#pacific

[myfairynuffstuff]

Erika Toliusis (b.1969) - Pacific Angel. 2022. Oil with palette knife on canvas.

[todropscience]

FIRST AT-SEA CONFIRMATION OF THE GINKGO-TOOTHED BEAKED WHALE

For years, a mysterious echolocation pulse known by scientists as BW43 echoed through the deep waters of the North Pacific. Now, a landmark 2024 expedition off the coast of Baja California has finally cracked the case. Researchers successfully sighted, recorded, and genetically sampled a group of beaked whales, confirming the producer of the BW43 pulse is the equally enigmatic ginkgo-toothed beaked whale (Mesoplodon ginkgodens). This is the first time this species has ever been definitively identified and studied alive in the wild, linking its genetic, acoustic, and visual identity.

-A juvenile/subadult ginkgo-toothed beaked whale.

For the first time, scientists describe the whale's at-sea appearance, noting how juveniles are pale gray with a distinctive dark eye patch, while adult males develop a diagnostic white-tipped beak. Photographs of adult males showed extensive scarring from combat with other males. Previously known in the eastern Pacific from only two strandings over 70 years, the ginkgo-toothed beaked whale was considered a vagrant. Now, by mapping the widespread BW43 detections, we know it is a resident species from California to Baja California.

main photograph: young adult male ginkgo-toothed beaked whale swims along with the same adult male.

Reference (Open Access): Henderson et al. 2026. First At‐Sea Identifications of Ginkgo‐Toothed Beaked Whale (Mesoplodon ginkgodens): Acoustics, Genetics, and Biological Observations Off Baja California, México. Marine Mammal Science.

[lockvogel]

Carlsbad Beach, California

[theworldislowkeycool]

sunset @ sunset cliffs

nov 19 2024

[coolthingsguyslike]

[fullcravings]

Easy Hawaiian Butter Mochi (Coconut Mochi Cake)

[unbfacts]

In 1992, a cargo ship lost 28,800 plastic bath toys in the Pacific Ocean. The floating ducks, turtles, beavers, and frogs drifted across ocean currents and later washed up in places like Hawaii, Alaska, and even Scotland. Oceanographers tracked where the toys traveled, and the accidental spill helped them better understand how ocean currents move across the world.