Posts by Danny Groves
Antibiotic resistance in dolphins mirrors trend seen in humans
Samples collected from dolphins by scientists over a 12 year period indicate that dolphins may be mirroring the trend in human resistance to antibiotic drugs. Researchers looked at the samples from bottlenose dolphins living in the Indian River Lagoon in Florida between 2003 and 2015 and found that nearly 90% of the 733 samples taken…
Read MoreCanada to move two captive belugas to theme park in Spain
Two captive beluga whales are to be moved from the Marineland theme park in Canada to a Spanish facility, despite the Canadian government recently banning live imports and exports of these marine mammals, and the capture of wild whales, dolphins and porpoises for aquaria. The Canadian Fisheries Minister approved the permits for the move under exceptions…
Read MoreWDC in talks with New Zealand‘s Minister for Conservation over dolphin protection
WDC team meets NZ Minister for Conservation Representatives from Whale and Dolphin Conservation have met with New Zealand’s Minister for Conservation, Eugenie Sage to discuss much-needed protection for Māui and Hector’s dolphins. The meeting was secured as part of WDC’s campaign to save these dolphins (collectively known as New Zealand dolphins) and took place as the…
Read MoreFirst Bryde’s whale auction held after Japan resumes commercial hunts
An auction of Bryde’s whale meat has taken place in Japan, the first since the Japanese government decided to withdraw from the International Whaling Commission (the body that regulates whale hunting) several months ago, and ignore the current international ban on commercial hunts. Around 70 Bryde’s whales have been caught in the sea south of Aichi…
Read MoreMicroplastics found in brains of crabs is cause for alarm
Researchers at the University of Brighton have carried out the world’s first study into microplastics in the brains of a crustacean species, which could have wider implications for other marine creatures like whales and dolphins. After feeding polystyrene fluorescent microplastic spheres to mussels, the researchers then fed these mussels to velvet swimming crabs. The stomach,…
Read MoreHuge success for WDC campaign as Virgin Holidays ends SeaWorld trips
Virgin Holidays has announced that it is to stop selling tickets to SeaWorld as part of a move to cut links with facilities that hold whales and dolphins in captivity for entertainment. The announcement represents a huge success for WDC’s ongoing campaign to stop tour operators promoting and supporting the captivity industry, a campaign that…
Read MoreCanada ends whale and dolphin captivity
The Canadian government has officially passed Bill S-203, the Ending the Captivity of Whales and Dolphins Act. From this point it an offence in Canada to keep captive, breed, import, or export any whale, dolphin, or porpoise. However, there are exemptions for whales and dolphins currently in captivity, as well as for rescue and rehabilitation efforts. There are…
Read MoreRussian company behind infamous ‘whale jail’ is fined
A Russian company behind the ‘whale jail’ housing 10 orcas and over 80 beluga whales in the east of the country has been fined 28.1 million roubles ($433,000; £430,000) according to reports. Captured last year for possible sale to Chinese captivity theme parks, the individuals are currently held in cramped sea pens in Srednyaya Bay…
Read MoreHow you fly two beluga whales home to the ocean
Ahead of the relocation of Little White and Little Grey to the world’s first open water sanctuary for belugas, we gave international media the opportunity to discover how this epic 6,000-mile journey will be delivered to plan, and speak to some of the expert team involved in making this as comfortable a journey as possible…
Read MoreBan on plastic straws in UK announced
The UK Government has announced a ban on the sale of plastic straws, plastic stemmed cotton buds and plastic stirrers. The ban will come into place in England from next April in the hope that it will help reduce the effect of plastic on the environment. Billions of plastic straws, buds and stirrers are discarded…
Read More