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How did the critically endangered North Atlantic right whale get its name?

Reddit Animals

People in North America began using the term “right whale” in the early 1700s, and originally “right” may have meant “typical,” as these whales were considered common and ordinary. However, over time, the term evolved to refer to how they were hunted—they were considered “the right whales to hunt.”

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Mammals of Madagascar (Lynx Edicions)

10,000 Birds

No, Madagascar is the most famous for an endemic group of mammals: lemurs, sifakas, indri, aye-aye – in total, 112 endemic species and subspecies of lemurs alone! Still, there should be no problem with larger species that allow for longer observation time (e.g. Larger species, that is, excluding dolphins and whales.

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Whale Watching on the American Princess

10,000 Birds

Last October Daisy, Desi, and I, joined by my parents, had a grand ol’ time whale-watching aboard the American Princess. Despite my thrill about Desi identifying a gull we were still at sea and still without a whale, a dolphin, or any pelagic species. We tried following the bait fish. After all, we saw dolphins!

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Best Bird of the Weekend (Second of July 2020)

10,000 Birds

A Saturday morning seawatch netted Corey a Cory’s Shearwater , a nice year bird, but he couldn’t get good enough looks at the two Great Shearwaters that went past for him to count them as a new species for his Queens list.

2020 236
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Wild Sri Lanka

10,000 Birds

No doubt, the big five of Sri Lanka include the biggest of the big ever – the Blue Whale , followed by Sperm Whale , Asian Elephant , Leopard and Sloth Bear. Blue Whale – 80%, Sperm Whale on 1 in 3 trips, Asian Elephant 100%, Leopard on 1 in 2 game drives, Sloth Bear on 1 in 3 game drives. Product details.

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Mammals of South Asia (Lynx Edicions)

10,000 Birds

Despite depicting 540 species/56 families, it is a lightweight book of 173 pages, easy to pack and carry. Mammals of South Asia follows the latest taxonomy, describes all the species recorded within the region and provides a range map for each species. Larger species, that is, excluding dolphins and whales.

Asia 176
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Whooper Swans at Lake Kussharo, Hokkaido

10,000 Birds

They are ridiculously unafraid of people there – so the cynic in me suspects that swan meat is not regarded as tasty by the Japanese (another explanation, that the Japanese just like animals too much, can presumably be discarded given the country’s very principled approach in insisting on the right to kill whales).

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