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WDC joins local protesters on anti whaling march in Iceland

Pressure mounts in Iceland as latest survey shows majority of local people want whale hunting to end

WDC joins local protesters on anti whaling march in Iceland For the first time, those...

New government marine wildlife code to help reduce dolphin disturbance

The launch today by UK Government of new guidance on how to act responsibly around...

UK government to extend ivory ban to stop the sale of orca teeth

Following the UK ban on the import, export and dealing of elephant ivory in 2022,...

Dead whale beauty products to be sold in Japanese vending machine stores

Antarctic minke whale alongside Japanese whaling ship. Photo © Jeremy Sutton-Hibbert Japanese whale hunting company,...

WDC demands change to law after study links hundreds of seal deaths to ducted ship propellers

A coalition of 26 wildlife and conservation groups, including WDC is demanding a Scottish, UK and international ban on the use of a specific type of propeller after a study conducted for the Scottish government by St Andrews University has linked their use to the deaths of hundreds of seals.

The research found that seals trapped in ducted propeller systems used on some workboats suffer horrific and fatal “corkscrew” injuries from the blades that sit inside a casing.  Ducted propellers make them more efficient at low speeds, but it now appears that the seals are sucked in and become trapped between the propeller blades and the casing.

“This is one of the UK’s biggest marine conservation and welfare tragedies,” said WDC’s Northeast Atlantic programme man­­ager, Sarah Dolman, who co-ordinated a joint protest letter to the Scottish government.

“Despite the worst-affected populations of harbour seals heading for local extinction, we have not seen any evidence that the UK and devolved governments plan to act to stop these needless deaths.”

About 100 seals have been officially confirmed killed in Scotland, most of them since 2010. However, many carcasses are not washed ashore and reported, so the numbers are likely to be a lot higher according to the study.