Skip to content
All articles
  • All articles
  • About whales & dolphins
  • Create healthy seas
  • End captivity
  • Green Whale
  • Prevent deaths in nets
  • Scottish Dolphin Centre
  • Stop whaling
Orca Lulu's body contained PCB levels 100x above the safe limit. Image: SMASS

Toxic tides, troubled whales: the toll of chemical pollution

In last week's blog, we examined the challenges whales and dolphins face as they travel...
Group of orcas at surface

Breaking barriers for whales and dolphins at the Convention of Migratory Species

Many species of whales, dolphins and porpoises undertake long journeys, encountering human-made obstacles along the...
Tokyo

WDC in Japan – Part 1: Finding allies in Tokyo

At the end of May, I embarked on an incredible journey to Japan on behalf...
Amazon river dolphins leaping

The state of river dolphin conservation

At Whale and Dolphin Conservation, we partner with conservationists and communities fighting to save river...
Researchers in Southeast Alaska studying whale poo

We’re funding crucial research on whale poo to combat the climate crisis

The ocean is one of the lungs of our planet, and whales help it to...
Narwhal surfacing

The unicorns of the sea must be protected – CITES

The narwhal, is under threat. Often referred to as the unicorns of the sea, narwhals,...
Sperm whales

We’re pushing governments for action for our climate heroes – whales

The climate crisis is the greatest threat to all life on Earth. But there is...
Dolphins captured for captivity in Taiji. Image: Hans Peter Roth

Loved and killed – whales and dolphins in Japan

Protests and criticism from outside Japan in response to the slaughter of whales and dolphins...
All policy news
  • All policy news
  • Create healthy seas
  • End captivity
  • Prevent deaths in nets
  • Stop whaling
  • Strandings
Port River dolphins

New report reveals 100,000 dolphins and small whales hunted every year

When you hear the words ‘dolphin hunts’ it’s likely that you think of Japan or...

Minke whale hunts stop in Iceland

Iceland’s commercial hunt of minke whales has ended for this year. The common minke whale is the...

Japan set to resume commercial whaling

Reports from Japan suggest that the government they will formally propose plans to resume commercial...

End the whale hunts! Icelandic fin whaler isolated as public mood shifts

Here’s a sight I hoped never again to witness. A boat being scrubbed and repainted...

Australian Government to block Japanese whaling proposal

Japanese Government officials have reportedly confirmed that they will propose the resumption of commercial whaling...

Did Icelandic whalers really kill a blue whale?

*Warning - this blog contains an image that you may find upsetting* They say a...

Icelandic whalers breach international law and kill iconic, protected whale by mistake

Icelandic whalers out hunting fin whales for the first time in three years appear to...

Pregnant whales once again a target for Japanese whalers

Figures from Japan's whaling expedition to Antarctica during the 2017/18 austral summer have revealed that...

Doubts remain after Icelandic Marine Institute claims slaughtered whale was a hybrid not a blue

Experts remain sceptical of initial test results issued by the Icelandic Marine Institute, which indicate...

Icelandic fin whale hunting to resume

Iceland’s only fin whaling company, Hvalur hf,  announced today that it will resume fin whaling...

Norway increases whaling quota despite declining demand

Norway's government has announced an increase in the number of minke whales that can be...

Norway's whaling season begins

April 1st saw the start of the whaling season in Norway. Despite a widely-accepted international moratorium...

Porpoiseful protection?

WDC warmly welcome the news that JNCC, Defra, Natural England, Natural Resources Wales, Welsh Government and Department of Environment, Northern Ireland are taking an important step towards designating five harbour porpoise Special Areas of Conservation! Big congratulations to all the agencies involved.

But almost 20 years on from our first call for porpoise Special Areas of Conservation, there is still much more to do. The EU Commission has issues the UK with a Reasoned Opinion on this issue and better porpoise protection is long, long overdue.

The UK Statutory Agencies (JNCC, SNH, NRW and NE) contracted scientific analysis and provided two reports (on boat-based and land-based analysis) on porpoise hot spots, considering sufficiency, seasonality and geographic spread.​ The best available data were analysed and the results are robust, well considered and conclusive. They subsequently provided robust Advice to the UK’s various governments that eight sites should be designated. These draft SACs identify the UKs 8 key areas where porpoises are found in the highest densities, including North Minch, Southern Hebrides, North Channel and NE Irish Sea, North Anglesey, West Wales, Bristol Channel, SW North Sea and Moray Firth – that’s one dSAC in English, three in Welsh (one of which is shared with English waters) and four in Scottish waters (one is shared with Northern Ireland).

Unfortunately, Marine Scotland has decided to take a different approach and so there is no consultation on the 4 Scottish proposed harbour porpoise SACs. Scotland contains some of the highest densities of porpoises in Europe and the European Commission felt that there was sufficient evidence for sites with a wide geographical spread in UK waters, including in the Moray Firth. To offer adequate protection and to meet its European commitments, we urge Marine Scotland to urgently set a transparent timetable and a plan to designate these 4 harbour porpoise SACs before the end of 2016.

Harbour porpoise SACs are an essential component of an ecologically coherent and well-managed (a key point, if these are not to be ‘paper’ parks) MPA network and sites are needed throughout UK waters.

Following this consultation, the essential steps to the success of these harbour porpoise SACs are designation, effective management, compliance and enforcement.

Clearly there is a requirement for regular (and better) collection of surveillance data, both at a regional and local scale, to ensure that these sites are fit for purpose. Funding is needed to survey our waters to understand what state our porpoise and other marine life are in. More than 70% of the data to help determine these sites was provided by NGOs! Further, whilst a number of offshore wind developers contributed their data, a number of others did not allow their data to be used, which is disappointing.

Management measures need to be applied to activities that may negatively affect porpoises and their important habitats, such as being caught in fishing gear, collisions (with vessels and possibly tidal turbines), impacts from vessels that cause disturbance and other noisy activities (for example, pile driving, active sonar, acoustic deterrent use) – and importantly – the combined effects of all of these activities.

In addition, we need to ensure adequate protection of harbour porpoises wherever they are, both inside and outside of protected areas, as the UK has legal obligations to protect porpoises throughout their range. So we need to manage wider impacts within and outside of SACs, such as tackling chemical pollution, reducing overall noise levels, turning around habitat loss and prey depletion.

WDC have provided our views on Management Options for effective harbour porpoise conservation in the UK to all the governments.

We need to manage all these activities together, across ocean basins (like the North Sea), and not just in UK waters.

In the next few weeks we will be providing you with a response template should you wish to use this as a the basis for providing your own consultation response. You can read about the JNCC Consultation and NRW consultation

Read MCS’s Mel Moores new blog about the English Marine Conservation Zones and RSPB’s Martin Harper’s blog about the MCZ and Special Protection Areas for seabirds (sharing many of our own concerns).