Whales

Below-zero temperatures and shifting winds continued to threaten three stranded whales Tuesday as rescuers readied for a dangerous, go-for-broke attempt to free the animals. The effort has become a race against time, complicated by the wind, bitter cold and shifting ice. Observers said that the young California gray whales were tired and at least one has pneumonia.

Martin Byhower has trekked across Chadwick School's Palos Verdes Peninsula campus for 30 years. Fossils scattered across the hilltop grounds often caught the eye of the seventh-grade life sciences teacher. Two years ago, he spotted one that particularly interested him. And on Wednesday, staff from the Natural History Museum excavated it and carefully loaded it onto the bed of a truck. Soon, researchers will begin cleaning it to learn more. This much is known: It appears to be the skull of a juvenile sperm whale, and it is 12 million to 15 million years old. Byhower contacted different groups to ask them to identify the fossil; he got a response from the county museum.

A 50-ton bowhead whale caught off the Alaskan coast last month had a weapon fragment embedded in its neck that showed it survived a similar hunt -- more than a century ago. Embedded deep under its blubber was a 3 1/2 -inch arrow-shaped projectile that has given researchers insight into the whale's age, estimated at 115 to 130 years old. "No other finding has been this precise," said John Bockstoce, an adjunct curator of the New Bedford Whaling Museum.

A procedural rule will keep SeaWorld shareholders from considering a plan by animal rights activists to invest in whale sanctuaries. The People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals tried to bring the idea to shareholders in response to the documentary "Blackfish," which alleges mistreatment of captive killer whales at the parks. SeaWorld has refuted the allegations raised in "Blackfish. " As owners of 80 shares in SeaWorld Entertainment, PETA can suggest proposals to be included in proxy material mailed to all shareholders.

Re "Future of Whales' Lagoon Grows Murky," March 13: While I am no eco-terrorist, I am saddened that one of the few remaining whale breeding areas might be threatened by a salt mining concern, especially one not based in this country. I do not want to state that salt mining is wrong per se, and it may be helpful to other areas, but whales are increasingly limited and still mysterious as to their intellect and sentience. JAMES DITCHIK Woodland Hills

Just in time for the annual migration of California gray whales, La Paz, near the southern tip of Baja California, has beefed up its fleet of whale-watching tours. Seven outfitters are now available, including Fun-Azul Fleet , which kicked off new eco-tourism dive trips. An estimated 18,000 California gray whales, which spend the summer months in the Bering Sea, migrate south in the fall, ending up in the quiet lagoons of Baja California to spend the winter. The 12,000-mile round trip may be the longest migration of any mammal on Earth.

Officials at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration found 25 dead pilot whales off Kice Island, Fla., on Thursday, adding to the state's high whale death toll. Although Blair Mase, NOAA stranding coordinator, said such incidents "come in spurts," the number of pilot whale strandings in the last year is higher than usual. "It's unusual and something we are looking at," Mase told reporters on Thursday. The 25 dead mammals -- 16 females and nine males -- were discovered just two days after eight other pilot whales were found dead about 40 miles north of Kice Island in Lovers Key. In December, 51 pilot whales were stranded in the Florida Everglades . Eleven died after beaching themselves in the Everglades and 11 others died in the Florida Keys, about 70 miles away.

The annual Dana Point Festival of Whales celebrates the 5,000-mile journey of the California gray whale down the coast. Dana Point is a natural landmark against which the whales check their migration route, and the community marks the occasion with whale watching, live music, educational programs, recreational activities and ocean-themed events. Dana Point Harbor. 10 a.m.-4:30 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. Activity schedule and prices vary; see website for details. (888) 440-4309. www.festivalofwhales.

In the latest skirmish in a years-long legal battle prompted by the death of a SeaWorld trainer in Florida, a federal appeals court heard arguments in a case challenging a ban on close contact between SeaWorld staff and killer whales. In 2010 at the Orlando park, killer whale Tilikum snatched trainer Dawn Brancheau from a platform and thrashed her around underwater until she died . Federal workplace investigators later cited SeaWorld , saying trainers were exposed to hazards because they were allowed unprotected contact with the killer whales.

The Navy's five year-plan to use sonar in training exercises off Southern California and Hawaii was approved Monday by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. But several environmental groups, represented by San Francisco-based Earthjustice and anticipating the approval, immediately filed a lawsuit in Hawaii federal court to block the training on grounds that the underwater noise poses an unacceptable threat to marine mammals. NOAA, after a review by its fisheries division, concluded that the promised mitigation measures by the Navy will "minimize effects on marine mammals.

The National Marine Fisheries Service violated federal law when it authorized the Navy's use of sonar in training exercises off Hawaii and California through 2018, an environmental group said in a lawsuit filed Monday. The agency's own analysis had determined the war games would result in 155 marine mammal deaths, more than 2,000 permanent injuries and about 9.6 million instances of temporary hearing loss and disruptions of vital behaviors - an 1,100% increase over the previous five-year period, according to the Natural Resources Defense Council.

Officials at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration found 25 dead pilot whales off Kice Island, Fla., on Thursday, adding to the state's high whale death toll. Although Blair Mase, NOAA stranding coordinator, said such incidents "come in spurts," the number of pilot whale strandings in the last year is higher than usual. "It's unusual and something we are looking at," Mase told reporters on Thursday. The 25 dead mammals -- 16 females and nine males -- were discovered just two days after eight other pilot whales were found dead about 40 miles north of Kice Island in Lovers Key. In December, 51 pilot whales were stranded in the Florida Everglades . Eleven died after beaching themselves in the Everglades and 11 others died in the Florida Keys, about 70 miles away.

A prominent marine biologist who was fined $12,500 for feeding killer whales in an effort to lure them closer to her video cameras says the yearslong case was the " worst nightmare I could ever imagine. " In addition to the fine, Nancy Black -- whose work has appeared on PBS, National Geographic and Animal Planet -- was sentenced to three years' probation and ordered to serve 300 hours of community service. In exchange, she pleaded guilty to one misdemeanor violation of the Marine Mammal Protection Act by  offering food to the orcas, "specifically chunks of gray whale blubber,"  according to  her plea agreement . Black, a researcher and co-owner of Monterey Bay Whale Watch, and her supporters have argued a ttaching a rope to a piece of blubber from a gray whale that had already been killed by orcas  did not rise to the level of illegal feeding cited in federal law. But the biologist  had faced a 27-year prison term and $700,000 fine after she was initially charged with multiple felony and  misdemeanor counts in 2012.

The Navy's five year-plan to use sonar in training exercises off Southern California and Hawaii was approved Monday by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. But several environmental groups, represented by San Francisco-based Earthjustice and anticipating the approval, immediately filed a lawsuit in Hawaii federal court to block the training on grounds that the underwater noise poses an unacceptable threat to marine mammals. NOAA, after a review by its fisheries division, concluded that the promised mitigation measures by the Navy will "minimize effects on marine mammals.

Elevate your whale-watching experience this season aboard the 139-foot America yacht in San Diego. The replica of the famous 19th century racer that established the America's Cup takes visitors out to see the southward migration of California's gray whales in style -- and with a "no seasickness" guarantee. The original America won a race around Britain's Isle of Wight in 1851, bringing back a little "challenge trophy" that became known as the famed America's Cup. The replica ship docked in San Diego harbor holds 78 people and was built in 1995 for $6 million.

Wildlife experts said Friday that most of the 50 pilot whales caught in shallow waters of the Florida Everglades this week had disappeared, a sign that they have likely swam off to their deep-water home.  A rescue team on Wednesday found dozens of short-finned pilot whales swimming in very shallow water inside the western boundary of Everglades National Park. Seven beached themselves and died; four others were euthanized. The rescue team tried to herd the other whales away, but the highly social whales did not want to break away from their pod. Also, the whales had to traverse sandbars and shallow water.

A musical partnership that reaches back 20 years, the meeting of drummer Scott Amendola with seven-string guitarist Charlie Hunter has yielded a wealth of memorable recordings, including Hunter's album-length cover of Bob Marley's "Natty Dread" and 2012's sparkling duet, "Not Getting Behind Is the New Getting Ahead. " Here the two reconvene in support of the groove-heavy "Pucker," a new duet album featuring Amendola as lead songwriter. The Blue Whale, 123 Astronaut E S Onizuka Suite 301, Los Angeles.

Brian Sanders, a charter boat captain in Everglades National Park in Florida, was returning from a fishing expedition when he thought he saw black kayaks trying to come ashore. After moving closer, he realized the strange black forms were pilot whales - and a few had beached themselves. "They were literally trying to swim out of the water onto the beach as far up as they could possibly go," he said. Since the Tuesday discovery in a shallow, remote part of the Everglades, more than 50 stranded short-finned pilot whales - spotted first by Sanders - have captured national attention and have so far defied experts' predictions of their likely deaths.