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Dolphin in Brazil helping with fishing illustration

Dolphins and fishermen working together

Kidzone - quick links Fun Facts Curious kids Blogs Fantastic fundraisers Gallery Splish and Splash...
Gray whale (eschrichtius robustus) Gray whale in Ojo de liebre lagoon Baja California.

Why we’re walking for whales to save the world

We've got enormous ambitions when it comes to fighting climate breakdown, and so two members...
Dolphins with keepers in the new Windsor Safari Park. Image: PA Images/Alamy Stock Photo

Three decades on from UK’s last dolphin show, what needs to change?

The UK hasn't had captive whales and dolphins on display for 30 years, but it's...
Fishers' involvement is crucial. Image: WDC/JTF

When porpoises and people overlap

We're funding a project in Hong Kong that's working with fishing communities to help save...
Whale evolution cover

How did whales end up living in the ocean?

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

Scottish fishers working with us to reduce risks to whales

Small changes to fishing gear could make a big difference to whales around Scotland, and...

Mindful conservation – why we need a new respect for nature

'We should look at whales and dolphins as the indigenous people of the seas -...
tins of whale meat

How Japan’s whaling industry is trying to convince people to eat whales

Japan's hunters kill hundreds of whales every year despite the fact that hardly anyone in...

Whale graveyard uncovered

Scientists have uncovered what is thought to be the world’s largest whale graveyard after stumbling across dozens of skeletons of fossilised baleen whales whilst carrying out construction works on the Pan-American highway in Chile.

Although the area, known as Cerro Ballena or “whale hill”, is famed locally for its abundance of hidden and fossilised skeletons, the newly discovered collection of fossils, some in perfect condition, make this part of the Atacama region in Chile world-famous.

Adopt a humpback whale

Having lain undisturbed for between six and nine million years, scientists believe that the whales all ended up on “whale hill” as a result of four separate mass stranding over a period of 10,000 years. The fossilised remains included skeletons of an extinct species of sperm whale, a walrus-toothed whale and an aquatic sloth however researchers believe that this discovery is just the tip of the iceberg and that many more remain hidden awaiting discovery.

One of the palaeontologists noted “we managed to sample all the superstars of the fossil marine-mammal world in south America in the Late Miocene. Just an incredibly dense accumulation of species.” This bodes for exciting times in marine mammal science as our knowledge of extinct species and cetacean evolution is about to be radically expanded.

About Nicola Hodgins

Policy Manager at WDC