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Amazon river dolphins leaping

Endangered river dolphins die in Amazon drought

Over 100 endangered pink river dolphins have died in an area of the Amazon over...
Fin whale

Short and cruel hunt season ends in Iceland

The shortened Icelandic fin whale hunts season has finished with a final total of 23...
Bottlenose dolphins breaching

Landmark report reveals UK wildlife’s devastating decline

With whales and dolphins already facing many threats, a landmark report released this week reveals...
Dolphins with oil rig

Go ahead for new UK oil and gas exploration threatens whales and dolphins

Permission has been granted for the development of the UK's biggest untapped oilfield off Shetland,...
All policy news
  • All policy news
  • Create healthy seas
  • End captivity
  • Prevent deaths in nets
  • Stop whaling
  • Strandings
Sperm whale © Douglas Hoffman

Featured policy news item

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Nunc magna elit, gravida at lectus vitae,...
sea_world_orlando_rob_lott

Holiday giant Thomas Cook stops selling tickets to Seaworld and Loro Parque

Holiday giant Thomas Cook stops selling tickets to Seaworld and Loro Parque Following a three...

Endangered Southern Resident orca loses newborn calf

In heartbreaking news from the Pacific Northwest, the Center for Whale Research has reported that...
srkw_shoup_2003_text

U.S. Defense Bill weakens protections for whales

24 July 2018, Plymouth, MA: The FY2019 National Defense Authorization Act conference report was released...
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
Amazon river dolphins leaping

Endangered river dolphins die in Amazon drought

Over 100 endangered pink river dolphins have died in an area of the Amazon over...
Fin whale

Short and cruel hunt season ends in Iceland

The shortened Icelandic fin whale hunts season has finished with a final total of 23...
Bottlenose dolphins breaching

Landmark report reveals UK wildlife’s devastating decline

With whales and dolphins already facing many threats, a landmark report released this week reveals...
Dolphins with oil rig

Go ahead for new UK oil and gas exploration threatens whales and dolphins

Permission has been granted for the development of the UK's biggest untapped oilfield off Shetland,...
All policy news
  • All policy news
  • Create healthy seas
  • End captivity
  • Prevent deaths in nets
  • Stop whaling
  • Strandings
Sperm whale © Douglas Hoffman

Featured policy news item

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Nunc magna elit, gravida at lectus vitae,...
sea_world_orlando_rob_lott

Holiday giant Thomas Cook stops selling tickets to Seaworld and Loro Parque

Holiday giant Thomas Cook stops selling tickets to Seaworld and Loro Parque Following a three...

Endangered Southern Resident orca loses newborn calf

In heartbreaking news from the Pacific Northwest, the Center for Whale Research has reported that...
srkw_shoup_2003_text

U.S. Defense Bill weakens protections for whales

24 July 2018, Plymouth, MA: The FY2019 National Defense Authorization Act conference report was released...

EU and 12 other nations condemn Japanese whale hunting in Antarctic

The European Union, together with 12 other nations, has issued a formal statement condemning Japan’s Antarctic whale hunting programme and rejected the Japanese government’s weak argument that the slaughter is for scientific research.

In addition to the EU, the letter was signed by Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Chile, Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Mexico, New Zealand, Panama, Peru and Uruguay. The countries expressed their ‘opposition to Japan’s so-called ‘scientific’ whaling in the Southern Ocean’ and confirmed their opposition to ‘commercial whaling, in particular in the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary established by the International Whaling Commission (IWC).’

The Japanese whaling fleet left port for Antarctica in November to kill up to 333 Antarctic minke whales by next March for ongoing ‘research’.  Japan uses the term scientific research to get around the current IWC (the organisation that regulates whale hunts) ban on commercial whaling, yet much of the whale meat from these ‘scientific’ hunts actually ends up on general sale in Japan.

The IWC’s own scientific committee has called into question the scientific value of this slaughter and the hunts have also been heavily criticised by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) – the global authority on the status of the natural world. 

Last year, Japanese whalers  killed 333 minke whales in the 2015/16 Antarctic hunting season with over 90% of the adult females being pregnant.  

“This international pressure is welcome but we call for additional economic pressure as Japan has taken little interest in previous statements like this one,” said WDC anti- whaling campaigner, Astrid Fuchs.

WDC’s campaign to have Japan’s continued whale slaughter raised as part of future trade negotiations between the EU and Japan took a big leap forward this month after representatives from WDC were invited to address the EU’s own petitions committee.

The opportunity to talk directly with the EU representatives came as a result of our petition (asking for Japan’s whale hunts to be raised in any future trade talks with the EU), which was supported by over 270,000 people.

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