whale

A viral image shows a whale surfacing beside a small fishing boat in the open ocean, making the animal's enormous size instantly clear. Commenters say photographs alone never convey how large whales really are, and that only a human reference point like a vessel puts their scale into perspective.

Scientists have recorded the first-ever video footage of a colossal squid alive in its natural habitat, a milestone for deep-sea research. The animal, one of the least seen and heaviest invertebrates on Earth, has previously been known mostly from specimens found in sperm whale stomachs or washed ashore. Researchers say the footage offers new insight into how the species lives and behaves in the deep ocean.

The Eugene Emeralds, a minor league baseball team in Oregon, occasionally rebrand as the Exploding Whales, one of several alternate identities the club uses. The name references the infamous 1970 incident in Florence, Oregon, when officials used dynamite to remove a dead whale from a beach, blasting blubber over the town. Locals immediately get the joke; outsiders often need the backstory explained.