Japan passes whaling bill with view to resume commercial whaling

By Rachel Mealey 7 July 2017 TOKYO (ABC News) – Japan has passed a law enshrining the practice of whaling and is considering upgrading its fleet of vessels in a step toward returning to the controversial commercial practice. The new whaling bill sets out Japan’s plan to one day resume commercial whaling, with one MP […]

Trump administration cancels new protection for endangered West Coast whales

By Ellen Knickmeyer 12 June 2017 SAN FRANCISCO (Associated Press) – The Trump administration on Monday threw out a new rule intended to limit the numbers of endangered whales and sea turtles getting caught in fishing nets off the West Coast, even though the fishing industry had proposed the measure. The National Marine Fisheries Service […]

Chinese appetite for totoaba fish bladder kills off rare porpoise – No more than 30 vaquita left in the northern Gulf of California today, and they could be extinct within months

By Damian Carrington16 May 2017 (The Guardian) – The world’s rarest marine mammal is on the verge of extinction due to the continuing illegal demand in China for a valuable fish organ, an undercover investigation has revealed. There are no more than 30 vaquita – a five-foot porpoise – left in the northern Gulf of […]

A giant beached whale sculpture illustrates the plastic pollution problem

12 May 2017 (Plastic Pollution Coalition) – Greenpeace Philippines recently created and installed a giant whale art piece made out of plastic pollution at the Sea Side Beach Resort in Naic, Cavite. The 50-foot installation will be on display until 14 May 2017. “Listen to the dead whale’s wake-up call, look closer and see what […]

Killer whale Lulu found with extreme levels of PCBs, may be “the most contaminated on planet”

By John Bacon 4 May 2017 (USA TODAY) – A killer whale found dead on the Scottish island of Tiree had one of the highest levels of PCB pollution ever recorded, scientists say. Lulu, well known to researchers as one of the last surviving whales in the waters around Britain, died after becoming entangled in […]

416 beached whales propel New Zealanders into frenzied rescue mission – “The young ones were the worst. Crying is the only way to describe it.”

By Katie Mettler 10 February 2017 (The Washington Post) – The writer, photographer and tour guide gathered at a quarter past six Friday morning, their destination Farewell Spit. The dainty, fingerlike peninsula cups the northern edge of shallow Golden Bay, one of New Zealand’s most picturesque natural scenes and a premiere place to witness the […]

Japanese poaching fleet caught with dead whale in Australia sanctuary

15 January 2017 (Sea Shepherd Global) – After five weeks of patrolling the Southern Ocean, Sea Shepherd has located the Japanese whale poachers’ factory whaling vessel in the Australian Whale Sanctuary with a dead minke whale on its flensing deck, the first to be documented since the International Court of Justice ruled against their whaling […]

Fifth dead humpback whale since November beaches in Hawai’i

By Ted Ranosa 1 January 2017 (Tech Times) – Hawaii’s Department of Land and Natural Resources (DLNR) announced on Friday, Dec. 30, that access to the Ahihi-Kinau Natural Area Reserve in South Maui has been closed after a whale carcass was washed ashore in the area. The carcass is believed to be that of a […]

IWC meeting: Australia wants ‘scientific whaling’ ended as Japan prepares to resume whale slaughter – South Atlantic whale sanctuary proposal fails

By Sharon Livermore25 October 2016 (IFAW) – Today, at the second day of plenary meetings at the 66th International Whaling Commission in Portorož, Slovenia, a proposal from Latin American countries to form a South Atlantic Whale Sanctuary again failed to pass with the needed three-quarters majority vote. At the conclusion of the voting session, Matt […]

Time short to save vaquita by tackling illegal fish trade – Fewer than 60 individuals alive

Collateral Damage from EIA on Vimeo. LONDON, 20 September 2016 (EIA) – With distinctive markings around its mouth and eyes, the vaquita is one of the world’s most iconic marine mammal species – but with fewer than 60 left, it is doomed to extinction in the very near future unless immediate and meaningful action is […]

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