Climate giants – how whales can help save the world
We know that whales, dolphins and porpoises are amazing beings with complex social and family lives, and we are leaning more about them all the time. But we are only beginning to understand that whales are essential in ensuring a healthy ocean and helping us combat climate change. The ocean is our largest carbon sink,…
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Taking a message from the ocean to parliament
It’s a sad fact that whales and dolphins don’t vote in human elections, but I wonder what kind of world we’d have now if they did. There’d certainly be more fish, and single-use plastics would not be a thing. Because whales and dolphins don’t have a voice in parliament, it’s down to all of us…
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UK government’s poor performance on the marine environment
One year ago, Environment Minister Rebecca Pow declared 2021 a ‘Marine Super Year’, stressing that the UK would use its COP26 presidency to lead calls to restore the marine environment to health, stating that global leadership started with ambition and delivery at home. Impressive words, but did they translate to action? Let’s take a look…
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Grace the sei whale is dead – it’s time to stop killing whales
Imagine … a whale. A sei whale, her body something between blue and steely grey. Along her head, a single ridge runs from the tip of her nose to two blowholes and set high on her back is a sickle-shaped dorsal fin. At 15 metres and 29 tons, she eclipses her male counterparts in size.…
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From managing commercial slaughter to saving the whale – the International Whaling Commission at 75
Governments come together under the auspices of the International Whaling Commission (IWC) to make decisions that affect whales (and more recently dolphins and porpoises too) … and what happens to whales impacts the ocean and all of us. So as the IWC celebrates its 75th anniversary, let’s explore how this international body began by attempting…
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COP26: Did we persuade world leaders to listen to the ocean?
As the dust settles after the United Nations Climate Change conference in Glasgow, it’s a good moment to reflect on what we achieved there for whales, dolphins and the ocean. Many things have been said already on how the event unfolded and here I’ll give my honest ruminations on what happened during and after those…
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