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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...

Endangered humpback whale dies off Long Island, NY from fishing gear entanglement

Only four days ago, the Atlantic Large Whale Disentanglement Team received a report of an entangled humpback whale off Long Island.  Yesterday, that same whale was found dead.  The young female appears to have died as a result of becoming entangled in gillnetting, a gear type that NOAA’s National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) exempted from their latest proposed rule to reduce vertical line entanglements. NMFS ignored repeated requests by WDC and others asking the Agency to include all fixed fishing gear in their plan, including gillnetting.  Also of concern is the proposed plan does not reduce risk in the mid-Atlantic, including the waters off New York.  Instead, it simply asks for additional gear marking measures to identify the gear once the whale becomes entangled.  The plan also largely ignores humpback whale even though they remain listed as endangered in the US.  But perhaps the real tragedy is that this whale had the misfortune of dying during a US government shutdown, a time when no rules will be released to protect whales or actions taken to determine where the gear originated.   

Photo courtesy of our friends at Riverhead Foundation.