Dolphins and Whales News -- ScienceDaily

Early dispersal for quadrupedal cetaceans: Amphibious whale from middle Eocene (Fri, 08 Nov 2019)
Scientists have a relatively precise idea about where whales and their closest terrestrial relatives evolved more than 50 million years ago (early Eocene), thanks to the discovery of ancient cetacean fossils in India and Pakistan. Around 45 million years ago, four-legged whales (protocetids) gradually dispersed out of Asia, westward towards Africa and then reached the east coast of North America more than 41 million years ago.
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Dolphins demonstrate coordinated cooperation (Mon, 28 Oct 2019)
Researchers investigated the cooperative abilities of dolphins. Utilizing a simplified Hirata Task, the team found that dolphins coordinated their behavior to work together on a shared task. Specifically, the 'initiator' would wait on their partner and the 'follower' would coordinate their swimming speed to match the initiator's behavior.
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Genetics reveal pacific subspecies of fin whale (Mon, 28 Oct 2019)
New genetic research has identified fin whales in the northern Pacific Ocean as a separate subspecies, reflecting a revolution in marine mammal taxonomy as scientists unravel the genetics of enormous animals otherwise too large to fit into laboratories.
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Humpback whale population on the rise after near miss with extinction (Mon, 21 Oct 2019)
A new study finds that the western South Atlantic humpback population has grown to 25,000 whales. Researchers believe this new estimate is now close to pre-whaling numbers.
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Stranded whales detected from space (Thu, 17 Oct 2019)
A new technique for analysing satellite images may help scientists detect and count stranded whales from space. Researchers tested a new detection method using Very High Resolution (VHR) satellite images of the biggest mass stranding of baleen whales yet recorded. It is hoped that in the future the technique will lead to real-time information as stranding events happen.
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