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How Indo-Pacific Bottlenose Dolphins Communicate

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How Indo-Pacific Bottlenose Dolphins Communicate

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They use echolocation to communicate what they want and what they need, specifically in the hunt for food and for each other. I found this particular video compelling since it puts into perspective what is heard in a vast ocean, where other creatures are going about their lives. Dolphins share a mutual understanding, and we humans can learn from them on what it means to truly be heard and understood. Gumbs reflects that through listening intently, hearing one out, and adjusting our tones, it bridges the gap between people.

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Bottlenose Dolphins in the Wild (with original sounds).

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Learning from Mom: Swimming with Baby Weddell Seals

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Learning from Mom: Swimming with Baby Weddell Seals

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This study showcases how mothers of baby Weddell seals will push their babies to learn how to swim. It may seem malicious, but the mothers have good intentions for their babies to thrive and eventually do this on their own to find food. Gumbs connects this to her appreciation of the figures in her life that pushed her beyond her limits. Tough love encourages exploration. This support produces the courage, hope, and belief that you can overcome obstacles that come your way, building perseverance and trust in your capabilities.

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Seal Swimming Lessons: Cal Poly Study Shows These Seals Learn from Mom

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They’re cute, they’re furry, and they start diving into frigid Antarctic waters at 2 weeks old. According to a new Cal Poly study, Weddell seal pups may be one of the only types of seals to learn to swim from their mothers.
Weddell seals are the southernmost born mammal and come into the world in the coldest environment of any mammal. These extreme conditions may explain the unusually long time they spend with their mothers.
The study, “Early Diving Behavior in Weddell Seal (Leptonychotes Weddellii) Pups,” was published earlier this month in the Journal of Mammalogy.
According to the Seal Conservation Society, adult Weddell seal females are slightly longer than males and grow to nearly 11 feet long and weigh from 800 to 1,300 pounds. Pups are born about 4-5 feet in length and weigh 50-65 pounds.
In most seal species, pups nurse on land for up to four weeks and don’t go in the water until after they’re weaned. They must then learn to swim and forage by themselves. Weddell seal pups, on the other hand, stay with mom for six to seven weeks.
“Most seals don’t get to learn anything from mom, so we wanted to know what are the important lessons that they need in this extremely cold environment,” said Heather Liwanag, a Cal Poly biology professor and lead researcher. “We were also interested in understanding how adults become such incredible divers. Where do they start?”
Adult Weddell seals are one of the champion divers of the pinniped world, able to hold their breath for up to 90 minutes. In comparison, a harbor seal can hold its breath for about half an hour.
Using tracking instruments, the research team measured how deep the pups dove and what time of day they were in the water. They compared this to what was known about when and how deep the mothers dive during this time.
The data showed that pups were in the water at the same time as mothers and so the moms were likely teaching the pups how to survive. But what, exactly, were they teaching? One possible lesson is foraging for food, but the pups weren’t diving to the depths needed to find prey.
The more likely explanation is that mom is teaching her pup how to swim and navigate in the 28-degree Fahrenheit water. Because much of the swimming in Antarctica happens beneath a sheet of ice, one of the most important lessons may be how to find a breathing hole. The pups need to breathe every six minutes and on average held their breath for less than three minutes.
“One of the common causes of death in young Weddell seals is drowning,” Liwanag said. “It’s important that they learn how to find breathing holes in the ice that allow them to take frequent breaths, until they develop the ability to hold their breath for longer durations like the adults.”
Future research will focus on whether this teaching behavior explains variation in pups’ development.
Scientists think Weddell seal behavior might also help them understand how climate change will affect ice-dependent seals at both poles.
The species is named after Capt. James Weddell, a British sailor, navigator and seal hunter who wrote about his encounters with the seals in the 1820s.
For more on the study, read the abstract at https://academic.oup.com/jmammal/advance-article-abstract/doi/10.1093/jmammal/gyab058/6290999 or visit the project website at icyseals.com.
Photo information: A young Weddell seal takes a break in a breathing hole during swimming lessons with its mother. Photo taken under NMFS permit 21006-01 and ACA permit 2018-013 M#1.

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Birth Behind Bars: Story of Debbie Africa 

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Birth Behind Bars: Story of Debbie Africa 

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This article provides details and insight into how Debbie Africa was able to conceal her birth in prison for three days. It also goes into the life of Mike Africa Jr., who has spent 40 years of his life with both of his parents behind bars. Debbie knew that they would take her son away if guards found out, and she wanted to nurture him for as long as possible. This story showcases the strength of maternal love. It also shows how unconditional love was maintained on both ends while Debbie was serving out the rest of her sentence. Gumbs tells the story of a mother bottlenose dolphin that gave birth in captivity. She goes on to explain that although days spent together are limited, mothers still have it in them to care and love regardless of freedom.

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The placenta was the trickiest part. How to dispose of it without it making a mess that would alert the guards that a child had just been born in a prison cell?

There was no medical equipment, no painkillers, no sterilized wipes or hygienic materials of any sort. When it came to cutting the umbilical cord in the absence of scissors, well, that was the easy part: just use your teeth.

But Debbie Sims Africa was more stressed about the placenta. It was 1978, she was 22 years old and five weeks into what would turn out to be a 40-year prison sentence.

She was determined to give birth on her own without any involvement of the jail officers so she could spend some precious time with the baby. In the end, a co-defendant helped her out, scooping up the placenta in her hands and secreting it to the shower room where she flushed it down the prison toilet.

The plan worked. Debbie Africa got to spend three wonderful days with her baby son. She hid him under a sheet and when he cried, other jailed women would stand outside the cell and sing or cough to obscure the noise.

She knew it couldn't last, as jail rules prohibited mothers being with their children. At the end of the three days she informed the jailers of the baby's existence and, once they had got over their astonishment, they arranged for the mother and son to be separated and for the child to be taken to the outside world.

So begins the extraordinary life of Mike Africa Jr, a man born in a prison cell, and his incarcerated parents. As he approaches his 40th birthday in September, he reflects on what a crazy ride it's been.

He was born to a mother accused and later convicted of third-degree murder in one of the most dramatic confrontations with law enforcement of the 1970s black liberation struggle. Not only was Debbie Africa sentenced to 30 years to life for the death of a police officer, so too was her husband, Mike Africa Sr, father to Mike Jr, who was caught up in the same confrontation and given the same punishment.

Which makes Mike Jr a penal orphan of the black power movement. For almost 40 years, he visited both his parents in separate penitentiaries but never saw either of them outside prison walls. Last month Debbie was finally released from prison on parole, but his father remains in captivity and to this day he has never seen the two of them together.

Debbie and Mike Sr, both now 62, are two of the Move Nine, the group of black radicals who were collectively held responsible for the death of Officer James Ramp during a massive police shoot-out at their communal home in Powelton Village, Philadelphia on 8 August 1978. The group, whose members take "Africa" as their last name as a political badge, were resisting eviction.

They were like the Black Panthers crossed with nature-loving hippies. Black ​power meets flower power

Move was one of the more extraordinary elements of the 1970s black liberation struggle. Deeply committed to fighting police brutality in African American communities, they were also devoted to caring for animals and the environment.

They were like the Black Panthers crossed with nature-loving hippies. Black power meets flower power.

They lived in a communal house along with dozens of stray dogs and cats where they would preach their political beliefs day and night at high volume through bullhorns, driving their neighbors to despair. Over time they came to be seen as dangerous non-conformists by the Philadelphia police and city government, leading to a drawn-out confrontation that culminated in the 1978 siege and gunfight involving hundreds of police that saw the death of Officer Ramp and sent nine of the black radicals to prison, potentially for life.

The Move Nine were accused of firing the first shot and of killing Ramp. Yet they have always claimed innocence. They deny that they shot at anybody and blame the officer's death on accidental "friendly fire" from other armed police. Ramp, 52, was a former marine who had served with the Philadelphia police department for 23 years. He was killed by a single bullet. Yet all nine Move members were convicted of his murder.

I met Debbie Africa and her son as part of research into incarcerated black radicals that began more than two years ago. The starting point was the Angola Three, former Black Panthers who had endured unprecedented stretches in solitary confinement in Louisiana's notorious Angola prison.

That began a journey that would bring me to interview several members of the Move Nine as well as former Black Panthers and members of the Black Liberation Army who remain incarcerated in some cases half a century after their arrests. It would culminate with a day spent with Debbie and Mike Jr, mother and son, as they celebrated their first time together beyond prison walls.

Debbie Africa was eight months pregnant during the 1978 siege. During the shoot-out she was holed out in the basement of the Move house, where she was bombarded by water cannons and tear gas and had to fumble her way out in the dark carrying her first child, her two-year-old daughter Michelle.

No evidence was presented at trial that she pulled the trigger or ever touched a gun. But she was convicted nonetheless as a murderer and conspirator.

Mike Sr remains behind bars in Graterford correctional institution in Pennsylvania. But last June, Debbie Africa became one of very few black liberationists convicted of violent acts from the 1970s to be released on parole having convinced the board she was no threat to society.

* * *

Debbie and Mike Jr talked to me at his home in a small town outside Philadelphia just two weeks after she had been released on parole from Cambridge Springs prison. They were both still clearly awestruck to be in each other's company after so long - Mike's sporadic prison visits to both his parents were nothing like this.

It's the little things that have dumbfounded Mike Jr most. The first morning after they got back to his house, they were sitting at breakfast wearing no shoes.

"It was the first time I've ever seen her feet, and it was the first time she'd ever seen my feet since I was three days old in her cell," he said.

Debbie Africa described waves of overpowering emotion. "I can't believe this is happening," she said. "I'll just start hugging him in the supermarket and people will be giving us strange looks."

She talked about the wrench of letting her son go when he was three days old. "It was a hard, hard decision. I wanted what was best for him and I knew that was not to get close to me at any level. So I had to break the bond."

Mike Jr was raised during his childhood by his grandmother and by a succession of different female members of the Move organization as part of its communal ethic. "I was a community kid, I had many mothers," Mike Jr said in a deadpan voice, as though describing the weather.

Every Mother's Day he makes the rounds of his "mothers". He drives around bearing cards and flowers which he drops off at the homes of at least six women. He rattled off their names: Bert, Sue, Romana, Pam, Mary, Teresa.

Now he'll be able to put flowers in the hands of his true birth mother. He had no idea who she was, nor who his father was, until he was about six or seven when their relationship to him was made clear to him.

"I didn't know she was in prison, I didn't know any of it. I thought that the person caring for me was my mother."

He looks back on his childhood and recognizes that some aspects of his upbringing were less than ideal. "Who teaches a kid how to brush his teeth or take a bath but his parents. I didn't know how to wash my hair 'til I was 15."

Through his childhood he was taken to visit both parents in separate prisons, maybe once or twice a year. But for years he had no idea why they were locked up. When friends at school asked about him about them, he would demur or make up stories because he was embarrassed to reveal his ignorance.

I feel relief. Big relief. I never knew she would come out alive

Mike Africa Jr

It was only when he was 14 and sitting with his father in Graterford that the penny dropped. He asked Mike Sr whether there was anybody held in the prison who had done something really bad, like killing somebody.

"Yeah," Mike Sr replied, "me".

"He didn't go on to explain," Mike Jr recalled. "I was frightened. Was he going to be in here forever? I was crying my eyes out trying to figure it out, but I couldn't explain to him why I was crying. I couldn't put it into words."

Mikr Jr said it took him years to put the pieces together. "I was left to figure it out for myself, to fend for myself."

But neither son nor mother are ones to dwell on the wounds of the past. I asked Debbie Africa whether she regretted that by her actions as a black liberationist and Move member she had put her son through so much pain.

"There are always going to be things in my life that I wish didn't happen," she said. "I do truly wish that what happened to my son hadn't happened, I do truly. But I look at the man he is now, and I love it."

Having spent two days in the company of Mike Africa Jr outside Philadelphia, I can see what she means. He has turned out remarkably poised for someone with his chaotic childhood résumé.

He runs his own small business as a landscape gardener, is married and has four children of his own. He is a proud member of Move, has never owned or even held a gun, and his house is comfortable and full of light, though it was notable how much neater it was the second time I visited following Debbie's release. At last she has begun fulfilling that ritual of parents everywhere: tidying up after their child's mess.

On Mike Jr's part he's similarly delighted his mother has turned out as well-balanced, sociable and positive as she is, given 40 years in correctional institutions. "I feel relief. Big relief. I never knew she would come out alive. When people come out of prison they can be sick in the head, but this transition of her coming to my house has been the smoothest major transformation of my life."

Now the challenge is to help Mike Africa Sr secure parole, and so complete the family. His next appearance before the parole board is in September, and they are all already on tenterhooks.

A paradox of Debbie Africa's release is that under her parole terms she is not able to communicate in any form with her husband because he is classified as a co-defendant and thus is out of bounds. The last time they saw each other in the flesh was in 1986. Since then they had been allowed to write to each other from their cells, and in that way managed to keep their bond alive.

I can't believe this is happening. I'll start hugging him in the supermarket and people will be giving us strange looks

Debbie Sims Africa

Now that the letter-writing has been stopped all they have in terms of connection is Mike Jr acting as a go-between. He lets each parent know how the other is doing. He also acted as my go-between, putting questions to his father which Mike Sr answered in a phone call to him.

How confident is Mike Sr, I asked, as he heads into the parole hearing?

"I'm confident that I'm going to tell the truth. I'm confident that I deserve parole. I'm confident I would never be considered a danger to the community ever again. We never intended for anyone to get hurt, and regret that anyone did get hurt."

Then he added: "What I'm not confident about is what they're going to do, I have no control over that."

He said the knowledge that his wife was now at home with his son and daughter was a great comfort to him. But it also heightened his desire to be with them all.

"Forty years of wanting, anticipating. It's like Double Dutch. You're always on the edge of that jump rope, hopping up and down, waiting to get in, waiting for your turn."

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Born in a cell: the extraordinary tale of the black liberation orphan

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The placenta was the trickiest part. How to dispose of it without it making a mess that would alert the guards that a child had just been born in a prison cell? There was no medical equipment, no painkillers, no sterilized wipes or hygienic materials of any sort.

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This article describes the anatomy of dolphins, where I specifically paid attention to their dorsal fins. Dolphins have evolved to have dorsal fins to maintain stability and utilize them for navigation under the water. Gumbs wonders what ways we can incorporate practices that stabilize us. In doing so, I believe that it can work towards easing our minds and bodies in a society where there are plenty of tense and stressful moments. We can find ways to love ourselves more deeply by taking care of ourselves.

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US Department of Commerce, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

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The Atlantic Spotted Dolphin - they’ve been evolving for about 10 million years now. And while their ancient ancestors lived on land, rising ocean waters led these animals to become mammals of the sea.

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Striped dolphins congregate within "schools." Gumbs defines this school as a scale of care. I thought this video was particularly interesting because Gumbs explains how only up to one-third of the school is visible at the surface, while the rest are in deep waters. Gumbs poses the question of what it would be like to go "deep" with each other. How would it be to be intimate and open with each other in a way that fosters care? This made me wonder about the effort it would take to show up for others with people I personally know and my broader community.

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STRIPED DOLPHINS spectacular jumps | Futurismo Azores

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The Scars of a Pacific White-Sided Dolphin

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The Scars of a Pacific White-Sided Dolphin

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This article showcases a Pacific white-sided dolphin's scars. These scars can be a result of a multitude of factors, one being from each other. They travel in schools, prompting Gumbs to wonder why we tend to stay with those who share similar scars or are the cause of our scars. I believe there's empathy in sharing stories, but it's so easy to also weaponize it against each other. Finding that balance of understanding and not trying to project blame can allow for reparations.

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An Encounter with a Pacific White-sided Dolphin – 4/11/22

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Earlier this week I was able to see a deceased Pacific White-sided Dolphin that had stranded a few days earlier. Unfortunately they didn’t survive their injuries which were believed to be fro…

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Indus river dolphins have experienced many hardships; this article lists the range of them and ways they've been recovering. Through it all, they've been clicking all day and night. They've been able to replenish their endangered population, which is slowly growing each year. Gumbs poses the question of how we can offer the same sentiment of showing up and being there for each other, prioritizing each other's needs. In doing so, we can cultivate a community that can depend on each other, empowering individuals in the process.

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River Dolphins - Protecting River Dolphins worldwide

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Indus river dolphins are also known as the blind dolphins because over millions of years they have lost the use of their eyes.

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This video showcases the movement of the Black-chinned dolphin. They "thrash" in order to communicate and coordinate their movements. Sometimes, they synchronize to create a whirlpool where all can eat. Gumbs reassures that it's okay to create a "whirlpool" against those who suppress them. She respects those who are currently in a tough position because of those in power.

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Racing Across the Waves with Wild Peale's Dolphin's

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The Rooted Relationship Between the Maori and Rāpoka

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The Rooted Relationship Between the Maori and Rāpoka

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The relationship between the Maori and Rāpoka is embedded in their spiritual and cultural history, which is told in this article. Historically, they've been used for food and tools. Now that they've become endangered, the Maori are putting efforts toward protecting this mammal. This effort shows how much the Maori cherish and respect them.

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Gumbs examines the Amazon river dolphins' sleeping patterns, specifically when held in captivity. Regardless, dolphins sleep with one eye open, which this article explores. They keep half of their brain aware while the other half can rest. Those who cannot afford to rest are constantly being threatened in their sleep. Gumbs wonders how we can take after the dolphin, where we're able to rest safely without worrying- she wants this for all of us.

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Dolphins cannot sleep in this way; they have to remain conscious, even when they are sleeping. This is because their breathing is not automatic, it is consciously controlled. In other words dolphins have to actively decide when to breathe, and so they must be continually conscious to breathe. If like us, dolphins went into a deep unconscious sleep, they would stop breathing and suffocate or drown.

To get around this, dolphins only allow one half of their brains to sleep at a time; the other half stays alert to enable the dolphin to continue breathing and look out for dangers in the environment. Dolphins only close one eye when they sleep; the left eye will be closed when the right half of the brain sleeps, and vice versa. This type of sleep is known as unihemispheric sleep as only one brain hemisphere sleeps at a time. Dolphins alternate which half of the brain is sleeping periodically so that they can get the rest they need without ever losing consciousness.

When sleeping, dolphins often rest motionless at the surface of the water, breathing regularly or they may swim very slowly and steadily, close to the surface. In shallow water, dolphins sometimes sleep on the seabed rising regularly to the surface to breath.

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How do dolphins sleep? - Whale & Dolphin Conservation USA

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Dolphins sleep in a very different way to the way we humans do. Humans have prolonged periods of unconscious sleep and we are not aware of our surroundings for periods of time while sleeping. Humans have a breathing reflex and when we sleep or become unconscious, we continue to breathe automatically.

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This video features narwhals, which I believed didn't exist prior to reading about them in Gumbs' book. She explains how they were exploited for profit. Marginalized communities have fallen victim to capitalism, which uplifted elites to benefit from this structure. There's this place of empathy that comes from Gumbs due to the parallels of their situation. Furthermore, they were treated and viewed as "less than" human, so the work of undoing these beliefs will bring about self-love.

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This article discusses how oil companies in Greece are attempting to drill in marine-mammal protected areas. Due to this, a variety of sea creatures are being threatened, one of them being striped dolphins. Gumbs mentions how these dolphins have been battling a virus that has been in the Mediterranean Sea. They're beaten down and weak, and having this happen to them isn't going to do any good. There's a place of empathy for them because of the greed of capitalism, which Gumbs resonates with.

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Oil and gas drilling near protected Greek whale site set to go ahead - if Commission drops complaint | ClientEarth

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NGOs are urging the European Commission to take action on their complaint against Greece for giving permits to companies to drill for oil and gas affecting Marine Protected Areas – in clear breach of EU and national laws.

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This article details the resurgence of the Atlantic Gray Whale. Gumbs explains that they went missing at the end of the transatlantic slave trade, and their reappearance off the coast of Namibia was a shock. There's this tie that Gumbs's kin will greet the Atlantic Ocean, including it within rituals and cleansing for past descendants for those who did or didn't survive the transatlantic slave trade. The return of these whales begs the question of why they disappeared in the first place, with Gumbs wondering if she too can return to the Atlantic, where it was once a place of harm for her ancestors. She loves and respects the whale for making a comeback after all this time.

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Gray whales ( Eschrichtius robustus) were absent from the US Atlantic Coast for about three hundred years - until one showed up off the coast of Florida just north of Miami in December 2023. A short cell phone video was posted online, briefly capturing the whale's finless, knobbed back and mottled gray skin as it dove into the vibrant blue water. Gray whales are the only baleen whales with such unique characteristics, leaving little doubt of the identification. The video gained wide attention from experts and ocean enthusiasts alike. It was a rare sighting to say the least.

Then, during a routine aerial survey of the waters south of Nantucket on March 1, 2024, researchers from the New England Aquarium, familiar with the marine life of the western North Atlantic, looked down to a surprising sight. Almost certainly the same animal seen in Florida only months prior, what they confirmed was the first gray whale documented in the western Atlantic since before the founding of the United States.
How did a gray whale end up in the Atlantic?
Though relatively common along today's West Coast of the United States, gray whales are considered to have been extirpated, or driven locally extinct, in the Atlantic by the early 18th century. The loss ended record of the species in the Atlantic that extended more than 44,000 years in the geologic past. But over the last fifteen years, there have been five sightings of the species across the wider Atlantic Ocean; in addition to this animal on the US East Coast, gray whales have also shown up in the Mediterranean Sea and off the coast of Namibia.

It's highly unlikely that we have overlooked gray whales since the 18th century, with more observers and ship traffic than ever before. Instead, the species is likely continuing a long history as long-distance whale immigrants. A 2011 study suggested that a whale seen near Israel and Spain in 2010 traveled up North, around either North America or the Eurasian continent to emigrate from the Pacific into the Atlantic. For the animal seen this year, experts point to the Northwest Passage, a long route from the Bering Sea near Alaska, a popular summer feeding location for gray whales. For the majority of the year, the passage is covered in ice. Scientific records show lower sea ice coverage in the passage in recent years due to climate change, which would make it possible for a whale to make the roughly 100-day swim between ocean basins - and it wouldn't be the first time they've made the journey.

(Plate V from Scammon 1874 'California grays among the ice')

DNA evidence shows that gray whales likely dispersed from the Pacific through the Northwest Passage multiple times during both the Pleistocene, a time period 2.6 million to 11,700 years ago, and during the following epoch, the early Holocene. "Gray whales are actually a very ice-friendly if not an ice-loving species," said paleontologist Dr. Nick Pyenson. He is the curator of the Smithsonian's collection of fossil marine mammals and a leading expert on historical populations of gray whales in the Atlantic. To prove his point, he flipped through a guide first published in 1872 by Charles Melville Scammon to show a detailed drawing of these whales swimming up among ice floes. "This is evidence for why it is not a hard thing for gray whales to make it up through the Northwest Passage."
Ecology of Gray Whales - and what that means for the Atlantic
Nearly driven to extinction by whalers into the twentieth century, the population of gray whales in the eastern Pacific has since rebounded. Today, over 20,000 whales can be found across their extensive migratory range between Baja California and the Bering Sea. According to scientists, the whales seen in the Atlantic are probably wanderers from this population, which has recovered to what scientists consider more or less stable. Opportunistic openings in sea ice and a population possibly nearing its capacity make the perfect recipe for wandering whales.

Historically, grays would have had a similar distribution along the East Coast of the United States, migrating up and down this shoreline from Florida to Maritime Canada. "If you were alive around 300 years ago, you probably would have seen gray whales off the coast of Nantucket, off the coast of Delaware, off the coast of Virginia, off the coast of the Carolinas," said Pyenson. "But even 300 years ago, the gray whales were probably not especially abundant."

The historical decline of Atlantic gray whales is still poorly understood. "The big question that really bedevils everybody is whether they were hunted to a degree," said Pyenson. A specimen in the Smithsonian's collection, found on the North Carolina coast, revealed evidence of hack marks - a sign that Indigenous people interacted with these animals in some capacity. "Is it an example of whaling culture? That's hard to say." With rapid changes in marine environments during the mid-Holocene, studies show a strong likelihood that climate change played a role in their decline, beginning a trend that, in its later stages, was potentially exacerbated by early and commercial whalers.

In the Pacific Ocean, gray whales fill a unique niche in the ecosystem. As predominantly bottom-feeders that often feast on invertebrates living on the seafloor, they are ecosystem engineers, kicking up sediment which then cycles nutrients and distributes food to other organisms in the water column. They can also filter feed like every other baleen whale. As prey themselves, gray whales are also an important food source for mammal-eating killer whales. Gray whales may have played similar roles in historical Atlantic Ocean ecosystems, but - as with many things about extinct whales - it's hard to say.

What would a gray whale be eating in the Atlantic? Able to feed on a wide variety of prey species and adapt to new environments, gray whales are "ecologically flexible," according to Dr. Pyenson. "This little lost gray whale is probably making do by eating things that its near relatives don't feed on, on the Bering seafloor," he said. One example, a distinct population of the California gray whales known as the "Pacific Coast Feeding Group," forgoes their typical high-latitude feeding grounds in favor of the area surrounding Vancouver Island in British Columbia, Canada where they use specialized techniques to prey on shrimp during high tides. Seen in good body condition thousands of miles from its expected home range, the wandering whale off the East Coast shows just how adaptable these animals can be.

As global temperatures continue to rise, sea ice continues to retreat, and resources grow scarce, it is possible - and maybe even likely - that more whales will navigate the Northwest Passage and make the trip between ocean basins. But in a future where gray whales do recolonize the Atlantic, they would face the same threats that plague whales in these waters today. As a relatively shallow, shore-hugging species, Atlantic gray whales would navigate some of the busiest waterways in the world and interact with some of the United States' most valuable coastal fisheries. Entanglements and ship strikes have proven a chronic issue for the critically endangered North Atlantic right whale, a species that can often be found in busy, coastal waters. This year alone, several right whales were killed or injured off of the southeastern United States - the same waters that were possibly once a calving ground for Atlantic gray whales.

Moving forward, protecting whales and other marine life may demand a better understanding of our changing planet and its past - but gray whales show just how adaptable and surprising our oceans can be. Amidst this uncertain future, there may be at least one upside, says Dr. Pyenson, "More whale watches that include gray whales!"

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Atlantic Gray Whales: Past, Present, and Future

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Gray whales ( Eschrichtius robustus) were absent from the US Atlantic Coast for about three hundred years - until one showed up off the coast of Florida just north of Miami in December 2023. A short cell phone video was posted online, briefly capturing the whale's finless, knobbed back and mottled gray skin as it dove into the vibrant blue water.

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This article details the evolution of the sperm whale, but I specifically paid attention to its connection to the Livyatan Melvillei. Gumbs mentions how the Livyatan had sharp teeth, but now the sperm whales mostly use it for echolocation. This shift showcases the duality of love: while love can be defensive, it also has the power to create connections. In connecting to the sperm whale's teeth, love evolved from security into a means of communication. Gumbs is gaining clarity by accepting the flaws and mistakes of some of her ancestors, and in doing so, it heals a part of her and allows her to grow.

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Sperm whales: a long and vicious history | Brian Switek

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Blog festival: For a large predatory whale, there was no better meal than another whale, writes Brian Switek

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This video dives into the "head full of wax" sperm whales have. They either melt this wax to float or solidify it to go deeper. I perceived this as a way for humans to regulate their thoughts and emotions. Specifically, their ability to choose whether or not they want to be introspective or take the time to consider others. Being able to open up and be attuned to yourself can bring about self-love and care.

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Sperm whales have a huge head full of an incredible substance: spermaceti

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Caribbean Monk Seals Extinct from Aimlessly Slaughtering

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Caribbean Monk Seals Extinct from Aimlessly Slaughtering

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This article explains the history of what led to the extinction of monk seals. They were slaughtered by colonizers, even though they never posed a threat to humans. Gumbs represents these seals as pure and innocent, not knowing that they would be wiped clean from existence. She also connects this to her father who showed resilience throughout the ways systems have failed him and instances in which he was taken advantage of. Gumbs expresses love for those who continue to show strength in a world that's built to harm them.

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Caribbean Monk Seal (Monachus tropicalis) EXTINCT

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Seal Conservation Society - Pinnipeds and Seal conservation, research, information and rehabilitation.

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This article shares facts about the diving habits of a harbor seal. They exhale to slow down their heart rate in order to dive. Gumbs questions how we can figuratively incorporate the method of slowing down into our own lives. She wonders what that would look like to entrust and nourish yourself in a society where there's plenty of pressure. There's respect from Gumbs toward harbor seals since they know what they need to do reach their goals and needs.

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Swimming

Harbor seals swim with all four flippers: they move their hind flippers from side to side to propel themselves forward, and use their foreflippers to help them steer.

Harbor seals can swim forward and upside-down. They rarely swim backward.

Harbor seals can swim up to 19 kph (12 mph), but they generally cruise at slower speeds.

Diving

Harbor seals can dive to depths exceeding 200 m (656 ft.). They don't routinely dive this deep, however, since most of their food is found in shallow waters.

Adult harbor seals can stay submerged for up to 30 minutes, but dives usually last only about three minutes. A two-day-old harbor seal pup can stay submerged for up to two minutes.

All marine mammals have special physiological adaptations for diving. These adaptations enable a harbor seal to conserve oxygen while it is under water.

As with other marine mammals, when a harbor seal dives, its heart rate slows - from 75 to 120 beats per minute to only four to six beats per minute. When a seal surfaces after a long dive, it experiences an accelerated heart rate for a short time.

When diving, blood is shunted away from tissues that are tolerant of low oxygen levels to the heart, lungs, and brain, where oxygen is needed.

A harbor seal has a greater volume of blood than a land mammal of similar size; therefore, it can retain more oxygen.

The muscle of harbor seals also has a high content of the oxygen-binding protein myoglobin (about 10 times as much as humans). Myoglobin stores oxygen and helps prevent muscle oxygen deficiency.

Before a deep dive, a harbor seal exhales to reduce the amount of air in its lungs. Oxygen is stored in the blood and muscle tissues, rather than in the lungs.

Respiration

Like most other marine mammals, a harbor seal's typical respiration cycle is a short exhalation, a short inhalation, and a longer breath-holding (apnea) period.

Sleep

Harbor seals sleep on land or in the water. In the water they sleep at the surface and often assume a posture known as bottling - their entire bodies remain submerged with just their heads exposed. This enables them to breathe when necessary.

Thermoregulation

A harbor seal's core temperature is about 37.8°C (100°F). There is a heat gradient throughout the blubber from the body core to the skin. The skin remains about one degree Celsius warmer than surrounding water.

Harbor seals have a metabolic rate somewhat higher than land mammals of the same size. This helps them generate body heat for warmth.

A thick layer of blubber insulates the harbor seal, reducing heat loss. The blubber of a northern Pacific harbor seal during winter may account for 27% to 30% of its total body mass. Blubber also streamlines the body and functions as an energy reserve from which the harbor seal can draw energy during periods of fasting. A harbor seal's hair provides no insulation.

In cold water, blood is shunted inward as blood vessels in the skin constrict, reducing heat loss to the environment.

When hauled out on land, blood vessels in the skin dilate, allowing heat to be released to the environment.

To prevent heat from escaping through the flippers, seals hold them close to their body.

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Harbor seals swim with all four flippers: they move their hind flippers from side to side to propel themselves forward, and use their foreflippers to help them steer. Harbor seals can swim forward and upside-down. They rarely swim backward. Harbor seals can swim up to 19 kph (12 mph), but they generally cruise at slower speeds.

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This article mentions how southern sea elephants will rest on beaches for an entire month in order to molt their fur. Gumbs envisions what it would look like if as a society, we took the time to wind down. I believe that it would be restorative and healing for everyone. Rest can lead to transformation, and Gumbs sees this through the southern sea elephants.

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Elephant Seals of San Simeon | Free Viewing Area for Everyone

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Come to the Piedras Blancas elephant seal rookery. The only rookery in the world that is easily accessible, free, and open to the public all year long.

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South American Fur Seals Returning to their Offspring

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South American Fur Seals Returning to their Offspring

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This article explains how mothers of South American fur seals will go out to feed. However, when she returns, there isn't a guarantee that their offspring will be alive because of threats to their species. There's vulnerability involved with the love mother seals feel for their offspring. Gumbs questions if she can afford to risk offering up her love in a world that isn't necessarily kind to everyone. The uncertainties of putting your heart out there and not knowing what the outcomes will be are daunting.

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Warming oceans leave seal pups vulnerable

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Rising water temperatures have unsuspected effects on the immune system of young seals.