#Balaenoptera bonaerensis

[inatungulates]

Antarctic killer whale Orcinus orca, attacking

Antarctic minke whale "Balaenoptera" bonaerensis

Observed by jands, CC BY-NC

Cosmopolitan hunters whose predatory deftness has enabled them to exploit many types of prey in many types of environments, killer whales Orcinus orca have diversified into a range of forms all over the world. These different ecotypes vary not only in prey preference, but also in social behavior, appearance, and genetic heritage -- while, at present, there is still only a single species of killer whale formally recognized, in reality the genus Orcinus surely consists of multiple species and multiple subspecies.

In the waters of the Antarctic, multiple types of killer whales can be found. The "Type A" Antarctic killer whale is a very large form with a "classic" coloration of bold black-and-white, a moderately-sized eye patch, a saddle patch, and no obvious dorsal cape -- similar to the well-known coastal killer whales of the North Atlantic and American West Coast. These Antarctic killers are mammal hunters, and the most abundant rorqual of the Southern Ocean, the Antarctic minke "Balaenoptera" bonaerensis, appears to be their favorite prey.

#multi-ungulate #Orcinus orca #Antarctic killer whale #Cetacea #Delphinidae #cetacean #whale #dolphin #Balaenoptera bonaerensis #Antarctic minke whale #Antarctica #Southern Ocean #keep reading

[namu-the-orca]

A multitude of minkes

Sorry for the long quiet here, guys. I’ve been very busy with my train driver’s license, as well as setting up a new aquarium and taking care of the residents. I haven’t been painting at all these months, but I’ll try to upload previously made art a bit more often! 

Like this trio; as you may know I completed two pretty big commissions last year, and between them I got to paint all three species of minke whales again. The common minke I’ve painted several times before, the Dwarf and Antarctic not so much. The latter two are based on my previous paintings of them, so they may seen a bit familiar. I’m fascinated by the tiger stripes both possess. The Dwarf minke, though well known and vastly different looking from the Common minke, has yet to receive a scientific name. I hope you’ll enjoy these small but incredibly beautiful baleen whales.

#illustrations #scientific illustration #minke whale #dwarf minke whale #common minke whale #Balaenoptera acutorostrata #Antarctic minke whale #Balaenoptera bonaerensis #baleen whale #balaenopterid #digital animation

[padfootagain]

Balaenoptera Bonaerensis (I)

Chapter 1: Security Measures

 This is the first chapter for my fic with a Bodyguard AU for our dear Cap! Thank you so much to @marvelcapsicle, who is hosting the writing challenge this fic is made for.

I hope you like this fanfic, please, read the author's note on the masterlist for this series concerning any link with real events!

I did, however, spent more than 8 hours researching different elements for that story so far, and have no doubt it's just the beginning… being a writer is hard…

Word Count: 3400

"Have I ever told any of you how much I hate our job?"

"Just… twenty times today. And hundreds more if you count all the times we had to wake up early to get on a plane."

"Taking a flight at 4 am doesn't make you 'get up early', it makes you not sleep at all!"

"I'm sorry you couldn't get your baby sleep, Bucky. But there were no better flights available on such a short notice."

"Did we really have to take that job?"

By Natasha's side, on the two seats before Steve and Bucky, Sam snorted, waving the newspaper he was reading to make his point.

"In these days, you should consider yourself lucky to have a job at all," Sam replied, shaking his head. "Seven months since that mess happened in Wall Street, and it's not getting any better."

By the window, Steve took a look at the clouds they flew across, cotton-like forms drifting slowly against the blue sky. He didn't react at all as the plane shook with turbulences, too used to flying by now to even truly notice. And if his blue eyes rested on the white puffs of water outside, his mind was set on work already. The file where he had gathered the information he had found - in the little time he had had to prepare their new job - was set open on his laps. He had stopped listening to his colleagues somewhere above the Pacific Ocean. Now that they were en route towards Townsville, having changed their flight in Darwin, he had stopped to act like he was listening altogether. Maybe others would have taken it badly, but his three partners were too used to his working routine to think anything of his behaviour. And as they flew across a cloud, the world turning solely into shades of white and light grey, Steve wondered who could have sent the threats that had pushed the editor of the Townsville Bulletin to hire Steve and his team to protect one of his journalist and three scientists they worked with. Apparently, it had something to do with the scientists' study of whales, although Steve couldn’t possibly imagine why someone would want to kill anyone about a study of the population of whales in Antarctica. That was beyond him.

But the threats were real, and at the thought, his eyes travelled back to the printed letters that were sent in an attempt to stop the research, and he had no doubt that it was a threat to take seriously. The message was, after all, quite explicit. Besides, they were paying for his services, so even if the threat wasn't real, it didn't exactly matter. He wouldn't complain about an easy job for once.

However, he wasn't sure to find who could have sent the threat. In the week he had been given to prepare his departure, he couldn't really find any lead. He reckoned that talking with the people involved would help clarify the situation, or at least, he hoped so.

He went through the file again, memorizing the names and faces of the people he would have to protect for the coming months.

Sofia Longbrook – PhD student

Dr. Rosa Alvarez Santiago – Postdoctoral researcher

Dr. Y/N Y/L/N – Researcher

Luke Savoy – Journalist

Lucy McGreed – Lawyer

Joshua Alexander – Lawyer

If the threats had been pointed towards only the journalist and the research team, chances were that the two lawyers involved in this whale study might get threatened as well soon.

At least three locations for their professions were to be secured, even without taking into account the lawyers for now. Plus each of their homes. And having some of them working on a major campus that held thousands of students would be a challenge to say the least. Adding to that limited resources, So much work to be done…

The voice of the flight attendant cut Steve's thoughts, forcing him back to reality. They would soon be landing. While he folded his papers and fastened his seatbelt, the plane slowly descending under the clouds, he checked the address of the hotel he had booked one more time. After dropping by the hotel, they would meet with the people who had hired them to discuss how the security could be handled, and more importantly, what kind of threats they were truly facing.

In the seats before ad next to him, Sam and Bucky were bickering, as usual, and he chose to ignore them for now.

All he hoped for was a smooth, calm mission for a change.

 ----------------------------------------------------------------------

 "This whole ordeal is absolutely ridiculous, Mark."

"Look, for the last time, Y/N: you've received threats. I will not sit down and wait to see if they were serious or not. You don't want to stop your research, and for some unknown reason, my reporter also refuses to drop the story, so all we are left with as alternative is to hire professionals who will keep you safe."

You rolled your eyes, crossing your arms before your chest.

"Look, we're talking about a trade. About something that involves money," Mark continued to argue. "And just like everything else that involves money, it is not so surprising to find people ready to go to extreme ways to deal with whatever goes in the way of their profit."

"I know, but…"

"No 'but'. By the way, Richard, I could use some help."

The director of your lab turned to you, but could only shrug.

"Honestly, I don't know what to say."

"You don't agree that it was the right decision to hire professional security?" the editor of Townsville newspaper asked with a frown.

"No, no, I think you were right to propose that," Richard replied, shaking his large moustache as he spoke. "All I'm saying is that Y/N is so stubborn, I really don't know what you want me to say."

You rolled your eyes again, but the ghost of a smile appeared on your lips this time.

"I just think that we're overreacting. Opinion with which you disagree, so I have to follow your and Richard's lead anyway."

"Exactly! Thank you!"

"I have to admit that I'll feel safer with a bodyguard around," Sofia, your PhD student, added. "Plus, if the one in charge of us at the lab could be a very sexy American wearing a tuxedo and dark sunglasses, that would be even better."

"They've hired bodyguards, Sofia," you replied. "Not Agent J."

"Aren't bodyguards supposed to dress up like that all the time? Kevin Costner was all dressed up too in that movie with the singer!"

"I don't know, honestly. I have to admit that I have never asked myself that question."

"I feel like the conversation has drifted…" Mark tried to bring your attention to the matter at hand, but he had already lost you and your colleagues.

"You have to admit that it's a rather good question!" Richard jumped in.

"Maybe they'll even have this kind of earpiece, you know, with the wire and everything," Sofia went on, a dreamy expression on her face as she tried to picture in her mind how her bodyguard would look like.

"They've hired only four of them," you replied. "I don't think they'll need any earpiece."

"Which, by the way, doesn't sound like much security," Joshua added. "I mean, shouldn't we all have one personal bodyguard?"

"There were no threats against you and Lucy, so…" Mark replied with a shrug.

"Of course, let the lawyers defenceless, as usual."

"What do you mean 'as usual'?"

"Ha… nevermind. I guess it's just my fate to die like this. You know, according to my astral theme I'm supposed to die a violent death."

"If you mention astrology again today, I can guarantee that you will die a violent death," you replied, pinching the sides of your nose.

"Sorry, but I'm nervous. And I always ask the stars when I'm nervous."

"Are they more talkative than Jesus? Or is the line busy for them as well?" Richard mocked, earning a kick from under the table.

Mark let himself fall down on a chair, heaving a dramatically tired sigh.

"You know, working with you guys, who are supposed to have brilliant minds and all that, kind of brought down my expectations on life."

None of you bothered to reply to his comment, too busy discussing the bodyguards who would soon arrive.

Indeed, you waited now for their arrival, all of you gathered in a meeting room in your lab. The Marine and Aquaculture labs at the James Cook University formed a large ensemble of buildings, from the tanks used for experiments and research to the offices where you were now. The buildings were often referred as MARFU for Marine and Aquaculture Research Facilities Units. They were not the most impressive buildings of the campus, and yet their research was among the most advanced in the world in terms of understanding marine life. The studied topics were vast, and your own little team was but a fraction of the people devoting their lives to understand and protect sea life.

On the north-east coast of Australia, Townsville held one of the four campuses of the James Cook University, one of the main institutions in the country. Hidden behind the large medical centre, on the south tip of the town, the university stretched to the edge of the wilder areas of Mount Stuart, the town stuck between its slope and the ocean. The white buildings for Marine Sciences research were all gathered on the eastern part of the campus, in an ensemble of about 20 separate buildings.

You were for now waiting in one of the meeting rooms on the first floor of the main building for Marine and Aquaculture, looking around you at the blank white walls and wooden tables and chairs. A poster for the defence of sharks was hung on one wall, the light of the sun falling partially on its dark blue shades, causing the colours to wane after years of exposure to the too bright rays of the Australian sun. In the corner of the room, up to the ceiling, a spider had threaded its web, but it was only a little one, and none of you could be bothered chasing the arachnid away.

While your colleagues kept on bickering, your own mind wandered off, drifting back towards the element that had caused all this to happen.

You remembered getting the letter at your office, opening it without worry, thinking it was merely linked to your research. You were expecting some documents for a field trip with your students after all.

Instead, you found a letter reading that if you didn't stop your surveys on whales, you would pay for the consequences of your actions. If the word 'killing' was not explicit, the meaning hiding behind their phrasing was evident, and whoever had sent you this letter was ready to use violent ends to shush your voice.

Clearly, whoever they were, they had never met you in person, or they would have known that threats would be far from enough to make you back down.

Nevertheless, Mark and Richard had decided that it was best to call professionals. Apparently, Richard had a friend in the security business, who had recommended the team he and Mark had hired. Why did they have to go to all the trouble to hire Americans, that was another mystery in this crazy story, but you simply accepted whoever they chose, as your complaints were dismissed.

You doubted heavily that anything would actually happen. You were a researcher, and none of your work was secret. If it had turned into a political stance over the past few years, it was still not a secret. All your colleagues in the lab knew about your research. You had asked for help from the press and a law firm when you realized that your research might have more impact that you had thought of on an international scale; yet, here again, you were not trying to keep any secret. What were they going to do? Destroy the entire university? If whaling held a lot of potential money, it was still no reason to make so much damage, at least, not in your mind.

When you started to investigate the migrations of whales in Antarctica, nothing could have made you think that you would come to discover that a Japanese research program was misused. If your accusation that it was merely a cover story for killing whales and selling their meat had always been denied by the Japanese authority, over the course of the past years, it had become your crusade to shut down the whole program. One could not, after all, excuse the killing of hundreds of animals and call it 'science', not in our day and age, at least.

You knew you had made enemies by taking a stand. You had never tried to hide your purpose. It didn't seem to you that it was a game people would play with death and threats. Maybe you were wrong, though.

And now you were up to get a bodyguard follow you everywhere. That was probably the most ridiculous position you had ever found yourself into.

Who would be your guardian angel though? Your mind started to play a game, trying to picture features and hair and clothes, and you found it funny to imagine a rather large sixty-year-old bald man wearing a cowboy hat and a heavy Texan accent as your protector for the coming weeks.

Just as you settled on an image, Richard was called by the reception as the four bodyguards had arrived. And when the four of them stepped into the room minutes later, Sofia gave you a look that meant I told you so.

And indeed, they were all wearing suits, which you imagined was not that comfortable considering it was a warm 27°C outside and quite humid after the strong rains of the day before.

And well, they were all pretty… attractive people, you guessed. As you introduced yourself to each of them, you kept on thinking about how much your two female colleagues would make your life annoying for the whole duration of this nonsense, gushing about their bodyguards.

Everyone took place around the circle of tables at the centre of the room. A little bit of small talk went on for a moment while they were all served coffee, about their flight, and their accommodation here in Townsville, but the man in charge, Steve, soon became more serious.

"We've started to research suspects, but for now I have to admit that we couldn't pinpoint any individual as being a threat in your direct acquaintances."

"To be completely honest, we highly doubt that it's coming from anyone we are close to," Richard answered.

"Not any colleagues, or a rival from another paper?"

"No, no one comes to mind. The only suspects for us would be someone linked to the whaling industry, as Dr. Y/L/N's research could have negative impact on their business, if we manage to give it a proper exposure."

"No one else is working on this project, you're all here?" Natasha asked, and you nodded.

"On the research side we are three active scientists on the project, plus our boss Richard. Luke here is our link with the press, and Mark his editor. Lucy and Joshua are advising us on legal issues."

"Why? Does your research break the law?" Bucky asked, lifting his eyes from the notebook where he had been taking notes.

"No, of course not. On the contrary, we think someone else is breaking the law."

"Our final goal is to bring the situation to an international court," Lucy added. "That's why we're helping them."

"And the two of you didn't receive any threat?"

"No, none."

"What about the police?" Sam inquired.

"They have no lead. They asked for the University to strengthen their security," Mark answered. "The investigation is still on-going, but for now they have nothing. And a simple letter is not enough for them to dispatch officers, which is why we called you."

"As we have discussed before, we have made arrangements to stay here for three months. We'll assess the situation again in a few weeks, to see if you would like to extend your contract or not."

Mark and Richard nodded in silent agreement.

"We're going to need to make an inspection of the facilities to determine which areas are the most dangerous. Same for your personal homes. We'll spend a couple of days adjusting to the situation. Do you all work in different buildings at the University?"

"No, all three of us share the same lab, and Sofia and Rosa have the same office, mine is next door to theirs," you answered. "But I teach, and the classes take place on the other side of the campus for the most part."

"Alright," Steve nodded, and he seemed to be thinking hard. "We're going to take a look around, and one of us will be assigned to each of you who has received direct threats. If you want, we can take a look at your workplace tomorrow as well, and give you a few advices on how to lower the risks," he added to the two lawyers, before focusing on the rest of the group again. "Ms. Romanov will be in charge of Mr. Savoy, Mr. Barnes and Wilson will protect Ms. Longbrook and Dr. Alvarez Santiago, and I'll be protecting you, Dr. Y/L/N. We're going to take a look at all the areas where you go here, in these facilities, and tonight we'll check your homes. We'll continue our investigation as well to find who has threatened you. Depending on how large the areas we have to cover are, we might have to use cameras as well."

"We'll show you around, if you want," Richard offered, and you were all soon leaving the meeting room.

Steve had already studied the map of the building, but he did find some interesting details that were worth writing down. Some areas difficult to see from afar, and other hidden corners. He would have thought that the lab would be a challenge, but it was tidy and ended up not being a problem at all. You showed him your office while Natasha was leaving for the newspaper headquarters, and Bucky and Sam were taking a look at your colleagues' office. Steve walked around, checked the windows and what was outside, looking for an angle from which a shooter could fire.

"It would be safer to move your desk a little closer to the door," he advised. "That way, there's no chance anyone outside can see you by the window."

"Okay," you nodded, hiding your annoyance, and helping him move your stuff around the room.

Luckily, none of the piles of files on your desk fell, and in a matter of minutes, Steve seemed satisfied.

You checked the time. It was quite late already, but you still had a couple of things to finish tonight, you hoped to keep on working at the office for a little longer.

Steve exited the room to talk with his colleagues for a moment, and when he came back, he asked you if you could stay at the office for a while, which matched your plans perfectly.

"I need to talk to the security on site, and take a look at the building where you give your classes. Please, don't go home without me, ma'am."

You gave him a smile.

"I was going to ask you if I could have more time before going home, I have still some work to do. And, please, call me Y/N. Anyway, you would have to call me doctor, not madam," you joked. "Let's keep it simple though."

Steve gave you a little, pinched smile, but shook his head.

"It wouldn't be very professional of me, doctor. I'll be back soon. Mr. Barnes will stay in the corridor, if you need anything."

"Alright, thank you then, sir."

He gave you a nod and exited the room, closing the door halfway behind him, probably so that his colleagues could keep an eye on you from the corridor.

You heaved a sigh and unlocked your laptop.

Of course, you had to fall on Mr. Serious out of all people, huh?

These were long, long three months awaiting you…

**********************************************************

 Tag list : @ponycake27 @horsesreign @xinyourdreamsx @jbluevelvet @notkeppeki @daynigt-dreamer-stuff @fudgeflyss @stuckupstucky @snek-shit @suchatinyinfinity @i-padfootblack-things  @buckybsarmy @heyohheyitsgabi@jigsawlover10 @emyyjemyy @addictedtofictionalcharacters @staringmoony

@rishlo @theshortegg @madamrogers​

 @luckyvee​

@marvelcapsicle​

#Steve Rogers #steve rogers x reader #steve rogers fanfiction #steve rogers imagine #steve rogers au #captain america #captain america x reader #captain america fanfiction #captain america imagine #mcu #mcu imagine #mcu fanfiction #beth writing challenge #au #writing #fanfic #fanfiction #imagine

[fumpkins]

Japan May Start Commercial Whale Hunting Again

Scientists in Japan inspect a minke whale at Ayukawa port in Ishinomaki, Miyagi Prefecture, in 2014.

Credit: Reuters/Kyodo/Newscom

. Japan prepares to leave the International Whaling Commission so that it can resume commercially hunting the giants of the ocean, according to report from federal government sources.

. While Japan has actually hunted whales under the guise of science considering that the 1980 s, this would be the very first time in 30 years that it hunted them entirely for commercial functions, Kyodo News reported.

. The relocation drew a quick rebuke from Australia; and other anti-whaling nations will likely condemn the strategy, too, The Guardian reported. Japan is anticipated to provide its decision on the matter as early as next week, according to Kyodo News. [Images: Sharks & Whales from Above]

. The statement follows Japan’s most current effort to pursue commercial whaling was declined at an IWC conference in Brazil in September. All commercial whaling has actually been prohibited by the IWC considering that 1984, however a couple of nations, consisting of Japan, have actually discovered loopholes. For example, Norway and Iceland utilize technical objections to navigate the restriction, and Japan traditionally has actually declared it was hunting whales for clinical functions, The Guardian reported. In addition, some native groups are permitted to hunt whales for subsistence.

. In the past, Japan tried to get approval to commercially hunt simply those whales that have higher numbers in the wild, such as the typical minke whale ( Balaenoptera acutorostrata), which is noted as an animal of “least concern” by the International Union for Preservation of Nature (IUCN). On the other hand, the IUCN notes the Antarctic minke whale ( B. bonaerensis) as “near threatened.” Japan’s commercial whaling propositions have actually constantly been dropped in anti-whaling nations, consisting of Australia and New Zealand, Kyodo News reported.

. If Japan leaves the IWC, it will need to desert its so-called whaling research study in the Antarctic Ocean. However, according to Kyodo News, Japan prepares to stop these questionable explorations anyhow, and rather will direct its commercial whalers to seas near the nation and to its unique financial zone.

. Japanese federal government authorities framed the concern as a financial one.

. “There are fishermen in Japan making their living by whaling, and we can’t simply end it,” an unnamed authorities informed Kyodo News.

. Nevertheless, another fisheries company authorities stated that Japan has no objective of withdrawing from the IWC. “Japan’s official position, that we want to resume commercial whaling as soon as possible, has not changed,” the main informed The Guardian. “But reports that we will leave the IWC are incorrect.”

. Japan has actually long pulled the line with the IWC, which was developed in1948 This previous spring, Japan dealt with pushback after it emerged that Japanese whalers had actually eliminated 333 Antarctic minke whales, consisting of 122 pregnant whales and 114 calves, throughout the summertime of 2017, Live Science formerly reported.

. Furthermore, in 2014, the United Nations’ International Court of Justice bought that Japan stop its yearly hunts in the Antarctic Ocean, due to the fact that these hunts were plainly not for clinical functions however rather for supper menus. However one year later on, Japan resumed hunting in the area, albeit with a minimized quota that was two-thirds of its previous catch, The Guardian reported.

. Japan formerly threatened to leave the IWC in 2007, however altered its mind after talking with agents from the United States and other member countries, according to Kyodo News.

. Initially released on Live Science

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New post published on: https://www.livescience.tech/2018/12/21/japan-may-start-commercial-whale-hunting-again/

[zehub]

Le Japon pêche 333 baleines sans opposition de la part des ONG - Sciencesetavenir.fr

Des baleiniers japonais sont rentrés au port le 31 mars 2018 après avoir capturé 333 cétacés dans l'océan Antarctique. La flotte nipponne de 5 navires avait entamé sa campagne en novembre 2017 dans le cadre de la très controversée chasse à la baleine dite "scientifique" menée par le Japon. Trois baleiniers, y compris le principal navire de la flotte, le Nisshin Maru, sont donc rentrés 5 mois plus tard au port de Shimonoseki, dans l'ouest du Japon, a indiqué un responsable du lieu. Au total, les cinq baleiniers ont capturé 333 baleines de Minke (Balaenoptera bonaerensis) comme prévu sans avoir été interrompus par des opposants à ces campagnes, a affirmé l'Agence de la pêche.

[todropscience]

In August (2014) The Journal of Experimental Biology has one of the most beautiful covers I've seen in my student life.

Cover description: Antarctic minke whale (Balaenoptera bonaerensis) foraging in the ice-covered waters of Wilhelmina Bay, Western Antarctic Peninsula.

The whale is outfitted with a multi-sensor recording tag to measure underwater movement and behavior. Friedlaender et al 2014 find that these whales perform unique feeding dives under sea ice and forage at extraordinarily high rates, greater than any other baleen whale. The minke whale’s unique combination of body size, feeding mechanism and habitat define a previously undocumented ecological niche unique among diving vertebrates.

Photo credit: A. Friedlaender.

Reference (Open Access) Friedlaende et al 2014). Feeding rates and under-ice foraging strategies of the smallest lunge filter feeder, the Antarctic minke whale (Balaenoptera bonaerensis). J. Exp. Biol. 217, 2851-2854.

#Balaenoptera bonaerensis #antarctica #minke whale #cetacean #mysticeti #animals #science #biology #behavior #open access #cover #magazine #marine biology

[libutron]

Mysterious bio-duck sound attributed to the Antarctic minke whale Balaenoptera bonaerensis

The bio-duck sound has been recorded ubiquitously in the Southern Ocean by researchers for over five decades. First described and named by submarine personnel in the 1960s, the bio-duck has since been recorded at various locations in the Southern Ocean, but its source remained a mystery.

Heard mainly during austral winter in the Southern Ocean, this ubiquitous sound has been recorded in Antarctic waters and contemporaneously off the Australian west coast. 

The sound consists of a regular series of downswept pulses, ranging from 50 to 300 Hz, with harmonics of up to 1 kHz. The number of pulses within a series can differ within and between recording locations, but the sound is highly repetitive with a typical interval of 3.1 s between the start of two series.

A recent article in the Journal Biology Letters (23 April 2014), present conclusive evidence that the bio-duck sound is produced by Antarctic minke whales (Balaenoptera bonaerensis).

Balaenoptera bonaerensis (Balaenopteridae) lives in remote open-water environments and within sea ice habitats. The identification of the Antarctic minke whale as the source of the bio-duck sound will allow a more detailed understanding of the behavioural ecology of this abundant, but poorly understood species.

Reference: Risch et al. (2014)

Photo credit: ©victorcharlie | Locality: Antarctica

#nature #animals #antarctic mink whale #balaenoptera bonaerensis #bio-duck #balaenoptera #antarctica #fauna #sea life #mammals #mammalia #cetacea #balaenopteridae #zoology #mammalogy #science #original

[inatungulates]

Antarctic minke whale “Balaenoptera” bonaerensis

Observed by natforlife, CC BY-NC

#Balaenoptera bonaerensis #Antarctic minke whale #Cetacea #Balaenopteridae #cetacean #whale #Antartica #Southern Ocean

[namu-the-orca]

Antarctic minke whale (Balaenoptera bonaerensis)

Not recognised as a separate species until the late 1900s, the Antarctic minke bears quite a different look than its northern relative. Although often described as diagnostically having plain grey flippers (setting it apart from the Common minke, that has white flipper bands), there are also Antarctic minkes that have largely light grey or even white flippers, and it's such an individual that I chose to depict. The round white scars are from Cookiecutter sharks, a species these whales encounter when migrating to warmer waters during the austral winter. Because unlike their name might suggest they are not necessarily Antarctica-bound, occurring throughout much of the Southern Hemisphere and even being resident in certain parts of Brazil.

There's also something to be said about the noises they make! In the 1960's, a sort of quacking noise, strangely similar to that of a regular duck, was picked up by submarines. Dubbed the 'bio-duck', it had people baffled for FIFTY years, until finally it was discovered in 2014 that these quacks in fact came from Antarctic minke whales. One more mystery solved :D You can listen to their quacks over here.

They are currently the most abundant of all baleen whales, their numbers in the hundreds of thousands - however it is not for a lack of hunting. With the greater whales depleted and hard to find, commercial whalers turned their attention to the Antarctic minkes, killing almost 10.000 of them between 1950 and 1987. Even after the whaling ban in 1986 Japan continued to take several hundred Antarctic minkes each year for their 'scientific research'.

This illustration is part of a commission from SEAMMO (SEA Mammal Monitoring Organisation) to illustrate all 15 baleen whale (Mysticete) species.

#illustrations #antarctic minke whale #minke whale #whale #balaenoptera bonaerensis #balaenoptera #balaenopterid #bonaerensis #mysticete #baleen whale #digital art #artists on tumblr

[padfootagain]

22 (2300 followers event : Sleeping Beauty soulmate AU!)

You and Steve have been friends since childhood, but your feelings grew as you turned into adults. But as Steve reaches 22, it is time for him to fall asleep, and you’re the only one who can wake him up… you’re soulmates, after all...

The Suit

You have a crush on Steve. Steve has a crush on you. Maybe a party will be enough for one of you to finally take the first step...

I haven’t written anything for that section yet.

The Book Lovers (@marvelcapsicle writing challenge, Librarian AU!) (complete)

Steve’s library and sanctuary is endangered by a new parking lot the City wants to build next to his workplace. He might find more than an ally to save his library in one of his most faithful readers…

Masterlist for The Book Lovers

A Crimson Christmas (Winter Event 2019)

There is a mystery in this story. Or, actually, there are three mysteries tied up together in the events that will unfold here. The first, and probably the most cryptic of all, concerns the circumstances of the death of a gentleman named Jean Le Kennec. The second, and probably the most devastating of all, has to deal with the delivery of a package on Christmas Eve. The third, and probably the most important of all, is to link with a man and a woman spending Christmas together because of a lie.

Masterlist for A Crimson Christmas

Balaenoptera Bonaerensis (@marvelcapsicle writing challenge, Bodyguard AU)

2008. The scientific programm JARPA II led by Japan uses lethal methods to study several species of whales in Antarctica. But this scientific mission is suspected to be nothing more than a hidden way to pursue whaling, despite it being illegal. As a biologist, you are determined to stop the programm and protect the whales you’ve been studying for years. But after receiving threats, your boss decides that you need protection. And you are not so happy with the idea of being followed 24/7 by a bodyguard, no matter if he’s quite… charming.

Masterlist for Balaenoptera Bonaerensis

Memories Drabbles (2200 followers + 200 fics + happy birthday event)

#steve rogers #captain america #steve rogers masterlist #captain america masterlist #masterlist

[inatungulates]

Antarctic minke whale "Balaenoptera" bonaerensis

Observed by remi_bigonneau

#Balaenoptera bonaerensis #Antarctic minke whale #Cetacea #Balaenopteridae #cetacean #whale #Antartica #Southern Ocean

[dendroica]

Only a few of us are lucky enough to come this close to one of nature’s biggest creatures. But Andrew Peacock kept his nerve to catch the moment on camera as a 6.1m (20ft) minke whale passed underneath his kayak.

The giant mammal was just an arm’s length away as the doctor snapped this picture while on expedition in the Antarctic Peninsula. ‘I was awestruck to be in such close proximity to such a beautiful, elegant ocean mammal,’ the 45-year-old, of Queensland, Australia, said of his adventure. ‘But I was feeling vulnerable and quite nervous I could end up in the freezing water.’

(via Doctor snaps whale swimming inches away from his canoe | Metro News)

#Minke whale #Antarctic minke whale #southern minke whale #Balaenoptera bonaerensis #Balaenoptera #Balaenopteridae #Mysticeti #Cetacea #Eutheria #Mammalia #marine mammal #whale #cetacean #underwater #kayak #Neko Harbour #Antarctica