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
Vaquita. Photo Thomas Jefferson

Scientific Committee gives first ever official species extinction warning

Photo: Thomas Jefferson We have welcomed the urgent call by experts to protect the vaquita...
blue whale

Whale fossil from Peru may have been heavier than blue whale

Scientists examining the bones of a 39 million-year-old ancient whale have concluded that it may...
Humpback whale © Christopher Swann

Humpback whales breach in synchronisation

Humpback whales are renowned for their incredible acrobatic displays, but a family in the USA...
Long-finned pilot whale

Unusual activity witnessed before pilot whale stranding

Just days after a pod of long-finned pilot whales stranded on an island in the...
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...

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...

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...

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...

SOS alert for whales off Norway!

I have to admit to bitter disappointment when I arrived in Tromsø, northern Norway, a...

Kinder Morgan stalls, but so does Canadian Government on orca recovery

In good news from Canada, Kinder Morgan has stopped all “non-essential production” of its Trans Mountain pipeline as the province of British Columbia and many First Nations continue to fight the proposal in court.  The pipeline expansion would increase the number of oil tankers – by as many as 408 per year, a 700% increase – travelling through federally designated critical habitat for the endangered Southern Resident orca community.

Citing concerns from shareholders and political risks, Kinder Morgan stopped non-essential spending and construction in early April, and gave the Canadian Federal Government until May 31st to provide assurance to the company and develop an agreement with those opposing the pipeline.  Prime Minister Trudeau continues to support the pipeline, despite multiple environmental concerns and the recognized impacts to the endangered orcas that his administration has committed to protecting.

And despite that promised commitment to protect the endangered Southern Resident orcas and increase recovery efforts, the Canadian Government has continued to stall in identifying and enacting any new initiatives to help the orcas and their primary food, Chinook salmon.  The Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) acknowledged a petition submitted earlier this year by a coalition of Canadian conservation groups, but has yet to take action and issue the requested emergency order.

Canada has developed significant actions on the East Coast to protect endangered North Atlantic right whales after an unprecedented 18 deaths, 12 of which were in Canadian waters, in less than a year.  DFO is capable of taking action, but is lagging far behind in following through on its promise to recover Southern Resident orcas.

Help WDC protect the home of the Southern Resident orcas:  Sign our letter to expand critical habitat.