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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...

Large number of dolphins moved to Abu Dhabi marine park

Up to 24 captive bottlenose dolphins have reportedly been sent to a new SeaWorld theme...

Ships leave Japanese port to kill whales in the name of science

Whaling ships in north-eastern Japan have left port to begin government-backed scientific whaling in coastal waters around the country. The four ships could kill up to 51 minke in the coming few weeks as part of a so-called ‘research’ programme in the north-western Pacific.  The hunts will take place within an 80km radius from Ayukawa port in Ishinomaki, Miyagi Prefecture.

In March last year, the International Court of Justice (the highest court of the United Nations) banned Japanese scientific hunts in the Antarctic, criticising their scientific value. The court decided that the hunts were nothing more than commercial whaling (banned in 1986) masquerading as science and so ordered them to stop. Much of the meat from these hunts is made available for sale to the public. 

On Monday, an expert panel of the International Whaling Commission rejected Japan’s latest proposal to resume hunting in the Southern Ocean, stating that it failed to show the need for the lethal take of whales to meet its objectives.