'Rare' Fin Whale Grouping Off U.K. Coast

The BBC reports that scientists off the Cornish coast of southwest England were awed by the sight of 21 Fin Whales lunge-feeding together.

In the photo above (taken by La Jolla's Southwest Fisheries Science Center), you can see the telltale markings that distinguish the Fin Whale (Balaenoptera physalus) from the Blue Whale (Balaenoptera musculus): the animal's white lower-right jaw and the light chevron behind its head.

Fin Whales aren't the type to hang out in stable groups, according to what I've read of them, so this was likely to be an unassociated aggregation that was chasing krill or other smallish schooling fish. The scientists who spotted them were counting sardines at the time, according to BBC. One of them called it an "incredibly rare event."

Seeing so many of the world's second-largest creatures in one spot would be more exciting, however, if it weren't another possible sign of a distressing development:

Dr Colin MacLeod, Marinelife's chief scientific adviser, said the sighting could be part of a wider movement of sea creatures around Britain's coast as a result of climate change.

"These changes indicate the extent to which climate change is affecting our marine animals.

"If it is affecting these top predators to such an extent, it is likely that it is also affecting other marine life further down the food chain, including species which are commercially important for the fishing industry," he said.

Surprising Life Under Northern Ice

CNN carries a brief video report on underwater photographer Gavin Newman's astonishment at the abundance, appearance and variety of life in the frigid waters of the Arctic.

The "CNN report" looks like a fig leaf for Greenpeace activism, but that's OK by me. (It's a product of Greenpeace's "Arctic Under Pressure" expedition.) After all, polar areas like this risk being devastated by the Klondike mentality as ice recedes at a breakneck pace and mankind races to exploit what's left behind. (Remember when "glacial pace" used to mean slow? No more, as ice caps and glaciers vanish before our eyes.)

CNN:

The receding polar ice is also tempting fishing trawlers into the Arctic's international waters, Greenpeace says.

"There are some Norwegian and Russian trawlers out here. We asked to go on board one of the Norwegian trawlers to talk to them about where they were fishing, but they declined our offer," Newman said.

Greenpeace also claims these fishing trawlers are causing damage to ecosystems on the seabed.

"We've found trawlers are ripping up huge amounts of coral and other important habitat on the seabed. It's like someone's ploughed a field," Newman said.

Greenpeace found the trawl marks on the seabed at varying depths of between 200 and 400 meters.

The environmental group has called for an international moratorium on all industrial activities, including bottom trawling in the Arctic Ocean.