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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...

SeaWorld petition targeting British Airways supported by 50,000

A petition on the change.org website posted by WDC supporter, Kathleen Haase, has been signed by over 50,000 people. The petition calls on British Airways to break ties with SeaWorld, similar to WDC’s campaign urging Virgin to do the same. British Airways also sells tickets to SeaWorld to people booking holidays through them. British Airways does not carry whales and dolphins captured from the wild on its aircraft and WDC supports this campaign calling on them to extend their policy to address growing concerns about whale and dolphin captivity. 

The petition marks one of the more recent campaigns focused on SeaWorld’s incarceration of orcas for entertainment, ahead of a two-day meeting taking place this week in the United States and organised by Virgin, to look at the future of captive whale and dolphin tourism. WDC will be represented at the meeting along with other NGOs, travel industry representatives and businesses such as SeaWorld. A recent report from SeaWorld’s Jim Atchison suggests SeaWorld has not imported wild-caught whales and dolphins for three decades. WDC wonders how that position will be upheld with SeaWorld currently seeking to import wild-caught belugas from Russia, as part of a proposal by the Georgia Aquarium, denied by the US government but currently undergoing appeal. 

About Cathy Williamson

Cathy Williamson was policy manager of our End Captivity Programme until July 2021.