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
A Baby Humpback Whale Plays Near the Surface in Blue Water

New report by Deloitte and WDC does a deep dive into the opportunities for businesses in embracing oceanic biodiversity

Whale and Dolphin Conservation (WDC) and Deloitte have released a new report that shines a...

Dead whale beauty products to be sold in Japanese vending machine stores

https://au.whales.org/2023/05/12/dead-whale-beauty-products-to-be-sold-in-japanese-vending-machine-stores/

Arrests made following illegal whale meat smuggling from Japan to South Korea

Customs authorities in Busan, South Korea, have arrested six people for allegedly smuggling at least...

New report on Icelandic hunts reveals whale can take two hours to die

Fin whale with unexploded grenade harpoon embedded in his or her side. © Hard To...

The last river dolphin

Baby the captive river dolphin

A river dolphin held captive in Duisburg Zoo, Germany, has died leaving just one remaining river dolphin in the world in captivity.

Baby (also known as Orinoco or Butu) was 47 when he died at the zoo this week. He led a sad life, captured at a very young age together with his mother and three other individuals in Rio Apure (Venezuela).

Baby had been ill and was eventually put to sleep. This means that only one river dolphin, named Huayrurin, remains captive in a tank and is kept in the Peruvian port city of Iquitos.

There are four species of river dolphins that live in the major rivers of Asia and South America. They tend to look like primitive marine dolphins and this is because their ancestors lived in the ocean. River dolphins have slender beaks lined with lots of teeth, small eyes, flexible necks and bodies, pronounced forehead melons, large flippers and small dorsal fins.

The IUCN (International Union for the Conservation for Nature) – the body that assesses the survival prospects of plants, animals and fungi – recently placed the tucuxi river dolphin on it’s endangered species Red List, which means that all the world's freshwater dolphins are now threatened.

Find out more about how we are working to create sanctuaries for whales and dolphins and to end the cruel practice of keeping them in captivity for human entertainment.

Please make a donation

Help us end captivity for good

Leave a Comment