Posts by Danny Groves
More important ocean areas for whales and dolphin protection identified
Scientists and observers from many different countries have identified and mapped 36 new Important Marine Mammal Areas (IMMAs), from northern Mexico to the southern tip of Chile. IMMAs are essentially portions of ocean important to marine mammal species that have the potential to be set aside for conservation management. The addition of the latest 36…
Read MoreWhale meat fetches record high at Japan auction
Sei whale meat is being sold at a record high in Japan according media reports there. Ironically, whilst delegates from around the world at COP27 discuss ways to tackle climate change, tail meat from one of our biggest ocean allies in the fight against climate breakdown (whales) is fetching 500,000 yen (about $3,600) per kilo…
Read MoreRescuers find young girl’s body surrounded by dolphins
Reports from South Africa about a tragic drowning off Llandudno beach, Cape Town say that the body of a teenager was found surrounded by a pod of dolphins. Rescue services launched a search for the missing 15-year-old girl who is thought to have slipped off the rocks and been swept away by strong currents. Her body…
Read MoreNearly 500 whales die in New Zealand
The number of pilot whales that have died following a mass stranding in New Zealand has reached nearly 500. Officials are putting the current number of deaths at 477, which occurred on two remote beaches on the Chatham Islands, around 500 miles east of New Zealand’s main islands. The remote location hindered attempts to refloat…
Read More148 more fin whales killed in waters around Iceland
The Icelandic fin whaling season has now ended with a final, grim tally of 148 whales slaughtered since June. These hunts were the first in Icelandic waters for four years when, in 2018, 146 fin whales were killed, including at least two rare blue whale/fin whale hybrids and a dozen pregnant females. Since 2006, the company responsible…
Read MoreHundreds of whales killed as Norwegian hunt season ends
The end of the whaling season in Norway has been announced with 580 minke whales killed by 13 hunting vessels in just under six months. Norway’s minister of fisheries had set a quota (number that can be killed) of 917 whales for this season. Thankfully that number was not reached but this was still the deadliest…
Read MoreThird orca death in 18 months at theme park
Loro Parque tourist attraction in Tenerife, Spain has announced the death of Kohana, a 20-year-old orca transferred to the facility from SeaWorld in the US in 2006. Kohana is the third orca who has died at the facility within 18 months after Skyla (17 years old) died in March 2021, and Ula (three years old),…
Read MoreDolphin slaughter in Japan resumes
The annual slaughter of various species of dolphin has begun in the waters around Taiji in Japan. These awful hunts, which are expected to run until March next year, involved the corralling of dolphins at sea by small boats and driving them into the confines of a cove, where they are slaughtered for meat or…
Read MorePopular humpback whale is killed by passing ship
A humpback whale popular with whale watchers in waters off California and Mexico has died after being struck by a passing ship. Known as Fran, the 50-foot whale was found washed up on the shore in Half Moon Bay south of San Francisco earlier this week, and her death now raises concerns for the survival…
Read MoreIceland to monitor whale hunt cruelty
Following our call for an investigation into violations of the Icelandic Whaling and Animal Welfare Act by fin whale hunters in the country, fisheries minister Svandís Svavarsdóttir, has issued a regulation requiring her officials to begin onboard monitoring of the hunts with immediate effect, a move that could bring them to an end. Together with…
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