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We're at COP28 to Save the Whale, Save the World.

We’re at COP28 to save the whale, save the world

Ed Goodall Ed is WDC's head of intergovernmental engagement. He meets with world leaders to...
Gray whales from drone.

We’re taking steps to uncover the mysteries of whales

Vicki James Vicki is WDC's protected areas coordinator, she helps to create safe ocean spaces...
We must protect our non-human allies. Image: Tom Brakefield, aurore murguet, johan63

We’re urging governments to protect all of our climate heroes – CITES

Katie Hunter Katie supports WDC's engagement in intergovernmental conversations and is working to end captivity...
The Natütama Foundation are dedicated to protecting endangered river dolphins. Image: Natutama

Guardians of the Amazon: protecting the endangered river dolphins

Ali Wood Ali is WDC's education projects coordinator. She is the editor of Splash! and KIDZONE,...
Amazon river dolphins. Image: Fernando Trujillo/Fundacion Omacha

Amazon tragedy as endangered river dolphins die in hot water

Ali Wood Ali is WDC's education projects coordinator. She is the editor of Splash! and KIDZONE,...
Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphin © Mike Bossley/WDC

WDC in Japan – Part 3: Restoring freedom to dolphins in South Korea

Katrin Matthes Katrin is WDC's communications and campaigns officer for policy & communication in Germany...
Wintery scene in Iceland

Seeking sanctuary – Iceland’s complex relationship with whales

Hayley Flanagan Hayley is WDC's engagement officer, specialising in creating brilliant content for our website...
Whaling ship Hvalur 8 arrives at the whaling station with two fin whales

A summer of hope and heartbreak for whales in Icelandic waters

Luke McMillan Luke is WDC's Head of hunting and captivity. Now that the 2023 whaling season...
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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...

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...

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...

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...

Icelandic fin whale hunting to resume

Iceland’s only fin whaling company, Hvalur hf,  announced today that it will resume fin whaling...

We won for whales at the International Whaling Commission

We did it! We kept the whaling ban in place.

Our team has just returned from the 67th meeting of the International Whaling Commission (IWC, the body that regulates whaling).

We went with very clear goals. Now, after a week of heated discussions, it’s time to take stock and look at what we´ve achieved – I am pleased to say, quite a lot. I also wanted to say a big ‘thank you’ to all our wonderful supporters – we wouldn’t have won this victory without you!

First of all, Japan failed with its proposal to lift the international ban on whaling. A majority of IWC members confirmed that they believe in protecting whales, not killing them for profit. So the Japanese delegation had to return home empty handed. It was wonderful to see the counter initiative to this proposal was adopted with the support of many of the government delegates present. The ‘Florianopolis declaration’, named after the Brazilian city that hosted the meeting, was brought forward by the host country Brazil.

The Declaration highlights the key role of the IWC as a conservation body, the importance of whales for healthy oceans and the lack of need for lethal whale research and commercial whaling. It is the logical move and an important step in the right direction: This new Declaration aims to transform the IWC away from being a body that regulates whaling to one that conserves and protects whale populations.

However, it was still frightening to see how many supporters Japan was able to muster. It was this support that led to the failure to adopt the South Atlantic Whale Sanctuary, a proposal that has been tabled at IWC meetings since 1998.

Three proposals to increase the conservation mandate of the IWC succeeded. A resolution was passed agreeing the need for the IWC to advancing the understanding of the role whales play in maintaining healthy oceans. Another resolution agreed that the IWC should tackle the problem of human-made underwater noise, and a third resolved to take on the huge problem of ghost gear – discarded and abandoned fishing gear that causes suffering and death for many whales and dolphins.

All things considered, this was definitely a positive outcome for whales and a good sign of progress towards better protection. Given the many threats that whales and dolphins face (most of them caused by us humans, like pollution, habitat loss and entanglement in fishing gear) the last thing they need is for large-scale legal hunting to return.

But despite all this good news, there is still much left to do. Iceland and Norway were very vocal in their support for Japan and the issue of Japan´s ‘scientific’ whaling is yet to be resolved. More control was given to countries that kill whales for ‘cultural and nutritional needs’ – this will no doubt come back to bite us at future meetings and will be exploited by the proponents of commercial whaling quotas. We do have our work cut out for us and we need your continued help.

Around 2,000 whales are slaughtered every year and we need to make it stop. The remaining IWC loopholes must be closed and all commercial whaling must end for good. Thank you again for your support.

Please make a donation if you are able to –  without the kindness of our supporters we would not be able to continue our fight for a world where every whale and dolphin is safe and free.