species in the northeastern Gulf of Mexico has proponents saying the action leaves the endangered species “at risk of extinction.”

We talk with Earthjustice Oceans Program Senior Attorney Chris Eaton about the ongoing legal battle to protect Rice’s whales from extinction. The species small population of under 100 animals lives year-round in the northeaster Gulf of Mexico where they face threats from ocean noise, marine vessel traffic, oil and gas activity, and the threat of future oil spills.

The endangered blue whale is found off the southern tip of Sri Lanka. Shipping vessels go through the whales' habitat and can hit and kill them. The Mediterranean Shipping Co. changed its routes.

Members of Congress want the Gulf of Mexico Bryde’s whal e to be federally protected under the Endangered Species Act .

Scientists say a North Atlantic right whale has made another appearance in the Gulf of Mexico off the coast of Naples The Naples Daily News reports that...

Just imagine that you’re sitting in your home and you hear a loud explosion from down the street that nearly blasts your eardrums out. And then after...

It’s being called the largest marine mammal stranding in Florida history: nearly 100 false killer whales have been stranded along the shores of Monroe…