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Dolphins captured for captivity in Taiji. Image: Hans Peter Roth

Loved and killed – whales and dolphins in Japan

Protests and criticism from outside Japan in response to the slaughter of whales and dolphins...
Narwhal with beluga whales

Unusual Whale Adoptions

Kidzone - quick links Fun Facts Curious kids Blogs Fantastic fundraisers Gallery Splish and Splash...
Irrawaddy dolphin

Helping fishers protect dolphins in Sarawak, Borneo

Fishing nets are bad news for dolphins and porpoises, so we're working with local fishers...
Dolphin watching from Chanonry Point, Scotland. Image: WDC/Charlie Phillips

Discovering inner peace – whale and dolphin watching and mental wellbeing

Guest blog If you've ever seen whales or dolphins in the wild, you'll know that...
Whale tail

An ocean of hope

In a monumental, jaw-dropping demonstration of global community, the nations of the world made history...
North Atlantic right whale Porcia and her calf.

Critically Endangered Right Whale Babies Spotted

Kidzone - quick links Fun Facts Curious kids Blogs Fantastic fundraisers Gallery Splish and Splash...
The infamous killing cove at Taiji, Japan

Why the Taiji dolphin hunt can never be justified

Supporters of the dolphin slaughter in Japan argue that killing a few hundred dolphins every...
Image: Peter Linforth

Tracking whales from space will help us save them

Satellite technology holds one of the keys to 21st century whale conservation, so we're exploring...

Jack of All Trades

Jack of All Trades is a saying that dates back to the 16th Century.  It defines someone that is skilled in many different areas and most certainly applicable to the crew of the WDCS NA office.  The work of the past month is a testament to the multi-level talents exhibited by all in our office (with the possible exception of my time management skills, which has delayed this blog from going out until now!).

Whether it is pulling together information to protect dolphins in the Florida Keys, submitting a report on drive hunts to a journal for scientific publication, or writing to thank our supporters, we are writers, editors, journalists and story tellers.  And whether it was meeting with Cleo, a

young lady from California who organized a lemonade stand with her friends to raise funds for us, or co-sponsoring an Environmental Education seminar with NOAA, we are teachers and educators. The funds that support our work are interwoven into events,  grant applications and phone conversations that flow through the office on a daily basis.  And while none of us has formal IT training, we are all a bit more skilled at fixing computers and data base development than any of us would care to be.

But the one thing I can say we are not, is quitters.  Since I last touched base, another 200+ pilot whales were killed in a grind in the Faroe Islands bringing this year’s total to almost 500 needlessly slaughtered whales.  The body of a critically endangered right whale was found floating off Nova Scotia, entangled in fishing gear.  And we documented yet another fresh vessel wound on a six month old humpback calf off our coast.  Some days can be overwhelming but the only request I have ever had from anyone in this  office is to find them more time in a day to work on an issue.

Tomorrow we will be meeting to discuss the next issue of our newsletter celebrating the 25th year of WDCS in operation.  There will be no shortage of topics to discuss, just a shortage of time as I’m told that our meeting needs to be short as folks have to attend a meeting on whaling, a Whale SENSE evaluation on a whale watch boat, drop off a computer for repair (that we couldn’t fix ourselves) and get a mailing out the door. I’m sure the office phone will be ringing then too!  Just another regular day…………..

About Regina Asmutis-silvia

Executive director - WDC North America