Wikipedia talk:WikiProject Cetaceans

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Archives February 2004-July 2006, August 2006-

[edit] Seeking...

Moved from front page
Hi, I am enquiring about Indo Pacific Humpback Dolphins( Sousa Chinensis). Do you have any informantion or research on these estuarine dolphins. I am a Volunteer and a lay person in scientific terms, at the Dolphin Centre at Tin Can Bay, Qld ,Australia, where these Dolphins are found. I wish to put together an education programme for children, to teach them about Estuarine Dolphins & Dugongs in particular,as they relate to our area. Can you supply me with any sites or information . Thanks Norma Sanderson. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 61.69.158.96 (talk • contribs) .

Have you looked at humpback dolphin? - UtherSRG (talk) 11:43, 18 October 2006 (UTC)

You can see both the Dugong (Dugong dugong) and Indo-Pacific Humpback Dolphins (Sousa chinensis) at Underwater World Singapore (www.underwaterworld.com.sg). Jlmahon 02:36, 20 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Capitalization rules continued

Hello, I was just about to undertake some copyediting of the Fin Whale article when I came across the capitalization of common names issue. This has obviously been discussed in this WikiProject in the past (see the "capitalization" section on this talk page), but would like some further clarification of the capitalization rules. For example, the first sentence of the current version of the article reads, "The Fin Whale (Balaenoptera physalus), also called the finback whale, is a mammal which belongs to the baleen whales suborder.". If the capitalization is to be standardized based upon this WikiProject's current preference for capitalized common names, should "finback whale" be changed to "Finback Whale"? Does the capitalization apply to common names of suborders? Should it be "Baleen Whales" instead of the current lower case? Since "whale" is a common name of a larger taxonomic group, then should every instance of the word "whale" be capitalized?

I have contributed to many articles in the WikiProject Fishes, where the standard is to use sentence case for all common names. To me, this seems much more logical and easier to read, and according to the discussion at Wikipedia talk:Naming conventions (fauna), seems to agree with more of the scientific literature. Would there be any support for changing this project's capitalization standards? I'm not trying to jump in here and stir up a hornet's nest or anything. Neil916 (Talk) 21:38, 22 October 2006 (UTC)

You are correct about "Finback Whale", as it represents a species. For ranks above the species level, comon names should be in sentence case, such as "baleen whales". For details on the reasoning and logic, see the Bird Wikiproject. - UtherSRG (talk) 22:37, 22 October 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Project directory

Hello. The WikiProject Council has recently updated the Wikipedia:WikiProject Council/Directory. This new directory includes a variety of categories and subcategories which will, with luck, potentially draw new members to the projects who are interested in those specific subjects. Please review the directory and make any changes to the entries for your project that you see fit. There is also a directory of portals, at User:B2T2/Portal, listing all the existing portals. Feel free to add any of them to the portals or comments section of your entries in the directory. The three columns regarding assessment, peer review, and collaboration are included in the directory for both the use of the projects themselves and for that of others. Having such departments will allow a project to more quickly and easily identify its most important articles and its articles in greatest need of improvement. If you have not already done so, please consider whether your project would benefit from having departments which deal in these matters. It is my hope that all the changes to the directory can be finished by the first of next month. Please feel free to make any changes you see fit to the entries for your project before then. If you should have any questions regarding this matter, please do not hesitate to contact me. Thank you. B2T2 23:53, 25 October 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Fin Whale up for FA

Just to let everyone know that Fin Whale is now a featured article candidate. See its nomination here. C hris_huh^talk 12:23, 7 November 2006 (UTC)

The article has been promoted to featured article. Neil916 (Talk) 18:22, 11 November 2006 (UTC)

Great news. Neil - i don't know where you're getting the time to do all this but well done, it really paid off. C hris_huh^talk 18:24, 11 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] And the portal

The portal is also up for featured status, but, surprisingly, for featured portal. See its nomination, and help out if you can. C hris_huh^talk 18:37, 7 November 2006 (UTC)

I'm excited to see how this turns out. Please inform me if any work needs to be done on the portal. --Gray Porpoise^{cetaceans have large brains} 19:28, 11 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Peer review request for Sei Whale

I have done some work on the Sei Whale article and have posted a request for peer review at Wikipedia:Peer review/Sei Whale. I'd appreciate any feedback about how this can be improved in anticipation of a featured article nomination. Also, if anybody is able to track down some free images of this whale, they'd be greatly appreciated. The one photo of the whale itself that we have is pretty pathetic, and I haven't found anything useful over at NOAA or anywhere else. Thanks. Neil916 (Talk) 02:04, 11 November 2006 (UTC)

Excellent. Though it's in need of a few changes to be FA-worthy, I'm nominating it for good article status. --Gray Porpoise^{What have I done‽} 18:11, 11 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Archive

I archived all of the sections from February 2004 up through August 2006. --Gray Porpoise^{cetaceans have large brains} 19:39, 11 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Assessment

I try my best when I evaluate, but I probably make errors. What do you guys consider to be a start class? I usually apply it when articles have a couple of short sections or fewer, and are just long enough to escape stub class. However, many of the things that I consider B-class may be start-class to others. --Gray Porpoise^{Is this overformatted?} 01:23, 15 November 2006 (UTC)

Yeah, i regard Start-Class as being maybe a paragraph or two. B Class should be a fair bit more than that - with some headings, because after B is GA, and that would be quite a bit higher than a few headings. C hris_huh^talk 14:15, 15 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Wildlife Barnstar

There is currently a barnstar proposal at Wikipedia:Barnstar and award proposals/New Proposals#Wildlife Barnstar for a barnstar which would be available for use for this project. Please feel free to visit the page and make any comments you see fit. Badbilltucker 15:35, 15 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Stablepedia

Beginning cross-post.

See Wikipedia talk:Version 1.0 Editorial Team#Stablepedia. If you wish to comment, please comment there. ★MESSED ROCKER★ 03:37, 26 November 2006 (UTC)

End cross-post. Please do not comment more in this section.

[edit] We have a Featured Portal

Portal:Cetaceans has just been promoted to Featured Portal. A nice little birthday present i think. Brilliant. C hris_huh^talk 11:46, 27 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Proposed Veterinary medicine project

There is now a proposed project at Wikipedia:WikiProject Council/Proposals#Veterinary Medicine to deal with matters of veterinary medicine, a subject which currently has disproportionately low content in wikipedia. Any wikipedia editors who have an interest in working on content related to the subject are encouraged to indicate as much there. Thank you for your attention. Badbilltucker 22:12, 6 December 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Baiji no more

So the Baiji (Chinese River Dolphin) is no more ("functionally extinct"). I plan on putting up a lot of info on the Baiji in a few days as i was (ironically) working on it offline a few days before it was announced (typical, really). At the moment the page is at Chinese River Dolphin but should be moved soon to Baiji as that is the proper term for it.

Just thought i would say farewell to the Baiji. C hris_huh^talk 17:24, 16 December 2006 (UTC)

I'm so sad for the baiji. I just hope this will be a wake-up call for conserving other species.

We do good work here on Wikipedia. I tell myself it helps. Kla'quot 17:43, 16 December 2006 (UTC)

How unfortunate... I see that our coverage of this event has expanded somewhat significantly. --Gray Porpoise_{Your wish is my command!} 00:02, 23 December 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Exploding whale FAR

Exploding whale has been nominated for a featured article review. Articles are typically reviewed for two weeks. Please leave your comments and help us to return the article to featured quality. If concerns are not addressed during the review period, articles are moved onto the Featured Article Removal Candidates list for a further period, where editors may declare "Keep" or "Remove" the article from featured status. The instructions for the review process are here. Reviewers' concerns are here. SandyGeorgia (Talk) 19:15, 7 January 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Baleen whales as a featured topic.

The articles on baleen whales are pretty close to being a featured topic. It's last nomination didn't do so well, but with just a bit of work it could be re-nominated. --Arctic Gnome 18:01, 15 January 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Microformat

Please be aware of the proposed Species microformat, particularly in relation to taxoboxes. Comments welcome on the wiki at that link. Andy Mabbett 15:37, 28 January 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Proposal to merge articles on cetaceans in captivity

Hi everyone. I've been trying to figure out what to do with the very long section in the Orca article which discusses captive orcas. Most of it describes unfortunate incidents. I'd like to spin it out into a separate article that covers cetaceans in captivity, including the relevant purposes, history, current practices, effects on the animals involved, and ethical debate.

Right now we have the following similar articles which cover these issues to some degree:

Marine mammal park includes a list of marine mammal parks; we also have List of dolphinariums and List of marine parks with Orcas. There is also Oceanarium.

I propose that we:

merge Dolphinarium, Marine mammal park, and Oceanarium into a single article called Cetaceans in captivity.
summarize the Captivity section of Orca, and spin out the details into Cetaceans in captivity.
merge List of dolphinariums, List of marine parks with Orcas, and the list of marine mamal parks into a single article called List of marine parks with cetaceans

Does this make sense? I'll put requests at the Talk pages of these articles to come here and comment

Cheers, Kla'quot 11:03, 29 January 2007 (UTC)

On the surface I'd have to disagree since dophinairium and marine mammal park seem to be lengthy enough to stand alone. I also would expect people to find these (dolphinarium, marine mammal park, & oceanarium) by their names but not "Cataceans in captivity". I just don't see the need to merge. I might consider a new article Cetaceans in captivity combining bits and pieces of other articles that overlap but not a merge. Please discuss more. Cburnett 14:03, 29 January 2007 (UTC)

Hmm, I disagree. I do see overlap though, with the same issue being brought up in various articles. So perhaps there could be an article like "Cetacean welfare in captivity", which these articles could link to for more information. BabyNuke 18:38, 29 January 2007 (UTC)

Just to be clear: do you disagree with the merge or with my comment (you're indention after my comment leads me to think so). Or both. :) Cburnett 20:52, 29 January 2007 (UTC)

I think an article called Cetaceans in captivity would be a good topic for an article, as an article on exotic animal husbandry. I think the proposed Cetacean welfare in captivity is too POV. However, I would not support merging marine mammal park into such an article, because marine mammals kept in captivity include pinnipeds and sometimes others, not just cetaceans. I would support merging dolphinarium, or better yet, renaming it and then beginning to generalize it to other cetaceans. --Ginkgo100^talk 21:21, 29 January 2007 (UTC)

Thanks everyone. I don't see a consensus to merge, so it would probably be best to start a new Cetaceans in captivity article and then figure out how to mesh it with the others. Having thought about it a bit more, I don't think I'll be starting this article anytime soon though. It's an important topic, but gosh it's depressing. Does anyone else want to give it a shot? Kla'quot 08:48, 18 February 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Next CoTM

Are we due to start a new Collaboration of the Month soon? May I suggest:

Cetology
Humpback whale - officially it's a Featured Article, but it needs a lot of work.

Kla'quot 05:22, 16 March 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Crammed cetacean articles

Many whale articles list more than one species in the taxobox. These need to be split into their own articles. An example of one of these offending articles is Right whale.

Species should have their own articles, and list of species in genus articles should be put in the "subdivision" box (e.g. see how kangaroo's taxobox lists species, as done by just about every other genus article on Wikipedia). "Conservation status" does not belong on genus articles, nor on these Whale articles that try to cram 4 species into one taxobox. Likewise having four range maps is nasty. These should be at least overlaid and shown all in one map.

Also there's a bunch of articles where the conservation status is listed as "Not evaluated" (NE) where it should be "Data Deficient" (DD). This may be because of taxobox template changes.

I clicked through to all the cetacean species articles, and made this list of crammed cetacean articles:

Right whale
Minke Whale
Bryde's Whale
Pilot whale
Common dolphin
Right whale dolphin
Humpback dolphin
Indian Ocean Bottlenose Dolphin (Tursiops aduncus -> Tursiops truncatus)
Giant beaked whale
Bottlenose whale

Maybe there could be an uncramming collaboration. Exciting idea, yeah? —Pengo 03:15, 17 March 2007 (UTC)

This is something that really needs to be done. Right whale in particular, shame its a FA and splitting it up could remove that. When it comes to right whale we could either just have four separate articles and then Right Whale either redirects to the most common or a disambiguation page. Or we have four separate articles plus another article on Right Whales (ie the group of whales) which could mean that a lot of the current text could be kept. The others might be easier to do as it would be a smaller job. I suppose that we could just have Right Whale as the COTM or something and focus mainly on working on splitting it. I dont know about merging Balaenidae straight into Right Whale as then it can confuse what it actually means, but i suppose if a Right Whales page is made it would deal with that. C hris_huh^talk 20:41, 19 March 2007 (UTC)

Having one article per species makes sense for some articles, but not all. I think we should decide on a case-by-case basis, depending on whether the result of splitting would be two substantially different articles or two very similar articles. Kla'quot 03:10, 20 March 2007 (UTC)

Let's start with the most obvious cases. Right whale is a good one, and I'd be in favour of it being the next COTM. Yeah, three or four range maps in one taxobox looks crazy. Kla'quot 06:41, 21 March 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Featured Picture Candidate

FYI, I've nominated this picture at Wikipedia:Featured picture candidates/Killer whale mother and calf. Kla'quot 03:07, 20 March 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Humpback whale FAR

Humpback whale has been nominated for a featured article review. Articles are typically reviewed for two weeks. Please leave your comments and help us to return the article to featured quality. If concerns are not addressed during the review period, articles are moved onto the Featured Article Removal Candidates list for a further period, where editors may declare "Keep" or "Remove" the article from featured status. The instructions for the review process are here.

I've played with it a bit to get it to conform more with Fin Whale, Blue Whale and Sei Whale but it needs a Description and some Behaviour bits as well as some referencing.cheers, Casliber | talk | contribs 12:28, 30 March 2007 (UTC)

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