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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...
Irrawaddy dolphin

Helping fishers protect dolphins in Sarawak, Borneo

Fishing nets are bad news for dolphins and porpoises, so we're working with local fishers...
Dolphin watching from Chanonry Point, Scotland. Image: WDC/Charlie Phillips

Discovering inner peace – whale and dolphin watching and mental wellbeing

Guest blog If you've ever seen whales or dolphins in the wild, you'll know that...
Whale tail

An ocean of hope

In a monumental, jaw-dropping demonstration of global community, the nations of the world made history...
The infamous killing cove at Taiji, Japan

Why the Taiji dolphin hunt can never be justified

Supporters of the dolphin slaughter in Japan argue that killing a few hundred dolphins every...
Image: Peter Linforth

Tracking whales from space will help us save them

Satellite technology holds one of the keys to 21st century whale conservation, so we're exploring...
Fishers' involvement is crucial. Image: WDC/JTF

When porpoises and people overlap

We're funding a project in Hong Kong that's working with fishing communities to help save...

Mindful conservation – why we need a new respect for nature

'We should look at whales and dolphins as the indigenous people of the seas -...
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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...

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...

WDC helping to shape the future for UK dolphins and porpoises

Last week, WDC took part in a two day workshop to help shape a “UK Dolphin and Porpoise Conservation Strategy”. We hope the strategy, once finalised will help to protect these species from bycatch, disturbance, pollution, noise and other pressures, individually as well as collectively. We warmly welcome this initiative, which has developed from an idea that was first introduced in the harbour porpoise Special Areas of Conservation public consultation in preparation for site-based marine protected areas back in 2016 and was also a commitment that the Scottish government agreed to back in 2017, in its programme for government.

This new UK Dolphin and Porpoise Conservation Strategy is being developed by Marine Scotland in collaboration with the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), the Welsh Government and UK Nature Conservation Bodies including the Joint Nature Conservation Committee (JNCC), Natural England (NE), Natural Resources Wales (NRW) and Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH).

The Strategy will provide regulators, public authorities and all other stakeholders with a summary of the pressures that may affect dolphin and porpoise species in UK waters, with the aim of ensuring effective management to achieve and/or maintain favourable conservation status for these species. It will develop a series of actions to support a joined up approach to management with both site-specific Marine Protected Area (MPA) and wider seas measures working together to conserve dolphin and porpoise populations.

One of the ways this can be done is to tackle the huge numbers of dolphins and porpoises that die in UK and non-UK fishing net and gear (bycatch). 76,000 of you signed our petition to call for better bycatch measures, which we presented to George Eustice, the UK Fisheries Minister. We have heard from Mr Eustice about his commitment to reduce bycatch on a number of occasions now and bycatch measures will be included in the new Strategy.

WDC was instrumental in getting the UK government to commit to tackling bycatch. Now we are at the table and helping to shape it and future actions for the other pressures that dolphins and porpoises face in UK waters. The strong public feeling, and the pressure that we have collectively brought to bear through our public campaign, and our day-to-day political work, has helped to get us to this point. We are working closely with the UK and devolved governments (Scotland, N.Ireland and Wales), as well as other NGOs and stakeholders, to continually reduce dolphin and porpoise deaths in fishing gear in UK waters in the years to come.

Your support and actions are having an impact. There will be a public consultation on the UK Dolphin and Porpoise Conservation Strategy and we will let you know how you can take part and continue to help to ensure that dolphins and porpoises get all the protection that they deserve, and that are required under existing laws.

PLEASE DONATE NOW TO SUPPORT THIS WORK AND HELP US STOP DOLPHIN AND PORPOISE DEATHS IN NETS