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Cetaceans of Bay of Bengal

 Whales, Dolphins and Porpoises Bryde’s Whale Family:  Balaenopteridae Genus:   Balaenoptera Species:   B. edeni     Lesson, 1828 Taxonomic Note:  Some researchers recognize a similar animal for which they have given a separate species identification as Omura’s whale (B alaenoptera omura ). Confirmation of this is speculative and if globally recognized, a separate species page will be added. Bryde’s whales (often pronounced “brudas”) inhabit the tropical and subtropical oceans of the world and are naturally not as numerous as other rorqual species because food is less abundant in tropical waters. They are often confused with sei whales, but can be distinguished by the three prominent ridges present on their head. If close-up inspection is possible, the coarse gray baleen and ventral throat pleats extending to or beyond the navel are additional characteristics that identify Bryde’s whales. These whales are rather solitary in their habits, usually keepin...
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Climate Change

Responding to Climate Change NASA is a world leader in climate studies and Earth science. While its role is not to set climate policy or prescribe particular responses or solutions to climate change, its purview does include providing the robust scientific data needed to understand climate change. NASA then makes this information available to the global community – the public, policy- and decision-makers and scientific and planning agencies around the world. Credit: kwest/Shutterstock.com Climate change is one of the most complex issues facing us today. It involves many dimensions – science, economics, society, politics, and moral and ethical questions – and is a global problem, felt on local scales, that will be around for thousands of years. Carbon dioxide, the heat-trapping greenhouse gas that is the primary driver of recent global warming, lingers in the atmosphere for many thousands of years, and the planet (especially the ocean) takes a while to respond to warming. So even if we ...
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Great Barrier Reef

  Great Barrier Reef Outstanding Universal Value Brief synthesis As the world’s most extensive coral reef ecosystem, the Great Barrier Reef is a globally outstanding and significant entity. Practically the entire ecosystem was inscribed as World Heritage in 1981, covering an area of 348,000 square kilometres and extending across a contiguous latitudinal range of 14 o  (10 o S to 24 o S). The Great Barrier Reef (hereafter referred to as GBR) includes extensive cross-shelf diversity, stretching from the low water mark along the mainland coast up to 250 kilometres offshore. This wide depth range includes vast shallow inshore areas, mid-shelf and outer reefs, and beyond the continental shelf to oceanic waters over 2,000 metres deep. Within the GBR there are some 2,500 individual reefs of varying sizes and shapes, and over 900 islands, ranging from small sandy cays and larger vegetated cays, to large rugged continental islands rising, in one instance, over 1,100 metres above s...
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