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
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...

U.S. Defense Bill weakens protections for whales

24 July 2018, Plymouth, MA:

The FY2019 National Defense Authorization Act conference report was released by Congress yesterday, and it’s not great news for whales.  The report includes a rider that weakens provisions in the US Marine Mammal Protection Act, but not to the extent the original rider had proposed. 

This NDAA will extend the time between the Navy’s required environmental reviews to analyze the harm caused to marine mammals while conducting training and readiness activities.  Currently, these reviews must occur every five years; the change extends the time to seven years.  The original proposal would have extended the review period to ten years.  The majority of harm posed by Naval exercises to marine mammals is related to sonar and underwater explosives, both of which have been known to harass, injure, and/or kill a variety of marine species. 

 “Protecting our country and our whales should not be mutually exclusive,” said Colleen Weiler, WDC Jessica Rekos Fellow for Orca Conservation. “The Navy’s slogan is ‘Forged by the Sea’ but by reducing its accountability for impacts on marine life, the future Navy cadets will be forged by an empty sea as increasing numbers of marine mammals are harmed without a timely review.”  This rider was included despite opposition by more than 100 House Democrats.

You can help WDC continue our work defending marine mammals and the laws that protect them by becoming a Flippin’ Awesome member!