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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...

Whale graveyard uncovered

Scientists have uncovered what is thought to be the world’s largest whale graveyard after stumbling across dozens of skeletons of fossilised baleen whales whilst carrying out construction works on the Pan-American highway in Chile.

Although the area, known as Cerro Ballena or “whale hill”, is famed locally for its abundance of hidden and fossilised skeletons, the newly discovered collection of fossils, some in perfect condition, make this part of the Atacama region in Chile world-famous.

Adopt a humpback whale

Having lain undisturbed for between six and nine million years, scientists believe that the whales all ended up on “whale hill” as a result of four separate mass stranding over a period of 10,000 years. The fossilised remains included skeletons of an extinct species of sperm whale, a walrus-toothed whale and an aquatic sloth however researchers believe that this discovery is just the tip of the iceberg and that many more remain hidden awaiting discovery.

One of the palaeontologists noted “we managed to sample all the superstars of the fossil marine-mammal world in south America in the Late Miocene. Just an incredibly dense accumulation of species.” This bodes for exciting times in marine mammal science as our knowledge of extinct species and cetacean evolution is about to be radically expanded.