What now for the whales of Japan?
News that Shinzo Abe is stepping down as Japan’s prime minister could be another nail in the coffin for the country’s whaling industry. It offers the Japanese government a rare opportunity to press the reset button on a practice which costs it dearly, in subsidies and international reputation. Abe is Japan’s longest serving prime minister.…
Read MoreHow has the world changed for whale and dolphin protection?
A veteran conservationist looks back… I’m Dr Mike Bossley and I’ve been engaged in research, conservation and education for the past 50 years. I’ve worked with and for WDC, Whale and Dolphin Conservation for about 25 of those years, having headed-up Greenpeace Australia in the late 1970s and early 80s. Although technically semi-retired, here I…
Read MoreSurely coronavirus teaches us we shouldn’t be eating whales or dolphins?
There is no denying that COVID-19 is on track to becoming the worst pandemic in modern history. However, it’s an uncomfortable truth that we are responsible for the situation we find ourselves in. Respect for animals and their habitats is integral to human health and welfare and were it not for our complete disregard for…
Read MoreWhaling: an inconvenient truth – the hunters are not only killing whales, they are killing us too.
As we hope for an end to the coronavirus crisis, we should reflect on another existential threat – the climate change – a threat which is advancing even as we isolate ourselves at home to protect one another. One has to hope that the selfish approach of some governments to the pandemic will come to…
Read MoreOutrage as Norway’s government says its whalers are ‘essential workers’
If you are able to help with a donation it would mean the world right now: Yes, I’ll donate I’m writing from my desk in the corner of my dining room, where I’m hot desking most days with my 12 year-old son. His school has been closed for several weeks and I’m juggling home schooling…
Read MoreHow we’re protecting whales and dolphins across borders
It’s all very well individual nations putting their own conservation plans into action, but what about species, like whales, dolphins and porpoises, that don’t just stay in one country – how do we protect them? Last week I told you that I was at a meeting of the Convention on Conservation of Migratory Species (or…
Read MoreHow we’re tackling whaling in Norway
We’re helping to spearhead a campaign – supported by an international coalition of almost 40 conservation and animal welfare organisations – calling on airlines flying between Norway and Japan to pledge not to carry or promote whale meat. Appetite for whale meat is dwindling. Fewer people in whaling countries want to eat it and so…
Read MoreConservation in action – working on an international stage to protect whales and dolphins
Unlike us humans, whales, dolphins and porpoises don’t entertain the concept of borders. For them it’s not the artificial construct of imaginary barriers that prevents them from living their life as they please, for them it’s all just one big connected ocean (or river). For those species that migrate, whether it’s a journey from one…
Read MoreHope springs eternal for an end to whaling in Iceland
As January morphs into February, my pleasure at the prospect of lengthening days and the return of spring is normally tempered by a dull gnawing in the pit of my stomach as this is also the time of year when Icelandic whalers confirm their intention to hunt whales in the coming season. This year, however,…
Read MoreWhaling in Japan, who wins and who loses?
As the G20 global leaders meet in Japan, Whale and Dolphin Conservation’s CEO, Chris Butler-Stroud reflects on the political motivations that keep the whaling industry alive, despite the fact that up to 95% of Japanese people very rarely or never eat whale meat. So it would appear that those in control of Japanese whaling policy…
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