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Dolphin in Brazil helping with fishing illustration

Dolphins and fishermen working together

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Gray whale (eschrichtius robustus) Gray whale in Ojo de liebre lagoon Baja California.

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Dolphins with keepers in the new Windsor Safari Park. Image: PA Images/Alamy Stock Photo

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Fishers' involvement is crucial. Image: WDC/JTF

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Whale evolution cover

How did whales end up living in the ocean?

Kidzone - quick links Fun Facts Curious kids Blogs Fantastic fundraisers Gallery Splish and Splash...
Fishers chatting

Scottish fishers working with us to reduce risks to whales

Small changes to fishing gear could make a big difference to whales around Scotland, and...

Mindful conservation – why we need a new respect for nature

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tins of whale meat

How Japan’s whaling industry is trying to convince people to eat whales

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New (or should that be old?) species of whale discovered in California

US palaeontologists studying fossils recovered from the San Diego Formation in California have described a new species of baleen whale that would have lived between 3.5 and 2.5 million years ago. 

Until now, the genus Herpetocetus (a genus of now extinct dwarf baleen whales) contained four recognised species, this new specimen – known as Herpetocetus morrowi – brings that total to five.

The researchers believe that H. morrowi was one of the smallest baleen whales, measuring only 4.5m in length. They also postulate that it could have been a bottom-feeder, feeding in a similar way as the gray whale, where they are known to roll on to one side (usually the right side in gray whales – hence why sometimes the baleen on the right side is shorter and the head more scarred) and then swim slowly along the bottom sucking up the sediment before filtering it out through their baleen and trapping their food behind. 

Compared to the finding that dolphins have been around for between 8 and 13 million years this is not quite as ground-breaking but interesting nonetheless as it gives more insight into the evolutionary changes that have taken, and undoubtedly continue to take place, within whales, dolphins and porpoises.

About Nicola Hodgins

Policy Manager at WDC