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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...

Dolphins at Risk from Amazon Dams

Most people assume dolphins live in the sea. But there is a small, less well-known group that can live hundreds of miles from the coast, swimming in freshwater rivers and lakes. The Amazon River dolphins of South America, also known as botos, are a flagship species and a symbol of the huge range of wildlife in the rainforests.  They are also at the heart of many Amazonian myths and legends.

Swimming in small groups in rivers and lakes, and among submerged trees and shrubs in flooded forests, botos can be found as far inland as the upper reaches of Amazonian tributaries, more than 1,615 miles (2,600 km) from the sea. But their days could be numbered. Nobody knows for sure how many are left in the wild but we know they face many threats.  And worryingly, in many areas dramatic declines in river dolphin numbers have been detected due to illegal poaching. Botos are cruelly and illegally killed and their meat and blubber are used to bait fish.

Adding to their troubles is the dam-building frenzy underway in the Amazon. 140 hydropower dams have already been built to generate electricity to fuel economic development, especially in Brazil. Dams disrupt river flow, natural flood cycles and nutrient deposition and they also create impenetrable barriers for species that migrate through river waters. Scientists warn that ‘thousands of species could be affected and may even go extinct.’ They state that the future of the entire Amazon River basin, its diverse wetlands and unique wildlife are in jeopardy as the damage wreaked by hundreds of proposed dams will be irreversible.

So what can be done?  Scientists are calling for Amazon-wide regional evaluations of dam proposals rather than the current local dam-by-dam assessments by individual countries.  The Amazon basin spans nine South American countries and they will need to work together and consider the consequences of proposed dam-building including the cumulative environmental and social impacts, which will be permanent.

So far dams have been justified locally as needing to supply energy for economic development. However, there are alternative ways of generating power in the region, including solar power, wind power, geothermal energy and small hydroelectric plants. Governments, scientists, developers and the energy sector need to cooperate to evaluate and develop these alternatives for the Amazon basin before it’s too late.

Amazon River dolphins have already been split into fragmented groups by dams. These groups of dolphins become isolated and gene-flow between them is affected, which in turn makes the population more vulnerable to other threats including environmental impacts (such as those brought by climate change and disease), hunting and more dams.

Today, in Asia, river dolphins are more endangered than those in South America, one of them, the baiji or Chinese river dolphin has already gone extinct in recent times (2007). Fragmentation and habitat degradation contributed to the baiji’s extinction and declining numbers of the Indus River dolphin and the Ganges River dolphin. WDC has been working to protect river dolphins and their flooded forest homes in South America for almost 30 years, and it’s not too late to prevent the repeat of these same mistakes and to save the Amazon River dolphin from further declines and eventual extinction. River dolphins may be the little-known relative of their sea swimming cousins, but in a few years, it’s possible that they won’t be remembered at all.