Gray Whale Spotted Off Israel

Whales make news for occasionally turning up in the Hudson or the Thames, but this rare spotting takes the cake: A gray whale has been spotted in the Mediterranean Sea off of Israel. The thing is that gray whales have not lived in the Atlantic Ocean since the 18th century, when they were hunted to extinction by commercial whalers. The only two known gray whale populations—one of which is critically endangered—both live in the Pacific Ocean. "There is no doubt that this is a gray whale, and as such the sighting is little short of astonishing," said Phillip Clapham of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Scientists speculate that global warming may have melted sea ice that previously blocked the whales from travelling eastward into the Atlantic.