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
Southern Resident whales

Ambitious plan to free captive orca Lolita announced

The new owner of the Miami Seaquarium in the US has announced that it is...
Gray whale

UN adopts High Seas Treaty to protect the ocean

At the UN 'High Seas Treaty' negotiations in New York, a historic vote for the...

Hopes raised for whale and dolphin protection after last minute landmark nature agreement

WDC's Ed Goodall (far right) at COP15 with Thérèse Coffey (centre) UK Secretary of State...

WDC orca champion picks up award

Beatrice Whishart MSP picks up her Nature Champion award The Scottish Environment LINK, an organisation...

Dead dolphin in Adelaide’s Port River was shot

A necropsy (post-mortem) has discovered that a bottlenose dolphin found dead in Adelaide’s Port River last December had been shot.

The dolphin, named Graze by researchers, was discovered in the Barker Inlet but only examined this month by staff from the South Australian Museum. Four shotgun pellets were found in the dolphin.

WDC’s Dr Mike Bossley said “When we found the body before Christmas it was hard to know why it died, that’s why they did a necropsy.” 

Graze was first sighted by Dr Bossley in 1992 and has been following her movements along with the other dolphins found in the river since then.

“It is clear despite the implementation of the Adelaide Dolphin Sanctuary these dolphins are still under threat,” he said. “It is important that more resources are put into the sanctuary to improve its effectiveness.”

It is hoped that an interpretive visitors centre could be established to promote Adelaide’s dolphins and increase awareness the need to protect them.

You can support Dr Bossley’s work by adopting one of the Port River dolphins.