AR-News: US NY) Only the dead whale tells tales

[Animalara2003 at aol.com]

Newsday.com

When alive, the deep sea creature is elusive — no confirmed sighting has ever 
been made

 
May 17, 2004


This could be a librarian's nightmare: Dig up enough data for a comprehensive 
report on Hector's beaked whale.

A specimen of Hector's beaked whale was found dead on a western Australia 
beach May 3. A photo showing what was left of the carcass was sent everywhere by 
the world's news services, piquing interest but supplying little data.

A search in marine mammal archives, such as the Audubon Society Guide to 
Marine Mammals of the World, yielded the following:

Recognition at sea: unknown. Behavior: unknown. Longevity: unknown. Estimated 
population: unknown. Influence of man: unknown. Habitat: prefers cool, 
temperate waters. Food and feeding: stomach analysis shows squid is the main food.

"Beaked whales really are an enigma," said whale biologist Phil Clapham, at 
the U.S. National Marine Fisheries Service facility at Woods Hole, Mass.

They might be called rare, "but there's a difference between calling 
something rare because you know it's rare, or calling it rare because of its cryptic 
behavior. They are deep divers, and don't spend much time on the surface."


full story:
http://www.newsday.com/news/health/ny-hsbeak0517,0,851817.story?coll=ny-health
-headlines 

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    "The day may come when the rest of the animal creation may acquire those 
rights which never could have been withholden from them but by the hand of
tyranny. - Jeremy Bentham 1748 - 1832 
The question is not can they REASON, nor can they TALK, but can they SUFFER?" 
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