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Hopes raised for whale and dolphin protection after last minute landmark nature agreement

WDC orca champion picks up award

Beatrice Whishart MSP picks up her Nature Champion award The Scottish Environment LINK, an organisation that brings together groups in Scotland to protect and enhance wildlife, landscape and the marine environment, has announced its MSP Nature Champion of the Year. The award has been shared this year by Jenni Minto is the MSP Nature Champion…

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Success! Removal of last river dams to help threatened orcas in the US

Great news has emerged from the US concerning our work to protect the endangered orca population known as the Southern Residents. The Southern Resident orcas of the Pacific Northwest is a group of just over 70 individuals, the only orca population listed as endangered in the US and, after decades of campaigning work by tribes, conservation…

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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…

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Popular 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…

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Elusive whale seen alive for the first time

Using DNA evidence, scientists have been able to officially confirm the first live sightings of the Sato’s beaked whale. Up to now the only Sato’s whales seen have been the few that have washed up dead and some unconfirmed reports from whale hunters. As a result, we know very little about their lives, habits, where…

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Pumps and conveyor belts. How could more whales help save us?

Humpback whales in Alaska

We are excited to announce backing for two ground-breaking research projects to assess the little understood impact whales have on marine productivity and carbon capture.  The projects, run by scientists from US and UK universities, will explore the extent to which whales transfer vital nutrients as they feed, defecate and migrate.  The Alaska Whale Pump…

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50-Year Vision launched to save whales and dolphins from extinction

WDC has joined the world’s leading wildlife protection and conservation organisations urging the 88 member countries of the International Whaling Commission (IWC – the body that regulates whaling) to adopt a new 50-Year Vision to save whales, dolphins and porpoises from extinction in the face of increasing ocean threats. The vision document has been launched…

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Can space technology tell us how many whales there are?

One of the world’s leading professional services firms, Deloitte has joined with WDC in a bid to explore how space technology can tell us more about whales, and how to protect them.  This exciting project is part of Deloitte’s Gravity Challenge, a global programme that encourages corporates, entrepreneurs and universities to use innovative space technology to…

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