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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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  • Strandings

Minke whale hunts stop in Iceland

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

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...

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...

Stand up and help remove plastic from our oceans


WDC are proud to announce our new partnership with The Whale Company, a long term supporter of WDC based in Bedfordshire, but currently in Brazil! We were delighted to hear from Carolyn, founder of The Whale Company and their new challenge to tackle plastic pollution. 

As we walked onto Prainha Beach, in Caraguatatuba, Brazil with our new paddle board under our arms, heads turned to stare in wonder and fascination. I am not sure what reaction we were expecting, but from the whispers and curious glances there was no doubt that we were creating a buzz. Our paddle board was no ordinary board; Carlos and I had spent the previous week building it out of 124 plastic bottles. It was quite a challenge and I was a little nervous about taking it out on the water. Carlos, however, had no such trepidation; he lowered the plastic bottle board into the gentle waves and jumped on enthusiastically. I had to run behind him with the camera to make sure we captured the special moment, as he paddled quickly into the distance.

Even without a fin, the board was stable and incredibly easy to manoeuver. Local stand-up paddleboard (SUP) instructors came over to have a go and before long a little crowd had gathered around us. Bewilderment turned to appreciation as we discussed why we had built a board out of plastic bottles – to raise awareness of the problems of plastic pollution in the ocean and the fact that by 2050 there will be more plastic in the ocean than fish (World Economic Forum, 2016). Although plastic can be recycled, only 24% of the 5 million tonnes of plastic used in the UK every year is recycled or re-used (#Oneless); and 8 million tonnes of plastic ends up in the ocean every year (National Geographic, 2015).

I created The Whale Company after discovering that plastic pollution in the ocean was killing whales and other marine wildlife. Our organic cotton Whalebags are beautiful and practical alternatives to plastic bags (and they make great beach/travel bags too). We also make flip-flops out of recycled tyres – Whaletreads. I am delighted with our new partnership with WDC – we are donating 10p from every bag to WDC. Follow the link to the bags here and get 10% off with code ‘WDC2017’.

The success of our first plastic bottle board outing has become the inspiration for our next big challenge. Launching on 8 June, World Ocean’s Day, Carlos and I will paddle 12 marathons across Europe on paddle boards made out of plastic bottles and in every location we will teach the local community how to build a plastic bottle board, taking 120 bottles out of the environment every time.

Help the Whale Company raise awareness of plastic pollution in the ocean and show people that SUP can be affordable for all. If you are interested in finding out more about Carolyn and Carlos’ expedition and how you can get involved, please go to www.thewhalecompany.co.uk/plastic-bottle-sup-marathon

WDC is grateful to our guest bloggers and value their contributions to whale conservation. The views and opinions expressed by our guest bloggers are those of the author, and do not necessarily represent those of, and should not be attributed to, WDC.