Pic o’ the Week: Whale’s Eye

A Pacific gray whale, surfacing in the waters off Guerrero Negro, Baja. The WhalesWhales have a fun lifeWhales are wonderful mammalsWhales are very nice--by Nathaniel Dr. Nigella Hillgarth, executive director of Birch Aquarium at Scripps, snapped this very cool pic of the behemoth eyeing her one fine recent day on Baja's waters.

Olive ridley turtle “arribada” in Mexico

Amid the ongoing disaster of the Gulf oil spill and the unspeakable violence happening in parts of Mexico, an astonishing natural wonder dating back thousands of years is happening on some Mexican coasts -- the annual "arribadas" of Olive ridley sea turtles. Described by scientists as "one of the most unique synchronized nesting habits in …

Today’s Gulf sea turtle – Kemp’s ridley

As The Baltimore Sun's Candus Thomson notes, all five species of sea turtles found in the Gulf are listed under the Endangered Species Act (this was pre-oil leak). We're looking at fast facts about these species, starting with the most endangered: Kemp's Ridley Sea Turtle (Lepidochelys kempii) the most endangered of the sea turtles the …