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Southern Resident whales

Ambitious plan to free captive orca Lolita announced

The new owner of the Miami Seaquarium in the US has announced that it is...
Gray whale

UN adopts High Seas Treaty to protect the ocean

At the UN 'High Seas Treaty' negotiations in New York, a historic vote for the...

Hopes raised for whale and dolphin protection after last minute landmark nature agreement

WDC's Ed Goodall (far right) at COP15 with Thérèse Coffey (centre) UK Secretary of State...

WDC orca champion picks up award

Beatrice Whishart MSP picks up her Nature Champion award The Scottish Environment LINK, an organisation...
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...

Scientists question court decision over orca Lolita’s captivity

Marine scientists from around the world are urging a US federal court to reconsider its recent decision on Lolita, a captive orca held for decades at the Miami Seaquarium.

In January, the 11th US Circuit Court of Appeals determined that the Seaquarium was not violating the Endangered Species Act by keeping Lolita in captivity in an undersized tank with little social companionship.

Lolita is a member of the Southern Resident orca population, which has been listed as endangered since 2005 and now has just over 70 individuals remaining in the wild.  Initially left out of their Endangered Species Act (ESA) designation because of her confinement in captivity, Lolita was officially added to the listing in 2015, which opened new legal avenues to seek protection for her from the harm caused by captivity.

Lolita (also called Tokitae) was caught in 1970 during the infamous Penn Cove captures, in which more than 80 Southern Resident orcas were trapped in nets and seven were sold to marine parks.  Of the estimated 47 Southern Resident orcas who were taken captive or died during the horrific era of live captures in the 1960s and 70s, Lolita is the only one still alive.

The court is ignoring the ‘physical, psychological and behavioral injuries’ Lolita has suffered in her 45 years of captivity, say researchers.

‘What is surprising is the panel’s conclusion that despite robust evidence to the contrary, these injuries do not ‘pose a threat of serious harm’ to Lolita,’

Marine researchers Joan Gonzalvo, Lori Marino, Sandro Mazzariol, Giuseppe Notarbartolo di Sciara, Alison Rieser and Naomi Rose filed a legal brief together with Aquatic Animal Law Initiative of Lewis & Clark Law School, which was formed last year to provide legal aid for aquatic animals.

At Seaquarium, Lolita is kept in an oblong tank 80 feet long and 20 feet deep. The 20-foot-long orca has lived at the Miami facility since 1970.

The brief argues that the 11th Circuit created a new legal standard for captive endangered species and then failed to analyze whether Lolita’s situation actually met the standard.

WDC is working to establish a sanctuary for beluga whales held in captivity – read more.

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