Posts Tagged ‘Homes for Whales and Dolphins’
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 MoreLast chance to see pink river dolphins?
I was lucky enough to go on the trip of a lifetime recently, to the rainforest of Peru. I’d been planning for this trip for a long time, scraping together any spare cash over the years and finally, I got my chance. Working in the fundraising team at WDC we often talk about all the…
Read MoreWDC helping to shape the future for UK dolphins and porpoises
Last week, WDC took part in a two day workshop to help shape a “UK Dolphin and Porpoise Conservation Strategy”. We hope the strategy, once finalised will help to protect these species from bycatch, disturbance, pollution, noise and other pressures, individually as well as collectively. We warmly welcome this initiative, which has developed from an…
Read MoreEndangered dolphins disappearing from river in Bangladesh
A population of one of the world’s most endangered dolphins is under serious threat in the Halda River, Bangladesh. In the four month period up to February, 17 South Asian river dolphins (also known as the Ganges River dolphin) died in the river and experts are now calling for their home to be declared a sanctuary…
Read MoreScottish government proposes new protected areas for marine life, including whales and dolphins
After years of campaigning by WDC and others, the Scottish government announced today that it is considering the creation of four new marine protected areas (MPAs) around its coastline, which will now go out for public consultation. WDC first proposed the three sites that include Risso’s dolphins and minke whales back in 2011. Thanks to…
Read MoreBycatch responsible for two more species being placed on the Endangered List!
Unfortunately, 2017 is not turning out to be a great year for whales, dolphins and porpoises with the numbers of some species dropping to worrying levels. Added to the list of “endangered” species by the IUCN are the Irrawaddy dolphin and the finless porpoise both having had their numbers more than halved over the last…
Read MoreDeath of a species
The discovery of yet another dead endangered North Atlantic right whale off Virginia brings the loss to a total of 18 dead since April, a devastating blow to the species during a year when only five calves were born. While 12 of the deaths occurred in Canadian waters between June and September, this latest mortality…
Read MoreUN wildlife summit agrees steps to protect homes for whales and dolphins
A major United Nation’s wildlife summit has agreed on steps to reduce threats to whales and dolphins around the world by identifying areas where they live, feed and breed. The 130 nation members attending the 12th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Convention on Migratory Species (CMS) meeting in Manila adopted the landmark…
Read MoreConserving Migratory Species
Some species of whales and dolphins can migrate many thousands of miles, travelling through the national waters of a number of different countries to get to their destinations. Others can live their lives more locally in the national waters of more than one country – take for example a dolphin in the Mediterranean Sea, in…
Read MoreWhere do whales, dolphins and other marine mammals live?
It’s a big ocean out there. We’re learning a lot about whales these days in nearshore waters but good information on where exactly they live in most of the ocean is in short supply. At the same time, a quarter of the 90 whale, dolphin and porpoise species are threatened and half are not well…
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