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We're at COP28 to Save the Whale, Save the World.

We’re at COP28 to save the whale, save the world

Ed Goodall Ed is WDC's head of intergovernmental engagement. He meets with world leaders to...
Gray whales from drone.

We’re taking steps to uncover the mysteries of whales

Vicki James Vicki is WDC's protected areas coordinator, she helps to create safe ocean spaces...
We must protect our non-human allies. Image: Tom Brakefield, aurore murguet, johan63

We’re urging governments to protect all of our climate heroes – CITES

Katie Hunter Katie supports WDC's engagement in intergovernmental conversations and is working to end captivity...
The Natütama Foundation are dedicated to protecting endangered river dolphins. Image: Natutama

Guardians of the Amazon: protecting the endangered river dolphins

Ali Wood Ali is WDC's education projects coordinator. She is the editor of Splash! and KIDZONE,...
Amazon river dolphins. Image: Fernando Trujillo/Fundacion Omacha

Amazon tragedy as endangered river dolphins die in hot water

Ali Wood Ali is WDC's education projects coordinator. She is the editor of Splash! and KIDZONE,...
Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphin © Mike Bossley/WDC

WDC in Japan – Part 3: Restoring freedom to dolphins in South Korea

Katrin Matthes Katrin is WDC's communications and campaigns officer for policy & communication in Germany...
Wintery scene in Iceland

Seeking sanctuary – Iceland’s complex relationship with whales

Hayley Flanagan Hayley is WDC's engagement officer, specialising in creating brilliant content for our website...
Whaling ship Hvalur 8 arrives at the whaling station with two fin whales

A summer of hope and heartbreak for whales in Icelandic waters

Luke McMillan Luke is WDC's Head of hunting and captivity. Now that the 2023 whaling season...

WDC Report Captures the Attention of NZ Politicians

New Zealand’s endemic dolphin species (the Hector’s dolphin and its subspecies Maui’s dolphin) have been in rapid decline since the 1970s due to fisheries by catch. The overall population has decreased from about thirty thousand down to about seven thousand, with the Maui’s subspecies now down to about 50 adults.

WDC has been working to protect these dolphins for many years and has been spearheading the call for a national dolphin sanctuary.

Last week we formally released our report showing New Zealanders want their dolphins protected and are prepared to pay for it. A representative sample of a thousand people were polled and the results show they are prepared to pay more for their fish if it means the dolphins are protected.

WDC’s NZ consultant Gemma McGrath and eminent dolphin expert Professor Elisabeth Slooten took our report to Wellington, the political capital of NZ and met with politicians from various parties to try and persuade them to take dolphin protection policies to the national election in late September. We are optimistic that most parties will indeed do this.

NZ media have given the report positive coverage with headlines like “Kiwis would pay to protect dolphins” and “New Zealanders Willing to Pay Tax for Maui Dolphin Protection”.

The report “ASSESSING NEW ZEALANDERS’ WILLINGNESS-TO-PAY TO PROTECT THE ENDANGERED NEW ZEALAND DOLPHIN (CEPHALORHYNCHUS HECTORI) A BENEFIT-COST ANALYSIS COMPARING THREE SCENARIOS.” can be found on our website at:

https://whales.org/sites/default/files/new-zealand-dolphin-report.pdf