Marine mammal experts are testing tissue samples for a potential common cause of the surge in carcasses found on the state's beaches this year.

An unusually high number of northern bottlenose whales (Hyperoodon ampullatus) have been sighted in fjords in North and East Iceland.

A rare whale-dolphin hybrid species has been discovered off the coast of Hawaii, scientists say. The animal is the first-ever documented offspring of a rough-toothed dolphin and the rare melon-headed whale, a team from the Cascadia Research Collective concluded in a report released this week.

But an Icelandic whale-watching crew spotted the right whale named Mogul three times this week, leaving a research scientist wondering why the animal ventured so far.

The smelly carcass, identified as that of an adult male minke whale, is the second large marine animal to turn up on shore in southern Maine in the past week.

Polar bears have been rummaging through science camps at the top of Greenland's ice sheet far inland, where they were never expected, and Polar bears are coming into communities more often these days, says Kristin Laidre, a marine biologist at the University of Washington’s Polar Science Center, and an authority on polar bear populations in Greenland. “It’s happening all over the Arctic, and it’s something that’s only going to be an increasing problem as we continue to lose sea ice,” she says.

Residents of Chevak and Hooper Bay found two species of sea bird either dead or approachable near the mouth of the Kiuqliiviq and Aprun rivers near fish camps. Residents of Hooper Bay also found a dead sea mammal on the beach.

Porpoise spotted heading up the Pastolik River

The population of endangered killer whales has hit a 30-year-low, numbering only 75 this year.

There’s only one historical record of a great white shark in the Bering Sea: fishermen caught one nearly 40 years ago. But scientists have reason to believe that in recent years there might be more of the predators around.

Rangers discovered the whale on Saturday, the cause of death is unknown.

The Marine Animal Response Society is keeping a close eye on the minke whale population in the Maritimes after at least 14 of them have been observed dead at sea or washed ashore since February.

Tens of thousands of seals in the Salish Sea are devouring millions of adult and juvenile salmon, sparking renewed debate about a cull.

Three dead gray whales washed up on two different Kodiak Island beaches recently. The strandings happened within the span of a week.

Sixteen gray and humpback whales have been reported stranded off Washington and Oregon since April 3, the largest number in nearly two decades.

Gray whale (Eschrichtius robustus) found dead on the beach near Kivalina.

The biggest challenges for whales is the buildup of toxic chemicals in their bodies and the shrinking runs of Chinook salmon, their primary prey.

Rare observation of sea otter in Haro Strait, perhaps first since 2014.

Sleeper sharks are already known to range as far north as the Chukchi Sea, but reports of possible shark attacks on seal and sea lions have increased — and now come from further into the Arctic.

State officials are now blaming toxoplasmosis, a parasite carried in cat feces, for the deaths of three critically endangered Hawaiian monk seals on Oahu.