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Cleanup of “seventh continent” set to begin

On September 8, The Ocean Cleanup project will deploy its first floating system designed to capture waste in the waters of the…

|News 19/7/2019

Belugas in aquariums : a brief history

Follow us on a journey that will take you from the St. Lawrence to Vancouver via Russia, New York and…

|News 25/10/2018

Whales with different methods of filtering

Baleen refers to the stiff plates of keratin that hang off the upper jaw of some whales, more precisely mysticetes……

|News 12/10/2018

Glasses to see the world like a whale

How would you like to “see” the world the same way a dolphin, a beluga or a sperm whale does?…

|News 19/9/2018

Whaling: Do the Whales Hunted in the Nordic Countries Visit the St. Lawrence?

Are the cetaceans targeted by Icelandic or Norwegian whalers the same ones as those that visit us year after year?…

|Whale Q&A 4/9/2018

Whaling: Poised to fizzle out?

In early July, images of whaling sparked a controversy. Sea Shepherd is concerned that Icelandic whalers have slaughtered a blue whale, which…

|News 28/8/2018

Whaling: Harvesting Whales in the 21st Century

In early July, images of whaling sparked a controversy. Sea Shepherd is concerned that Icelandic whalers have slaughtered a blue whale,…

|News 22/8/2018

Hydrodynamics of humpbacks as a health indicator

The way whales slip through the water can tell us if they are in good physical shape, reveals a study published…

|News 15/8/2018
Béluga du Saint-Laurent

Protecting belugas from increasing shipping traffic in the arctic

The Arctic is undergoing a transformation. Melting pack ice is opening up new shipping routes and setting the stage for…

|News 15/7/2018

Robots amongst the whales

Remote-controlled gadgets are becoming more popular for studying whales. Some have wings; some have propellers; other have sails or even…

|News 22/5/2018

Beluga, what are you doing under the water?

The lives of diving animals take place for the most part under water, out of human sight. Can we, by…

|News 16/5/2018

An elusive species faces extinction

Researchers are sounding the alarm to prevent the imminent disappearance of the Gulf of Mexico Bryde’s whale. “This mammal is…

|News 1/3/2018

Stopping the flow of plastics into the ocean

Last week, the European Commission unveiled its strategy for reducing the amount of plastic waste landfilled and discharged into the…

|News 26/1/2018

What NASA data can tell us about mass strandings

Solar storms are not the primary cause of mass cetacean strandings in Cape Cod Bay, claims a new study conducted…

|News 10/1/2018

Do dolphins get Alzheimer’s?

For the first time, a study has shown clear signs of Alzheimer’s disease in a wild animal: the dolphin. Both…

|News 15/12/2017

Drilling near the St. Lawrence: A threat to marine mammals?

Between now and Christmas, the Government of Quebec is hoping to put into place a regulatory framework for hydrocarbon exploitation…

|News 5/12/2017

Could solar storms be to blame for a mass stranding?

The stranding of 29 sperm whales in the North Sea in early 2016 may have been caused by solar storms…

|News 15/11/2017

Boats to maintain greater distance from killer whales

By next spring, vessels off the coast of British Columbia will no longer be permitted to approach within 200 metres…

|News 7/11/2017

Bigger brain, greater degree of sociability?

Is there a correlation between brain size and the diversity of social behaviours exhibited by a species? In cetaceans, it…

|News 24/10/2017

Microorganisms in whale breath

A large group of bacteria was identified for the first time in the breath (or blow) of humpback whales. Whether…

|News 17/10/2017

Underwater mines: biologists concerned

Japan announced last week that it had successfully extracted zinc, gold, copper and lead from the seabed along the coast…

|News 10/10/2017

North Atlantic right whales declining since 2010, confirms study

Thanks to a new statistical model, US government researchers and the New England Aquarium are able to more accurately estimate…

|News 2/10/2017

Who wants to play beluga researcher?

A team of researchers from Manitoba needs your eyes to sort through thousands of underwater photos of belugas. Are you…

|News 26/9/2017

Ancient whales with teeth like lions

Ancient whales had extremely sharp teeth, similar to those of land-based predators such as lions and dingoes, recently discovered researchers…

|News 14/9/2017

Reduced speed limits for ships: an effective measure for protecting whales?

In order to protect North Atlantic right whales, the Canadian government has temporarily reduced speed limits for large vessels in…

|News 30/8/2017

Whales in the nets

As evidenced by the news in the past few weeks, when whales get entangled in fishing gear, there can be…

|News 28/7/2017

Less and less oxygen in the St. Lawrence

During their recent mission aboard the Coriolis II, researchers observed the lowest concentrations of dissolved oxygen ever recorded in the…

|News 21/7/2017

Whale alert app now available in French

Whale Alert, an application developed to reduce the risk of collisions between ships and whales, is now available in French.…

|News 12/7/2017

Whale-watching tours: opportunities to educate and raise awareness?

A case study in Juneau, Alaska demonstrates the potential of whale-watching tours as an educational and public awareness tool for…

|News 7/7/2017

Making of Film Of Whales, the Moon and Men Designated Historic Event

The making of the film Of Whales, the Moon and Men (1962) by Pierre Perrault, Michel Brault and Marcel Carrière…

|News 20/6/2017
Béluga du Saint-Laurent

Banned flame retardants still present in St. Lawrence belugas

Despite the measures that have been put into place in Canada since 2006 to reduce the concentrations of certain flame…

|News 13/6/2017

St. Lawrence Week: North Atlantic Right Whale

 As part of St. Lawrence Week, Whales Online offers a glimpse of species that have a special meaning for each…

|News 7/6/2017

Vaquita could disappear within a year

On September 26, 2018, scientists aboard the Narval spotted a pair of vaquitas: one of the individuals was much smaller…

|News 29/5/2017

Blue Whale Feeding Disturbed by Nearby Watercraft

According to a recent study conducted by researchers at Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) and the Rimouski-based Institute of Ocean…

|News 22/5/2017

Summer closure of fisheries: a potential solution for protecting right whales?

To ensure the survival of the North Atlantic right whale, should we mitigate the risk of entanglements with fishing equipment?…

|News 18/5/2017
Béluga du Saint-Laurent

Toward a better co-existence of shipping traffic and belugas in the St. Lawrence

To facilitate the recovery of whales at risk in the St. Lawrence, researchers, wildlife managers and industry are working together…

|News 15/5/2017

North Atlantic Right Whales Making Headlines: What’s Going On?

In recent months, the North Atlantic right whale has been much talked about. An unprecedented number of whales in Cape…

|News 27/4/2017

How does a predator go about eating an eight-legged prey almost as big as itself?

With no hands, how can one get the better of a live eight-armed prey measuring over one metre long equipped…

|News 20/4/2017

Intimidating Predators in a Less Icy Arctic

Marine mammal populations are accustomed to spending their summers in certain predator-free parts of the Arctic to give birth to,…

|News 6/3/2017

Counting whales from space

Can whales be counted using photos taken from outer space? Two researchers from Perth, Australia, are attempting to conduct a…

|News 25/2/2017

Hundreds of Whales Beached in New Zealand

Last weekend, over 600 pilot whales ran aground at Farewell Spit Beach in New Zealand. Hundreds of volunteers attempted to…

|News 15/2/2017
port de mer

US standards to reduce global bycatch?

Since January 1, 2017, the United States has adopted a new seafood import regulation: foreign fisheries wishing to export to…

|News 13/2/2017

Marine Mammals in a Warmer and Less Icy St. Lawrence

A study released this month by the Maurice Lamontagne Institute of Fisheries and Oceans Canada reveals that significant changes are…

|News 31/1/2017

Baby on mom’s left or right?

Do you tend to carry your baby on your left? And does your child tend to position themselves so that…

|News 24/1/2017

A Recovery Plan for Alaskan Belugas

In these early days of 2017, the US government released its Cook Inlet Beluga Whale Recovery Plan, a population listed…

|News 12/1/2017

Baby Beluga in the Limelight in 2016

Reported on Radio-Canada’s website by journalist Ariane Perron-Langlois, the story of the live newborn beluga found beached was one of…

|News 10/1/2017

Trans Mountain and Killer Whales: Underestimated Impacts?

On November 29, the Trudeau government gave the go-ahead for the proposed expansion of the Kinder Morgan's Trans Mountain pipeline…

|News 21/12/2016

New Marine Protected Area in the Canadian Arctic

On November 16, Fisheries and Oceans Canada announced the creation of the largest Marine Protected Area (MPA) in the Canadian…

|News 20/12/2016

Two Belugas Die at the Vancouver Aquarium… Now What?

Last week, Aurora, a female beluga who spent the last 26 years of her life at the Vancouver Aquarium, died…

|News 5/12/2016
Béluga du Saint-Laurent

Become an Earth Ranger and Help Protect Belugas !

The Earth Rangers organization helps protect St. Lawrence belugas and invites all children and their families to participate in the…

|News 30/11/2016

Narwhals Use Sound… Like a Flashlight!

The narwhal, sometimes called the unicorn of the sea, is not an imaginary creature. It is a real animal, but…

|News 21/11/2016
béluga

Belugas entrusted to Quebec premier and canadian prime minister

Scientists are concerned: not only have the federal and provincial governments been slow to implement a recovery strategy for the…

|News 18/11/2016
© René Roy

National oceans protection plan: necessary but….

Last week, the Government of Canada announced its $1.5 billion, 5-year National Oceans Protection Plan. The plan aims to create…

|News 17/11/2016

A Whale’s History Written in its Baleen

Biologists are still learning to read the life history of individual whales by studying their baleen. Just like the growth…

|News 20/10/2016

Beluga Skeleton at Collège Lionel-Groulx

Since late August 2016, there has been a new permanent resident in the Nature Wing of the Collège Lionel-Groulx: a…

|News 29/9/2016

Beluga Skeleton at Lionel-Groulx College

Since late August 2016, there has been a new permanent resident in the Nature Wing of the Collège Lionel-Groulx: a…

|News 29/9/2016

Nine Populations of Humpbacks Taken off Endangered Species List

On September 6, 2016, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the US agency that manages and protects whale stocks,…

|News 26/9/2016

October 6 and 7, 2016 – AquaHacking Summit: United for the St. Lawrence

For two days – Thursday, October 6 and Friday, October 7, 2016 – the St. Lawrence River will be the…

|News 26/9/2016

19 to 25 September 2016: Science Literacy Week

Science Literacy Week highlights Canada’s outstanding scientists and science communicators from coast-to-coast. The goals are to showcase the excellence and…

|News 20/9/2016

Safer Fishing Rope for Whales

The US government recently granted $180,000 to the New England Aquarium to design safer fishing gear for whales – namely…

|News 6/9/2016

Collision off Les Bergeronnes: Lessons to be Learned?

On Monday, August 29, a Zodiac captain working for Croisières Essipit and a passenger were thrown overboard from their tour…

|News 31/8/2016
Béluga du Saint-Laurent

Boater Awareness

In the latest issue of its magazine Plaisance (September 2016), the Regroupement des plaisanciers du Québec (Quebec boaters society, RQP) reminds recreational boaters of…

|News 25/8/2016

Narwhal on the Run – Updated August 10, 2016

On July 29, the GREMM team observed a narwhal in a group of belugas off the coast of Trois-Pistoles. A…

|Observation of the Week 10/8/2016

A Tragic Series Continues

Third Young Beluga Found Stranded this Season In the late morning hours of July 31, Marine Mammal Emergencies received a…

|Marine Mammal Emergencies 1/8/2016
bébé béluga

Leave it or learn

Last June 30, when a newborn beluga orphan was found on a beach in Rivière-du-Loup, a team from the Group for Research and…

|News 26/7/2016

Raspberry White Beer on Sale Now, For the Belugas!

Launched this spring by Les Bières Béluga Ltée, last week a new raspberry-flavoured white beer hit the shelves of numerous…

|News 30/6/2016

Drones and Whales

Recently, whale-watching guides and companies have expressed concerns about drones flying near killer whales off the west coasts of Canada…

|News 28/6/2016

Following Researchers at Sea

Several research teams made their inaugural trips of the season in the Estuary and Gulf of St. Lawrence in recent…

|Field Notes 22/6/2016
© GREMM

Remarkable mobilization for the adoption of the beluga Amino

On June 12, 2016, following the broadcast of Animo on ICI Radio-Canada Télé, viewers rallied in large numbers to collectively adopt the eponymously-named…

|News 20/6/2016

Study Reveals Exceptional Efficiency of a Small Hunter

The harbour porpoise feeds day and night, aiming to capture up to 550 small fish per hour, with a success…

|News 10/6/2016

Energy East Pipeline: GREMM Brief Made Public

Although TransCanada abandoned its oil terminal project in Cacouna in April 2015, whales of the St. Lawrence are still threatened…

|News 3/6/2016

June 4 through 12, 2016: Week of the St. Lawrence

Stratégies Saint-Laurent, the de Gaspé Beaubien Foundation and 33 other organizations invite Quebec citizens to celebrate the river during the…

|News 1/6/2016
© Spencer Wright

A sanctuary for cetaceans: a controversial project

A group of activists has announced its plans to create the world’s first coastal sanctuary for cetaceans – whales, dolphins,…

|News 24/5/2016

25 May 2016: Launch of a beer for St. Lawrence marine mammals

This Wednesday 25 May, from 4 to 7 pm, join us at the Broue Pub Brouhaha Ahuntsic for the launch of the…

|News 24/5/2016
bébé béluga

Critical St.Lawrence beluga habitat to be protected at last

The Government of Canada has published a notice in the Canada Gazette announcing that under the federal Species at Risk Act (SARA),…

|News 17/5/2016

Baleen Whale Migration Revisited

According to literature, most Mysticeti whales – also known as baleen whales – undertake seasonal migrations between high and low…

|News 6/5/2016

Seismic Surveys Could Drive Right Whale to Extinction

In a letter to President Obama on April 14, 2016, twenty-seven scientists present their concerns about the impacts of seismic…

|News 28/4/2016

When Sharing a Meal Keeps a Family Together

Although a killer whale can easily swallow a whole salmon, it prefers to tear it into pieces to share with…

|News 22/4/2016

Could Climate Change Benefit Some Cetaceans?

According to an article published on April 5, 2016 in National Geographic, some whales, especially humpback and bowhead whales, could…

|News 15/4/2016

New Investments in the St. Lawrence: Opportunity to Reconcile Conservation and Development?

New investments recently announced by the Canadian and Quebec governments in port areas and the marine ecosystem of the St.…

|News 8/4/2016

Energy East Project: Another Threat to the Whales of the St. Lawrence

The testimony of Émilien Pelletier before Quebec's environmental assessment agency (BAPE) last week cast a dark cloud over the whales…

|News 22/3/2016

Blue Whales of Antarctica: Three Populations of Giants

The Antarctic blue whale, which is endangered, falls into three genetically distinct populations. This was the conclusion of a recent…

|News 16/3/2016

Toxins Detected in Alaska Marine Mammals

Toxins produced by certain algae are present in Alaska's food chain in concentrations high enough to be detected in many…

|News 1/3/2016