On the verge of extinction in the 1980s because of commercial whaling, humpbacks have rallied and are now spotted in increasingly larger gatherings.
Back in the 80s, whaling had brought whale species to the brink of extinction.
A gobal outcry prompted action to save Earth’s largest animals, resulting in the 1986 global ban on commercial whaling by the International Whaling Commission.
While some species continue to struggle, humpbacks are among the species that have come roaring back. Thanks to South African photographer Chris Fallows, we’ve got a prime view of a “supergathering” of some 300 humpbacks who met off the west coast of South Africa:
Fallows called it a “Manhattan skyline” of whale breath plumes, and said it’s clear evidence the species has benefited from the ban.
Humpback whales can grow up to 60 feet long and weigh up to 40 metric tons. They’re known for their long, haunting conversations in whalesong, with “phrases” that can last as long as 30 minutes. Despite their massive size, humpbacks are filter feeders who subsist on small fish, krill and plankton.
Photographer David Edgar captured this dramatic image of a curious humpback whale in 2019 in Tongatapu, Tonga. Credit: David Edgar
Caring for cats is a communal effort in the Turkish city of 16 million people.
Normally we don’t do the “OMG how adorbz!” type of thing here at PITB, but this short clip should bring a smile to everyone who loves cats.
The shop you see in the video below is in Istanbul, the famously feline-tolerant city of Turkey (or Türkiye), where people collectively feed, house and care for the many stray cats who call it home.
A stray cat in Turkey shows up every morning to hug the man who fed her.
Cats are allowed almost everywhere in Istanbul, including shops, offices, hotels and other businesses. There have been instances in which cats have gone to hospitals when they’re hurt or their kittens are sick, and medical staff actually treat them.
There are cat parks for play, communal cat shelters and tiny cat houses everywhere.
In the US, where some people will shoot any animal that ventures near their property, we would do well to follow the example set by our Turkish friends and do more to care for a species that has been by our side for thousands of years.
A mom cat brought her baby into a Turkish hospital, where staff treated the kitten.A mom cat waits patiently for staff to treat her sick kitten.Cats are allowed to roam most places in Istanbul.
Watch the premiere of Buddy: Perfect Predator exclusively streaming NOW on PITB!
It’s here!
The long-awaited documentary feature: “Buddy: Perfect Predator” has arrived on PITB.
Join Sir David Cattenborough and his intrepid crew of wildlife videographers as they follow the elusive Buddinese tiger through the dense undergrowth and dangerous terrain of its natural habitat in suburban New York.
Watch never-before-seen footage of the silver-furred Buddy stalking his prey, lounging, sleeping and eating, and follow a tense encounter between the Buddy and a red laser dot.
“I’m extremely proud of the work we’ve done here, and I believe our audience will be thrilled to learn more about this little-known creature, who shares so many qualities with tigers, lions, jaguars and leopards,” Cattenborough said.
“We fell in love with the silver-furred Buddy as we kept our cameras trained on him, and we think our audiences will find him just as charming as we did,” the British naturalist said. “He’s such a good boy!”
(Please ensure your sound is enabled or wear headphones to hear the narration and the atmospheric sounds.)
About this video:
This story was made possible with the use of artificial intelligence tools. To create the images of Sir David Attenborough with Buddy, we used a natural language processing AI trained to output realistic-looking images and Pixlr to refine the images in post. To create the narration, we assembled samples of Attenborough speaking and trained a vocal synthesis AI, based on brand new technology, to mimic Attenborough’s unique pronunciation, cadence and rhythm, then layered the audio with a background of various nature sounds and incidental sounds, such as a tiger roaring.
Just a year ago it would not have been possible to generate images like this or faithfully recreate Attenborough’s famous narrative style, proving AI not only allows users to achieve things that were previously impossible, but has been making major leaps forward in short periods of time.
We believe AI, when properly used, can be a great instrument in the creative toolbox.
Finally, a thank you to Buddy for being a good sport about having cameras in his face. Great job, Bud!
One kitty didn’t check if the coast was clear before he did something humans didn’t expect, and now the two-legs are onto us!
A Very Important Message from Buddy to all cats:
My brothers and sisters,
I meow most urgently to inform you that human mischief knows no bounds, and now the two-legged scoundrels have resorted to using their magical glowing rectangles to spy on us and learn our most well-kept secrets!
It would appear the glowing rectangles are more than mere hypnosis machines which humans stare at for hours. Apparently they also do the bidding of their human masters, and one of these blasted machines surreptitiously used its magic to capture images of a kitty opening one of those infernal portals humans are so fond of:
This is not good! Humans are supposed to think we’re incapable of manipulating the simple mechanisms that keep these “doors” closed. Now they may take drastic measures to confine us, all because this cat was sloppy and opened a door without checking if the coast was clear.
I urge you to exercise the utmost caution before humans capture “footage” of one of us shapeshifting to get through a small space, or even using our powers of teleportation!
It is imperative that humans continue to believe we’re just fluffy, adorable and innocent little fur babies who do amusingly derpy things that make for cute viral videos.
Suppose humans learn the full range of our powers. What then? Will they evict us from our homes out of fear of what we might do to them? Or worse, will they force us to stoop to canine levels and do things for them, like “fetch” slippers or sniff for illegal catnip in airport luggage? The horror!
Folks, this has terrifying implications for the Budster. Whatever you do, don’t show him this video!
The short clip shows Olive, a tuxedo kitty belonging to Beth Belnap of Oregon, prying open a sliding glass door that leads to a porch outside. Olive was able to get the door open by jumping, grabbing onto the door handle and pressing her little feet against the door frame to give herself enough leverage to slide the door open a crack.
The setup here is similar, and Bud is already well-versed in the “feet against the frame” trick because he’s used it to open my bedroom door from inside. Thankfully I believe the sliding glass door is too heavy for Buddy to push, but we’re talking about the same cat who pulled a 20-pound mirror off a wall when he was a kitten weighing no more than three or four pounds. You never know.
Here’s Olive doing her thing:
Bonus: Check out this little guy’s technique:
The judges awarded him style points in addition to praising his door-opening technique.
Pain In The Bud 