Posts by Danny Groves
Huge success for WDC campaign as Virgin Holidays ends SeaWorld trips
Virgin Holidays has announced that it is to stop selling tickets to SeaWorld as part of a move to cut links with facilities that hold whales and dolphins in captivity for entertainment. The announcement represents a huge success for WDC’s ongoing campaign to stop tour operators promoting and supporting the captivity industry, a campaign that…
Read MoreCanada ends whale and dolphin captivity
The Canadian government has officially passed Bill S-203, the Ending the Captivity of Whales and Dolphins Act. From this point it an offence in Canada to keep captive, breed, import, or export any whale, dolphin, or porpoise. However, there are exemptions for whales and dolphins currently in captivity, as well as for rescue and rehabilitation efforts. There are…
Read MoreRussian company behind infamous ‘whale jail’ is fined
A Russian company behind the ‘whale jail’ housing 10 orcas and over 80 beluga whales in the east of the country has been fined 28.1 million roubles ($433,000; £430,000) according to reports. Captured last year for possible sale to Chinese captivity theme parks, the individuals are currently held in cramped sea pens in Srednyaya Bay…
Read MoreHope for whales and dolphins as ‘world first’ protected areas proposal is announced in Scotland
On the eve of World Oceans Day, promising news has emerged from Scotland with the announcement of a public consultation on proposals to designate more marine protected areas (MPAs) in the region. MPAs provide protection for the most important areas of whale and dolphin habitat, where a population might feed, breed, socialise and raise their…
Read MoreNo fin whales to be hunted in Icelandic waters this summer
According to an announcement by the company behind Iceland’s fin whale hunts, Hvalur hf, no endangered fin whales will be killed off Iceland this summer. Hvalur hf, owned by Kristian Loftsson, slaughtered over 146 fin whales last year, including at least two rare blue whale/fin whale hybrids and a dozen pregnant females. Whaling is cruel, and increasingly…
Read MoreHow you fly two beluga whales home to the ocean
Ahead of the relocation of Little White and Little Grey to the world’s first open water sanctuary for belugas, we gave international media the opportunity to discover how this epic 6,000-mile journey will be delivered to plan, and speak to some of the expert team involved in making this as comfortable a journey as possible…
Read MoreBan on plastic straws in UK announced
The UK Government has announced a ban on the sale of plastic straws, plastic stemmed cotton buds and plastic stirrers. The ban will come into place in England from next April in the hope that it will help reduce the effect of plastic on the environment. Billions of plastic straws, buds and stirrers are discarded…
Read MoreNew date set for beluga move to sanctuary
Following bad weather preventing the initial operation to move two beluga whales from captivity in China to a new ocean home in Iceland, we’re pleased to confirm a new date has been set for the departure of Little Grey and Little White. Our top priority has always been Little Grey and Little White’s welfare and…
Read MoreUK’s wildlife police unit launch public awareness drive with WDC to counter increasing dolphin disturbance
As the holiday season approaches, increasing reports of dolphin disturbance incidents in the waters around the UK involving members of the public have prompted WDC to launch a new public information drive in partnership with the UK National Wildlife Crime Unit (NWCU) – a dedicated British police department that gathers intelligence on wildlife crime. Of…
Read MoreFisherman frees escapee military whale from body harness
A Norwegian fisherman has reportedly removed a harness attached to a whale believed to have escaped from a Russian naval facility. The whale, thought to be a beluga, was spotted by Fisherman Joar Hesten off the coast of Finnmark in northern Norway. As the whale approached, Hesten put on a survival suit and jumped into…
Read More