This Week in Whales: Dolphins Have Great Memories. Yikes! They'll Never Forget What We've Done to Them...

• A recent study finds that dolphins have a social memory of 20 years – the longest social memory of any animal besides humans.  Researchers studied 56 captive dolphins across six different aquariums, and collected audio recordings of each dolphin's "signature whistle" (or name – I've blogged about this phenomenon before).  Some dolphins recognized signature whistles of dolphins they hadn't seen in 20 years.  It’s pretty cool, other than the part about doing experiments on captive dolphins…
• The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association (NOAA), just declared the alarming dolphin die-off on the East Coast an "unusual mortality event" (UME).  The designation triggers a federal investigation into the stranded dolphins' cause of death – more than 124 have washed up dead on Virginia, New Jersey, and New York's beaches since July.  Preliminary tests have uncovered signs of morbillivirus (an infectious disease) in some dolphins and pneumonia in others, but it may take weeks for investigators to reach a conclusion regarding the cause of death.  However, even if the officials name one of these diseases as the cause of death, environmental stressors can suppress dolphins' immune systems and lead to anemia, weight loss, liver and lung disease – all of which lower their resistance to infectious diseases such as morbillivirus and pneumonia.
• Rose George's just-published "Ninety Percent of Everything:  Inside Shipping, the Invisible Industry That Puts Clothes on Your Back, Gas in Your Car and Food on Your Plate" is an exhaustive investigation into the history of freight shipping, which is fundamental to our civilization but exists totally removed from public scrutiny.  While researching the book, George circumnavigated the globe on massive container vessels, anti-piracy task force boats, and fishing trawlers.  In this excerpt, George reveals the multitude ways in which shipping harms whales and dolphins from ship strikes to sound pollution.
• Palenteologists have just discovered a 15 million-year-old whale skull fossil in the banks of the Potomac River.  The skull is six feet long and believed to weigh 1,000 pounds.  Scientists won't be sure of the fossil's species until the entire fossil is unearthed.

Meanwhile, this week in Wales…

The Coal Authority has granted a license to Cluff Natural Resources to extract coal gas from Loughor and Dee estuaries, off the North Wales coast.  Locals have been organizing public meetings to call attention to the controversial "underground coal gasification" process proposed at the estuaries and the risks it poses to public health and the environment.  Best of luck to them!  Fossil fuels are an addiction, people!