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Fishers' involvement is crucial. Image: WDC/JTF

When porpoises and people overlap

We're funding a project in Hong Kong that's working with fishing communities to help save...

Mindful conservation – why we need a new respect for nature

'We should look at whales and dolphins as the indigenous people of the seas -...
A dolphin called Arnie with a shell

Dolphins catch fish using giant shell tools

In Shark Bay, Australia, two groups of dolphins have figured out how to use tools...
Common dolphins at surface

Did you know that dolphins have unique personalities?

We all have personalities, and between the work Christmas party and your family get-together, perhaps...
Leaping harbour porpoise

The power of harbour porpoise poo

We know we need to save the whale to save the world. Now we are...
Holly. Image: Miray Campbell

Meet Holly, she’s an incredible orca leader

Let me tell you the story of an awe-inspiring orca with a fascinating family story...
Humpback whale. Image: Christopher Swann

A story about whales and humans

As well as working for WDC, I write books for young people. Stories; about the...
Risso's dolphin at surface

My lucky number – 13 years studying amazing Risso’s dolphins

Everything we learn about the Risso's dolphins off the coast of Scotland amazes us and...

A Return of the Rights?

Harpooned almost into extinction in the mid-1800s, critically endangered and extremely rare, the North Pacific right whale is one whale that most researchers accept they might never see. There are only between 38 and 50 North Pacific right whales left in the eastern part of the Pacific Ocean and no more than a few hundred in the world. Seeing one has been described as “winning the marine mammal lottery”, which is exactly what researcher John Ford and colleagues have just done last week off the coast of British Colombia, Canada, when they came across a lone individual North Pacific right whale whilst on survey.

Hunting of the North Pacific right whale has been banned since 1935 but illegal hunting continued into the 1960s. Although no longer an issue facing these majestic animals, they are at risk from collisions with ships and incidental entanglement in fishing gear.

 “It was a thrilling experience … We would never have imagined that we would be able to see one and it was not only exciting personally … but it was wonderful for us to be able to confirm that this species still exists,” said Ford.

The last time one of the majestic mammals was seen off the coast of B.C. was in 1951 (62 years ago).