Whaling – Kat Long

Help Send Me to England for Book Research: Crowdfunding Alert

by Kat LongVideo November 29, 20160 comments

I’m working on a book about my ancestor: a polar explorer and whaling ship captain named William Scoresby whose 200-year-old discoveries are helping today’s scientists understand global warming. I’m raising money for a trip to England to research his letters, and–because environmental progress is in jeopardy these days–write a book that offers valuable insight …

Field Report: Whale Watching in New York City

by Kat LongCommentary, Video October 31, 2016October 31, 20160 comments

On my third hour of scanning the waters of the western New York bight for whales, I began to understand what a lookout on a 19th century whaleship must have faced. Incessant salty wind and chilly spray buffeted my face as the undulating surface of the water played tricks on my perception. Dark waves rose …

Southern Right Whale Recovery Could Take Decades, Study Finds

by Kat LongCommentary March 15, 2016March 16, 20160 comments

This week, whale watchers went bananas over sightings of about 250 northern right whales in the plankton-rich waters around Cape Cod. The pods represented half of the total population of these critically endangered cetaceans, one of the world’s rarest animals. Now, in the first assessment since the end of the 19th century whaling era, the British …

Wrecks of 19th Century Whaling Ships Discovered off Alaska’s Arctic Coast

by Kat LongArticles January 8, 2016March 5, 20160 comments

Underwater archaeologists from NOAA’s Maritime Heritage Program identified the wrecks of two whaling ships in the Chukchi Sea this week. The two vessels were lost in the infamous 1871 whaling season, when ice floes crushed 33 ships. The diminished sea ice cover in the area, a symptom of climate change, has allowed divers to explore …

New Article on ScientificAmerican.com: Whaling logbooks reveal clues to climate change

by Kat LongArticles July 25, 20140 comments

My latest story, “250-Year-Old Eyewitness Accounts of Icier Arctic Attest to Loss of Sea Ice,” has just been posted on Scientific American‘s website. This marks my debut for the nation’s most prestigious science magazine! My story looks at ARCdoc, the research project based at the University of Sunderland, that data-mined old ships’ logbooks for weather …