Skip to content
All news
  • All news
  • About whales & dolphins
  • Corporates
  • Create healthy seas
  • End captivity
  • Green Whale
  • Prevent deaths in nets
  • Scottish Dolphin Centre
  • Stop whaling
  • Stranding
  • Whale watching
A Baby Humpback Whale Plays Near the Surface in Blue Water

New report by Deloitte and WDC does a deep dive into the opportunities for businesses in embracing oceanic biodiversity

Whale and Dolphin Conservation (WDC) and Deloitte have released a new report that shines a...

Dead whale beauty products to be sold in Japanese vending machine stores

https://au.whales.org/2023/05/12/dead-whale-beauty-products-to-be-sold-in-japanese-vending-machine-stores/

Arrests made following illegal whale meat smuggling from Japan to South Korea

Customs authorities in Busan, South Korea, have arrested six people for allegedly smuggling at least...

New report on Icelandic hunts reveals whale can take two hours to die

Fin whale with unexploded grenade harpoon embedded in his or her side. © Hard To...

Vancouver Aquarium display of whales and dolphins to end

After years of opposition from anti-captivity campaigners, the Vancouver Aquarium has finally announced that it will no longer keep whales and dolphins in captivity. Last year, the Vancouver Park Board which runs Stanley Park where the Aquarium is based, voted to stop the aquarium from bringing in any new whales and dolphins in the future. The Aquarium, which currently holds one Pacific white-sided dolphin, opposed the decision but has now agreed that it will end its captivity programme.

WDC Policy Manager, Rob Lott welcomed the decision. “We are delighted to hear that Vancouver Aquarium will no longer display whales and dolphins. This surprising but welcome decision is another nail in the coffin for the captivity industry and comes after a long battle between the Aquarium and the City’s Park Board and animal welfare advocates, like WDC, who successfully argued that public opinion had shifted on the issue of keeping whales and dolphins in tanks.

Four whales and dolphins have died at the aquarium in the last 12 months and the future for Helen, the sole remaining dolphin, is uncertain. WDC is now calling on the Aquarium to assess Helen, together with the reported four belugas Vancouver currently has on loan to other institutions, as potential candidates to be moved to a more natural sea sanctuary environment like the one that WDC is establishing with Melrin Entertainments in Iceland.”

Find out more about WDC’s sanctuary work for beluga whales and support our work.