Posts by Danny Groves
New State of Nature report paints worrying picture for UK wildlife
A new State of Nature report has revealed that losses to all animals, plants and marine life over the past few decades shows no sign of improving and that over 40% of species have decreased in abundance, while just 26% have increased. The report uses vast amounts of data collected from tens of thousands of…
Read MoreHelp WDC win a huge Christmas donation
WDC’s long-term supporters, Animal Friends Insurance, have chosen us to be a part of their 2019 ‘£100k giveaway’, which will see one of the nominated charities awarded an amazing £100k donation in time for Christmas. WDC is up against five other great causes for the big prize, and so we urgently need your help to…
Read MoreSurf’s up for porpoises in Wales
Rare images of porpoises surfing the waves off the coast of Wales were snapped by members of a research team from WDC over the weekend as they scanned the water from a land-based platform on the Lleyn peninsula. Whilst this kind of behaviour is common among their bigger cousins, dolphins, it is not often that…
Read MoreRussia considers more whale captures after releasing some from notorious ‘whale jail’
Whale and dolphin experts, including those from WDC have issued a joint letter to the Russian Federal Service for the Management of Natural Resources amid concerns about proposals being considered for the live capture of whales and dolphins for sale to captivity theme parks in Russia and other countries. Species proposed for capture in Russian…
Read MoreFinancial worth of whales revealed
Policymakers and economists at the International Monetary Fund (IMF) have placed a substantial value on the benefits of having healthy whales in the ocean. The report looks at the economic benefits whales provide to industries such as ecotourism, and also the environmental benefits (such as how much carbon they remove from the atmosphere by absorbing…
Read MoreRugby World Cup fans warned of whale meat risk
WDC has launched an awareness campaign today calling on people visiting Japan for the Rugby World Cup this autumn to be like most Japanese people and steer clear of whale meat. Rugby fans are being warned of the potential risk of finding whale meat in Japanese foods, even in familiar sounding dishes such as curry,…
Read MoreSeaWorld parts company with another CEO
Troubled marine park operator, SeaWorld has parted company with yet another CEO. Gus Antorcha, who had been with SeaWorld for less than seven months has resigned following internal disagreements over decision making. Antorcha replaced Joel Manby, who was named CEO in 2015, who also stepped down last year. SeaWorld has faced a public backlash following the release…
Read MoreAntibiotic resistance in dolphins mirrors trend seen in humans
Samples collected from dolphins by scientists over a 12 year period indicate that dolphins may be mirroring the trend in human resistance to antibiotic drugs. Researchers looked at the samples from bottlenose dolphins living in the Indian River Lagoon in Florida between 2003 and 2015 and found that nearly 90% of the 733 samples taken…
Read MoreCanada to move two captive belugas to theme park in Spain
Two captive beluga whales are to be moved from the Marineland theme park in Canada to a Spanish facility, despite the Canadian government recently banning live imports and exports of these marine mammals, and the capture of wild whales, dolphins and porpoises for aquaria. The Canadian Fisheries Minister approved the permits for the move under exceptions…
Read MoreUK firm announces potential drastic plastic action against staff
UK A company has announced plans to help ease the problem of plastic pollution by changing staff contracts to try to stop single-use plastic being brought into the workplace. Anyone ignoring the new rules would receive warnings and could then face the sack. The company, Intelligent Hand Dryers (IHD), introduced an office ban on all…
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