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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,...

US to ban products that cause ‘plastic pollution’ in rivers and seas

The US government has announced that it will ban some care products contain microbeads from July 2017.
Microbeads are tiny pieces of plastic found in soap, toothpaste and body washes. They flow into seas, rivers and lakes where they are eaten by fish. This can lead to the spread of pollutants throughout the food chain, including to humans.

Fish are, of course, the standard food source for whales and dolphins and so the effects of plastic pollutants are simply transferred along the food chain. Indeed, these toxins are able to accumulate for much longer period of time inside a whale or dolphin than in fish, making the effect far worse the higher up the food chain they travel.

The US House of Representatives has approved a bill that would phase out the environmentally harmful items, and The Microbead Free Waters Act will now go to the Senate for final ratification.