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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...

1, 2, …..7,570 ways to save whales!

Thank you, yes you, all 7,570 of you who took time out of your day to sign a petition to protect North Atlantic right whales.  I don’t always sign petitions– there are so many out there on so many topics and websites. I don’t always know if they get to the person/place/agency intended, or if anyone is listening or cares that my name was added.  I wonder if it really matters.  The short answer is I don’t know about all of the petitions out there, but I do know about those that WDC asks you to sign, and it does matter.  WDC makes sure they are getting to policy makers, and we make sure they are listening. 

Last year, through our Act Right Now campaign, we asked you to sign our petition and you listened.  As a result, we submitted more than half of the 145,879 comments that NOAA’s National Marine Fisheries Service received, asking them to extend the ship strike speed rule to save critically endangered North Atlantic right whales, of which fewer than 500 remain. The NMFS listened too, and the rule was extended indefinitely.  But last month, that very rule was threatened when the American Pilot’s Association asked the NMFS to remove speed restrictions in the busiest shipping channels along the East Coast of the US.  Again, we asked for you to give right whales a voice, and again, you came through. 

This week, on your behalf, we submitted your request to the NMFS to maintain the speed rule as is, and told them that you believe that right whales deserve to be protected.   And to make sure that they received the message loud and clear, we worked with our conservation partners at The Humane Society of the United States, Center for Biological Diversity, Defenders of Wildlife and Duke University to demand protections for right whales.  And, as a private citizen, I added my voice to this issue as well.  Like the team of people with whom I function at WDC, working to protect these whales is not our job, it’s our lives. We function as a team with each other, with our partner organizations, and with our supporters.  Our voices are strongest and loudest together.  Thank you for saving whales through supporting our workand our petitions.  It matters.

Right Whale with extensive prop scars