Whale advocates’ hopes were dashed at the recent International Whaling Commission (IWC) meeting in Lima, Peru, where a critical vote to establish a whale sanctuary was blocked. The proposed South Atlantic Whale Sanctuary would have made the South Atlantic permanently off limits to whaling, and has been considered at almost every IWC meeting since 1999. […]
Tag: whales
Sperm Whales Vanish from Gulf of California as Ecosystem Shifts
A new study highlights the concerning departure of sperm whales from Mexico’s Gulf of California, suggesting broader signs of ecosystem instability. The study, published in PeerJ Life and Environment, details how these apex predators have vanished from the region in response to dramatic drops in the jumbo squid population, their primary food source. Sperm whales […]
Orca baby born to Washington’s L pod
An orca has been born to the southern residents: L128, calf of a first-time, 31-year-old mom, L90. The baby is tiny, with clear fetal folds, making it probably about three days old. It was seen for the first time on Sunday, said Michael Weiss, research director for the Center for Whale Research, which confirmed the […]
Petition: Demand Iceland Ban Whale Hunting
Whale hunting is an extremely painful and cruel way to kill animals. Animals that haven’t even done anything wrong – they’re simply living their lives, swimming in their waters, when suddenly humans attack them with harpoons, leaving them to bleed out and suffer. Yet the government of Iceland has just approved a new license for […]
Petition: Urge Shipping Company to Reroute Ships to Avoid Whale-Ship Collisions
The Hellenic Trench in the Mediterranean is a key ecosystem for endangered sperm whales. Fewer than 200 of the majestic creatures are left alive in the area – and more die off all the time, often as a result of being hit by large ships. That’s why it’s so important for big shipping companies to […]
Australian government ‘deeply disappointed’ by Japan’s decision to expand commercial whaling target list
The Australian government is “deeply disappointed” by Japan’s decision to add the world’s second-largest whale species to the list of species its commercial whale hunters will target. Tanya Plibersek, the environment minister, attacked Japan’s decision to hunt fin whales – the world’s second-longest whale and considered vulnerable. The Japanese government this week confirmed it would […]
Anxious Atlantic rower films amazing footage of boat surrounded by a huge pod of whales
North Atlantic solo rower Tom Waddington was having a dull day. It was gray and rainy and there was little to alleviate the slog of his challenge to row from Newfoundland in Canada to Penzance in the UK (he started earlier this month). But all that was about change. Big time. And Waddington caught it […]
Seabirds Will Benefit from New Bill to Update Federal Fisheries Law
WASHINGTON (July 3, 2024) – Today, Reps. Jared Huffman (D-CA), Ed Case (D-HI), Mary Peltola (D-AK), and James Moylan (R-Guam) introduced the Sustaining America’s Fisheries for the Future Act of 2024, a bill that reauthorizes the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (MSA), our nation’s primary federal fisheries law. “This bill introduces stronger protections for […]