News and views from the world of marine heritage and conservation
Hostile dolphins ?
Heavyweight challenge
Only a game ...
ENVIRONMENT
Protect Our Seas
News and views from the world of marine heritage and conservation
Reconstruction of Perucetus by Alberto Gennari
Hostile dolphins ?
Four swimmers have been injured in dolphin attacks on a beach in central Japan . One man , in his 60s , suffered broken ribs and bites to his hands after a dolphin rammed him a few metres off Suishohama beach in the town of Mihama , Fukui prefecture , early on Sunday . Another man , in his 40s , sustained arm bites in a separate incident on the popular beach the same morning . Two more people were injured by the mammals later in the day . Fukui has now recorded six such attacks this year , local police say . Signs have been put up telling swimmers to avoid approaching or touching the mammals .
Heavyweight challenge
A newly discovered extinct whale called Perucetus colossus is challenging the blue whale for the title of heaviest animal to ever exist . Fossils of an ancient cetacean ’ s bones dug up from the deserts of Peru suggest it may have weighed up to 340 metric tons , challenging the blue whale ’ s status ( at 190 metric tons ) as the most massive animal to have existed .
“ I was in front of something unlike
anything I had ever seen ,” said Alberto Collareta , a University of Pisa researcher and co-author of a study published in the journal Nature , describing the newly discovered giant prehistoric whale .
Its bones were thick and compact , more like a hippopotamus than a blue whale , suggesting it did not pursue a fast-moving prey such as krill . The research team instead said P . colossus may have fed off the seafloor , munching on sea grass , feasting on bottom-dwelling animals or scavenging on carcasses .
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Iberian orcas have taught each other how to disable rudders
Only a game ...
Have orcas really been attacking sail boats off Spain ’ s coast ? Yes and no ... while they have taken to biting off wooden rudders , the behaviour is most likely a game , say scientists . At least 20 Iberian orcas have now learned the behaviour by copying their elders . It is believed that one or two orcas started interacting with and damaging small sailing vessels in 2020 . Scientists say the animals appear to be “ playing ” with the boats , rather than acting aggressively . “ It ’ s only a game . It isn ’ t revenge [ against boats ], it isn ’ t climate change , it ’ s just a game and that ’ s it ,” said Dr Renaud de Stephanis , a scientist based on the south coast of Spain .