Gray whale watching is in full-swing off Southern California’s coast. I went on my first whale watching trip as a naturalist for the 2011 season yesterday on the Voyager and we had a great time. The trip included a chance to spend some time with about 500 common dolphins. A few swam towards the boat… [read more]
Octopus eggs
I had the chance to see octopus eggs and just had to share! The two-spotted octopus at Cabrillo Marine Aquarium recently laid her eggs. Somehow she created a sticky type of olive-green substance to adhere them to the glass. Check out the photo, the eggs look like slender white grapes and also hang like grapes… [read more]
Great time to see elephant seals
Now is the perfect time to go see the elephant seals! December through March is breeding and birthing time for Northern elephant seals and according to the Friends of the Elephant Seal website the peak birthing time is the middle of January. So that means this coming weekend is the best time to visit Piedras… [read more]
Sea jellies have quite the life cycle
Sea jellies (aka jellyfish) have a very interesting life cycle. The first part is somewhat old-fashioned, adult male sea jellies release sperm into the water and adult female sea jellies release eggs and the eggs and sperm meet up and join together Biology 101 style. But the details on how eggs and sperm find each… [read more]
One more reason to be grateful whaling is illegal
Recently, I decided it was time to change things up a bit and switch my google alerts. Before I had my alert set to notify me of all whale related stories. So everyday I received five to 10 emails about about whales, sometimes relevant and other times about sporting teams called “The Whales” or stories… [read more]
Possible names for the false killer whale
First, just to be clear in case anyone missed my post yesterday, renaming the false killer whale is just an idea at this point, not a real opportunity. But for the sake of discussion I thought it would be fun to brainstorm some new names. Remember this is brainstorming, so all ideas are acceptable at… [read more]
The importance of a good name
Since writing about the plight of Hawaii’s false killer whales, I can’t stop thinking about the importance of a good name. The name false killer whale really isn’t doing these whales any favors. This bummer common name stems from the genus part of the scientific name Pseudorca, which means, you guessed it, false killer whale.… [read more]
Flatfish: masters of disguise
As promised, I present to you more on the flatfish as master of disguise! This is a photo of the English sole or Pleuronectes vetulus in the flatfish tank at Cabrillo Marine Aquarium. I should clarify that I’m pretty sure this is the English sole after carefully studying all the fish in the tank and… [read more]
Update on Hawaii’s false killer whales
For anyone who wants to submit comments to help add Hawaii’s false killer whales to the endangered species list, it’s easy to do, but not obvious to find when you go to the website. So I just wanted to add a few pointers for visiting www.regulations.gov. When you get to the home page there are… [read more]
Help Hawaii’s false killer whales
False killer whales or Pseudorca crassidens are amazing animals that prefer living out in the open ocean in tropical and warm temperate waters. But some populations of false killer whales hang tight near oceanic islands and Hawaii’s false killer whales are one example. One super cool fact that I learned at the American Cetacean Society… [read more]
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