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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...

San Francisco recognises whales’ and dolphins’ right to freedom

Reports are emerging of a landmark resolution passed this week by the San Francisco Board of Supervisors recognising whales’ and dolphins’ right to freedom from captivity.

According to reports the resolution states that whales and dolphins deserve ‘to be free of captivity, and to remain unrestricted in their natural environment’. The resolution was championed by Commissioner Russell Tenofsky and backed by both San Francisco Supervisor Scott Wiener, Dr Lori Marino and sponsored by Earth Island Institute’s International Marine Mammal Project.

An earlier initiative known as the Malibu proclamation, which reflects the sentiments outlined in the Declaration of Rights for Cetaceans: whales and dolphins provides another great example of progressive thinking at the local level. This may provide a future example of how the principles of the Declaration of Rights for Cetaceans may be implemented at the municipal or state level.

With Sea World shares and popularity plummeting, this great news from San Francisco, the Malibu proclamation and even the Indian Government citing the intelligence and sentience of dolphins as a reason to ban any future development of dolphinaira, is this the death knell of the cetacean captivity industry finally tolling?

Meanwhile, in a truly ground-breaking case the Non-human Rights Project are awaiting the outcome of an appeal court hearing for the chimpanzee known as Tommy. They argue, using the scientific evidence, that he should be recognised by the court as a legal person and that he should be granted the right to bodily liberty and integrity and given sanctuary from the tiny cage in which he resides.

The decision on Tommy’s case is expected within the next four to six weeks.  WDC is working with the Non-human Rights Project to see how similar cases for whales and dolphins in captivity might one day be heard in US courts.




Follow the ongoing campaign for whale and dolphin rights with WDC.