The two otter species seen here (through an individual sea otter and a family of river otters), share common ancestors. Today, they belong to different groups in the family Mustelidae. Want to know more? Read this Episode 4 of Evolution Events! Mustelidae encompasses familiar creatures such as badgers, martens, mink, weasels and otters (of 67 […]
Monthly Archives: January 2022
Welcome to another “Evolution Events” episode. Today’s topic includes the evolutionary and modern differences between two similar-appearing cetacean groups, dolphins and porpoises. Have you ever wondered what the differences between these animals are? We are referring here to porpoises as belonging to the “Phocoenidae” family, where dolphins belong to a few families including the familiar, […]
Welcome to another episode of “Evolution Events”! We are excited to talk about evolution in Order Cetacea; specifically toothed whales vs. baleen whales! First, we will reiterate what it means to be a toothed whale or a baleen whale. “Toothed whales” do not always refer to animals commonly called whales; scientifically speaking, toothed whales also […]
2021 was a record-breaker for Salish Sea whales! Bigg’s orcas: 329 days*, 11 calves bornHumpback whales: 301 days, 21 calves seenGray whales: 149 daysMinke whales: 148 daysSouthern Resident orcas: 103 days* *Orca data from Orca Behavior Inst. https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/record-whale-sightings-2021-1.6311282?fbclid=IwAR2urvZsxdTbaiwi7bwn7BtT2QEzu4ObUpP-X5KbZP6yZfeiTWgkhsEDaHI
Welcome to our brand new series “Evolution Events”! We are so excited to delve into some fascinating topics including fossils, DNA, evolution and animal behaviour. For our first episode, we are so excited to discuss a fascinating event that is killer whale, or orca, ecotype evolution. Much of this information has been summarized from the […]
Happy New Year! Happy New Year from everyone at Five Star Whale Watching We hope 2022 will bring joy, good health, peace, prosperity and laughter to everyone #happynewyear