Posts by Vicki James
Please stop killing whales – WDC joins anti-whaling marches
On Saturday, along with WDC colleagues, I braved the soaring temperatures and joined the march in central London to protest against the Japanese government’s decision to resume openly commercial whaling. We were joined by like-minded people and organisations, and the air was filled with our voices as we called for the Japanese government to ‘PLEASE…
Read MoreLooking out for dolphins and porpoises in Wales
Have you ever fancied yourself as a dolphin researcher? If you think you’ve got what it takes, you could join us on the remote Welsh island of Bardsey (Ynys Enlli) next year. I have just returned from Bardsey Island with my colleague Pine Eisfeld-Pierantonio. We spent the last two weeks of August looking out for…
Read MoreA lovely end to my sabbatical with more humpback whales
My time at the WDC North American office has come to an end; it has flown by and has been a wonderful experience. In my previous blog I wrote about the humpback studies that I have been assisting on whilst I have been here. Since then the weather has continued to be unseasonably good and…
Read MoreA Whale of a welcome
It’s been two weeks since I arrived at the WDC North America office here in Plymouth, Massachusetts. I’m normally based at the UK office, but I’m lucky to be here on sabbatical assisting on the studies of the whales in Cape Cod, particularly humpback whales. After being taught the data collection techniques, which is very…
Read MoreThe windy watch – Bardsey Island Survey 2017
Another Bardsey Island (Ynys Enlli) field season is over, this time a little earlier than planned as the strong winds, some of which were over 50 mph, made it impossible for us to survey. However in the short time we were there we were treated to some dolphin delights. The waters around Bardsey Island are…
Read MoreWhales could help save Arctic Seed Vault
Recently, Norway announced that the entrance to the Global Seed Vault in the Arctic was flooded after very high temperatures caused the permafrost to melt. The vault, a storage facility deep inside a mountain on the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard, is designed to preserve the world’s crops from future disasters. The store holds seeds from c.5,000 crop…
Read MoreRisso’s dolphins in North Wales – Bardsey Fieldwork 2016
It seems that this year’s Bardsey fieldwork has been and gone in a flash, it felt like I was only on the island for a few days when in fact 2 weeks had flown past, and I now find myself back in the office. Thanks to funding from Natural Resources Wales (NRW), we were able…
Read MoreNorth Sea piling development worrying for porpoises
The UK government has given consent for the world’s largest offshore wind farm, Hornsea 2, to be built off the Yorkshire coast. This decision could lead to significant negative impacts to the harbour porpoise, the smallest porpoise found in our waters. We raised our concerns during public consultations. Harbour porpoises are ‘strictly’ protected under the…
Read MoreRisso’s dolphins in north Wales – Bardsey Island fieldwork 2015
Thanks to funding from Natural Resources Wales (NRW), we were able to go to Bardsey Island (Ynys Enlli) for two weeks in September this year to undertake our study into the Risso’s dolphin and harbour porpoise populations there. Our team of two (project leader Pine Eisfeld-Pierantonio and myself), were joined by NRW’s Senior Marine Mammal Ecologist,…
Read MoreDolphin delights at Bardsey Island
Earlier this year we were back in North Wales, at Bardsey Island (Ynys Enlli), undertaking our fieldwork into the Risso’s dolphins that make Bardsey their home during the summer and autumn months. We had a fantastic field season this year with one of our best ever encounters, we had more than 30 Risso’s dolphins…
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