Skip to content
All news
  • All news
  • About whales & dolphins
  • Corporates
  • Create healthy seas
  • End captivity
  • Green Whale
  • Prevent deaths in nets
  • Scottish Dolphin Centre
  • Stop whaling
  • Stranding
  • Whale watching
Japanese whaling ship

Infamous whale slaughter ship docks for the final time

The whaling ship, Nisshin Maru has returned to the port of Shimonoseki for the final...
Sperm whale

Dominica announces new protections for sperm whales

Dominica has placed almost 800 square kilometers of sea off the west coast of the...
Porpoise dies after becoming entangled in fishing net

UK government rejects chance to protect whales and dolphins

The government has formally rejected almost all of the crucial recommendations made in a House...
Common dolphins © Christopher Swann

Ocean areas selected for conservation are now in danger says task force

The international task force celebrating 10 years of work mapping out Important Marine Mammal Areas...

A win for critically endangered North Atlantic right whales in the New Year!

WDC welcomes today’s announcement by the US Bureau of Ocean Energy and Management (BOEM) denying six pending permits applications to conduct seismic testing along the mid-Atlantic and Southeast US coastlines.  Just last month, WDC celebrated President Obama’s decision to permanently protection areas in the northeast Atlantic from offshore drilling.  However, WDC remained concerned about the potential for seismic testing along the southeast US, the only known calving habitat for the critically endangered North Atlantic right whale.  The loud pulsing sounds produced 24 hours a day are known to harass, harm, and even kill whales and dolphins. 

Fewer than 500 North Atlantic right whales remain, and their survival is constantly threatened by human activity. In 2016, WDC and its conservation partners worked to get nearly 40,000 square miles of coastline designated as critical habitat for the species.  However, the looming threat of seismic testing and its impact on right whales remained.  Man-made noise increases stress hormones in right whales which can impact their ability to reproduce and lower their immune systems. 

Emerging research underscores the critical role North Atlantic right whales play in the ecosystem by supplying nutrients to phytoplankton which produces most of the world’s oxygen and is the base on which fish stocks depend.  According to Regina Asmutis-Silvia, WDC NA executive director, “To adequately protect right whales, we must protect their homes and to adequately protect this planet, we must protect its whales. Today’s announcement is not only a win for right whales, but for humans too.”