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WDC exposes failure of Government scheme to protect whales and dolphins from net deaths

Following our investigations, we have revealed that a UK Government scheme to protect whales and...

First cases of bird flu in dolphins discovered in the UK

The UK Government has announced that two dolphins and a harbour porpoise have died from...
Kiska the orca

Kiska the ‘world’s loneliest whale’ dies at Canadian theme park

Kiska, dubbed the loneliest whale in the world, has died at Marineland, a zoo and...

Man charged in US for harassing whale

Police in the US are investigating reports of a man known as 'Dolphin Dave' repeatedly...

Large group of whales strand on Scottish coastline

Poor weather hampered attempts by rescuers to save a large group of pilot whales that have stranded on the shore at Staffin on Skye earlier this week.

21 pilot whales got into difficulty in the remote location on Monday evening. Three died, including a mother who had to be euthanised after her calf died, but the rescue team managed to refloat 18 other whales at about 04:00 on Tuesday morning. 

Later on Tuesday, some of the remaining whales restranded on Staffin Island itself. Sadly, four more died while rescuers were unable to save two others. However, the remaining whales were eventually refloated and pushed back into open water on the next high tide. The surviving whales are now thought to have left the area.

Pilot whales often strand in large groups. They live in very tight social groups and usually when they strand it appears that either a lead individual has made a navigational mistake, or one individual has become sick or wounded and led the rest of its pod onto the shore.