Skip to content
All news
  • All news
  • About whales & dolphins
  • Corporates
  • Create healthy seas
  • End captivity
  • Green Whale
  • Prevent deaths in nets
  • Scottish Dolphin Centre
  • Stop whaling
  • Stranding
  • Whale watching
Vaquita. Photo Thomas Jefferson

Scientific Committee gives first ever official species extinction warning

Photo: Thomas Jefferson We have welcomed the urgent call by experts to protect the vaquita...
blue whale

Whale fossil from Peru may have been heavier than blue whale

Scientists examining the bones of a 39 million-year-old ancient whale have concluded that it may...
Humpback whale © Christopher Swann

Humpback whales breach in synchronisation

Humpback whales are renowned for their incredible acrobatic displays, but a family in the USA...
Long-finned pilot whale

Unusual activity witnessed before pilot whale stranding

Just days after a pod of long-finned pilot whales stranded on an island in the...

Norwegian whale meat dumped in Japan after pesticide finding

Whale meat that had been imported into Japan from Norway has been dumped after routine safety tests discovered that it contained up to twice the allowed level of potentially dangerous pesticides.

The announcement came from the Health ministry which revealed the tests had discovered unacceptable levels of aldrin, dieldrin and chlordane. These pesticides are no longer used in developed countries, however they can be transported across international boundaries far from their sources and pose a risk to human health and the wider environment. Norwegian authorities have said their own tests showed only low levels of the pesticides and that the meat was safe to eat.

This is not the first time concerns have been raised about Norwegian whale meat exports. In 2001, Norwegian officials confirmed that whale blubber had a high concentration of dioxins, shortly after resuming exports to Japan. Japan subsquently banned the import of contaminated blubber.