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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?

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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...

How not to save a species!

Less than a week after the International Whaling Commission (IWC) urged the Government of New Zealand to do more to save the critically endangered Maui’s dolphin there has been a dramatic turn of events.  Instead of establishing more protective measures to save this endemic species, the NZ Government have in fact opened up a potential 3,000 square kilometres of the West Coast North Island Marine Mammal Sanctuary – the Maui dolphins home – for oil and gas drilling. 

New Zealand dolphin (Hector's dolphin)

This decision demonstrates the NZ government’s complete indifference to the plight of this population of the New Zealand dolphin. At this stage however, the most important threat to these dolphins remains being caught in nets. If these are not eliminated from the dolphin’s habitat there will probably be no dolphins left by the time the oil rigs start drilling.

In the meantime, as there will be an election in New Zealand in late September, WDC is busy lobbying politicians to advocate policies designed to protect the dolphins, namely the declaration of a real sanctuary (and not one that can be opened up for industry on a whim) which provides protection from nets, oil and gas extraction, sea bed mining and other threats – let’s just hope it’s not too late.

About Nicola Hodgins

Policy Manager at WDC