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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...
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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...

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...

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...

Norway's whaling season begins

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

SOS alert for whales off Norway!

I have to admit to bitter disappointment when I arrived in Tromsø, northern Norway, a...

Icelandic fin whale hunting to resume

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

Fishermen arrested after spinner dolphins die in nets off Sri Lanka


I’m particularly saddened and concerned at the recent news that a dozen dolphins have died after being trapped in a beach seine net in the inner harbour at Trincomalee, northeast Sri Lanka.  The dolphins were identified as spinner dolphins by WDC colleague, conservation biologist, Ranil Nanayakkara.  Spinners, possibly the most acrobatic of all dolphin species, are incredibly popular and delight whale watchers off Sri Lanka and elsewhere around the world.

Distressing video taken by an observer shows that some of the dolphins were still alive when the nets were hauled in. All marine mammals in Sri Lankan waters are protected by law and nine local fishermen have been arrested and remain in custody. The fishermen claim that they realised too late that the dolphins were caught in the net.

Beach seine nets, known as ma dela in Sinhala, are seine nets which are operated from shore. The use of beach seine nets is legal here and these fishermen apparently had a licence. However, there are fears that hundreds of dolphins each year may be victims of ‘bycatch’ in nets  – both legal and illegal – in these waters. Indeed, WDC is aware of incidents in both 2013 and 2015, off Kalpitiya to the northwest of the island, when dozens of spinner dolphins died due to illegal fisheries using dynamite and purse seine nets (laila nets).

The problem, sadly, is by no means new. The introduction of nylon fishing nets in the 1960s led to heavy bycatch which killed thousands of dolphins and other small cetacean species in Sri Lankan waters each year and created a ready supply of dolphin meat for use as shark bait, as well as for human consumption. In some regions, local demand for the meat inevitably tempted some fishermen to deliberately target dolphins in order to supplement their income. Despite whales and dolphins being legally protected in Sri Lankan waters since 1993, dolphins have continued to die (both accidentally and occasionally, deliberately) and it is clear that fishing practices around Sri Lanka require urgent review.