Tag: Whales

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Cottage Life

What does this tiny sea creature have to do with energy-efficient windows?

By Tarpan/Shutterstock

When Raphael Kay and his colleagues at the University of Toronto were considering ways to redesign windows to make them more energy efficient, they looked no further than the natural world. Specifically, they took inspiration from a tiny sea creature. Krill, perhaps best known as whale food, has an ingenious way of protecting itself and its organs from harsh sunlight. Kay explains, “they basically have a bunch of dots, of pigments, and they store them within cells along their skin.” When it is dark out, these dots of pigment are tucked away in the centre of the cell. But when the sun is bright, a signal is sent that rallies these dark pigments which spread across the surface of the krill and protect it from the ultraviolet light and radiation.

Scientist accidentally discover that puffins have glowing beaks

So, what does any of this have to do with windows? “When we think about shading buildings,” Kay explains, “we use bulky solid components.” Shutters, blinds, exterior shades. But the concept of biomimicry examines how nature performs its tasks, such as protecting the krill from sunlight. Kay and his colleagues considered that what they were trying to achieve—reduce how much sunlight got through windows, thereby reducing the heat in a building and boosting energy-efficiency—and mimicked how krill respond. The result? A window that uses a thin layer of liquid pigment between two glass panes to affect how much sunlight gets through.

Why you need to upgrade to modern windows

Kay and his team are currently playing with prototypes, testing out different patterns and viscosities of pigment, as well as various ways to trigger the pigment. They’re also considering their prototypes’ thermal and optical properties, as well as using sophisticated energy modelling to determine how these windows might warm (or not) in a real building. The team is excited about the results, noting that early predictions show that these windows can achieve an energy savings of between 30 and 43 per cent.

Insulation upgrades to keep your cottage cozy

While you won’t find these windows at your neighbourhood building store in the very near future, don’t be surprised if your future cottage is equipped with these energy-saving options. And such a future is only possible because a tiny sea creature long, long ago figured out how to protect itself from the sun—and some astute determined researchers took notice.

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Cottage Life

Far from home: two minke whales spotted in Montreal waters

Photo by Awana JF/Shutterstock

On May 8th, a minke whale was spotted near the Cosmos bridge in Le Moyne channel off the St. Lawrence river in Montreal. Just a day later, a second minke was also seen around the same area. Minke whales are usually found in the Gulf of St. Lawrence and the North Atlantic ocean, but not this far upriver. A team of volunteers from the Québec Marine Mammal Emergency Response Network (QMMERN) have been observing the whales out of concern for their safety. 

Minke whales are not an endangered species, and their North Atlantic population is classified as “not at risk.” However, there is still a great deal of effort going into the protection of these wayward whales, as it is dangerous for them to be swimming in freshwater environments for long periods of time. There is also an increased risk of them being injured by the frequent boats that occupy the St. Lawrence. QMMERN is reminding boaters in the river to stay at least 100 metres away from the whales when out on the water. 

This isn’t the first time a whale has strayed from its regular habitat and into the waters of Montreal. Back in 2020, a humpback whale also found its way into the St. Lawrence, with sightings in Québec City and Montreal’s Old Port—unfortunately, it did not survive, and its death was attributed to a potential collision with a boat and prolonged exposure to freshwater. The humpback’s presence was documented for just over two weeks before its body was found.

As for why whales are straying into unfamiliar waters lately, there’s no definitive reason. Sometimes whales wander because they are sick or injured, or because they are young and prone to exploring—the stray humpback in 2020 was between two and four years old. QMMERN has reported that they believe the minke whales in Montreal to be young as well. 

A study published in the September 2021 issue of Oceanography suggests that ocean warming as a result of climate change has been known to alter migration and foraging patterns of endangered right whales in the North Atlantic region. Over the last ten years, changing temperatures in the Gulf Stream current has affected food sources of North Atlantic right whales, causing them to venture into the Gulf of St. Lawrence where they can encounter life-threatening fishing-gear entanglements and collisions with boats. 

QMMERN has been monitoring the minke whales closely, and you can find updates on their status here. The latest update as of May 16th suggests that at least one of the whales may be traveling downstream, back towards the Gulf of St. Lawrence. If you are in the area and spot the whales, witnesses have been encouraged to notify QMMERN by calling their emergency hotline at 1-877-722-5346.

Excessive noise may be killing beluga whales, Canadian scientists find

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Cottage Life

Humpback whale babies are booming this year!

By Imagine Earth Photography/Shutterstock

The humpback whale has made a comeback once again! This fall, the Pacific Whale Watch Association announced an unprecedented humpback whale baby boom in the Salish Sea. The start of the season is known to mark the final peak of humpback whale sightings as they look for their last feeding opportunities before heading south for the winter—and the end of October brought with it a pleasant surprise for west coast whale watchers.

This year, 21 humpback whale calves were recorded throughout inland Washington and British Columbia from April to October. This sets a record for the highest annual number of humpback whales in the area ever, according to Mark Malleson, a field biologist with the Center for Whale Research. The number has close to doubled in the Salish region this year as compared to the 11 documented humpback whale calves in 2020’s peak season. Researchers can only hypothesize about the cause of the recent boom.

Wild Profile: Meet the humpback whale

“We’re not sure why there were so many calves this year,” says Erin Gless, the executive director of the Pacific Whale Watch Association in a recent news release. “It’s possible the last two years had an abundance of food for the whales, or it could be as simple as the fact that as the number of adult whales in the population grows, so too does the number of calves we can expect to see each year.”

The association notes that the species did see a drastic depletion in the early 1900s from commercial whaling. By the 1920s, the North American west coast had few humpback whale sightings. And according to the latest Periodic Status Review from the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW), the number of global humpback whales had decreased by more than 90 per cent. It was only until the termination of whaling that the global number of humpbacks was able to slowly climb to more than 80,000. Currently, the Pacific Whale Watch Association confirms that there are more than 500 humpback whales recorded in the Salish Sea.

Watch this stunning aerial view of a whale and her calf

This year’s abundance of humpback calves is great news, given the many human activities that still affect the species’ livelihood. The WDFW recognizes entanglement, vessel collisions, increased disturbance of marine noise and communication, climate change, oil spills, and harmful algal blooms as the leading threats to humpback populations going forward. Despite these environmental conditions, the humpback whale calves spotted this season have nodded to a hopeful and fruitful future for marine life in the North American Pacific.

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Cottage Life

Wild Profile: Meet the humpback whale

By GUDKOV ANDREY/Shutterstock

So, you’ve never seen a humpback whale. Picture a city bus with fins, leaping acrobatically from the water. Unbelievable, right? If you happen to be near B.C.’s Salish Sea in the fall, you’re in luck: it’s prime humpback-whale time—and you can see this magic for yourself.

The humpback whale is big everywhere—even its heart weighs about three times as much as an average human being. Its powerful tail can measure as long as 18 feet. And its 15-foot-long pectoral flippers are the largest of all whales’ (compared to body size): one third of the entire humpback’s body length.

A six-hour rescue mission freed this humpback tangled in an anchor line

The Salish Sea is so humpback-heavy in the fall because this is the huge mammal’s last chance to stuff its face before moving elsewhere to overwinter. An adult whale will scarf up to 3,000 lbs per day, usually zooplankton, krill, or gobs of schooling fish. Humpbacks are baleen whales—they have no teeth (unlike, for example, orcas). So they don’t chew anything. Instead, they raise their upper jaws, and expand a series of folding plates—picture someone playing an accordion—to gulp down gallons and gallons of water and fish in one go. The whale can then use its tongue to squeeze the water through a series of bristly, hanging “plates” on either side of the jaw (a.k.a. baleens). It’s like pouring a can of stewed tomatoes through a sieve to drain the excess liquid.

What happens when humpback whales get into a rumble with orcas?

Working in groups, humpback whales also do something called “bubble feeding.” Whales will blow bubbles around fish to deliberately encircle them, as if in a net. Then, another whale, or several, will swim from beneath, swallowing the prey—helpfully concentrated into a mass—as they rise to the surface. Cooperation makes fish happen!

Humpbacks are also known for their stellar singing. The humpback whale’s song is more complex than the vocalizations of any other marine mammal. Their calls are audible—to other whales, at least—from hundreds of kilometres away. Whales don’t have vocal chords; they make noises by squeezing air through their sinuses. What they produce sounds like a series of whines, grunts, squeals, and cattle-like lowing. But it’s cool enough that in 1977, a Voyager spacecraft included a humpback whale recording as part of its “greetings from earth” messages. Has your voice ever been sent into space?