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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...

Japanese company guilty of illegal whaling in Australian sanctuary

A court in Sydney, Australia has imposed a AUS$1 million fine ($USD 700k, £465k) on a Japanese company over its whaling activities in the Australian Whale Santuary in Antarctica.

The company, Kyodo Senpaku Kaisha, was found guilty of killing whales on four separate visits between December 2008 and March 2014, despite a previous court ruling prohibiting it from doing so. The judge, Justice Margaret Jagot, found the company in contempt of court, saying the whaling was a “deliberate, systematic and sustained” breach of the previous ruling, which had been applied under Australia’s Environmental Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act.

The ruling comes as the Japanese government considers renewing its whaling activities in Antarctica. Previously it had agreed to abide by a ruling by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) that found that the hunts were not being conducted for scientific research and must stop. However, in October the Japanese government told the UN that the ICJ’s jurisdiction “does not apply to … any dispute arising out of, concerning, or relating to research on, or conservation, management or exploitation of, living resources of the sea”.

In April of this year, the Scientific Committee of the International Whaling Commission (IWC) rejected Japan’s latest request for a scientific whaling quota. The Australian Government is now considering its options following Japan’s decision to ignore the ICJ’s ruling.


About George Berry

George is a member of WDC's Communications team and website coordinator.