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Double Your Impact for Marine Animal Rescue & Response

On a chilly day this past December, the WDC North America team celebrated the first...
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WDC’s Education Wishlist = Cleared!

To the WDC Community, I want to thank you so much for your support of...
Hysazu Photography

Looking forward for Southern Resident orcas in 2023

Hysazu Photography 2022 was a big year for Southern Resident orcas - 2022 brought the...
Credit: Seacoast Science Center

The Unlikely Adventure of Shoebert, a Young Grey Seal Who Visited an Industrial Park Pond

Credit: Seacoast Science Center In mid-September, our stranding partners in northern Massachusetts were inundated with...
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The power of harbour porpoise poo

We know we need to save the whale to save the world. Now we are...
Right whale - Regina WDC

Whale and Dolphin Conservation: Change Through Policy.

WDC focuses on education, research, conservation projects, and policy work to create a sustainable future...
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Clear WDC’s Amazon Wishlist for Giving Tuesday

UPDATE: We are thrilled to report that everything was donated off of our Amazon Wishlist...
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Speaking truth to power – my week giving whales a voice

The International Whaling Commission (IWC) meeting is where governments come together to make decisions about whaling...

The Minch is full of life!

We had an unexpectedly glorious day on the water today and saw first-hand what many had been telling us over the past few days since our arrival – that this was already a good year for wildlife in the Minch!

Gannets galore

A virtual carpet of sitting guillemots led us up to Tolsta Head in the north of our study area. Here we were greeted by a swirling mass of high flying gannets, young and old, who were diving and feeding successfully on a huge shoal of fish. Tiny little white-bottomed storm petrels flitted about on the waters’ surface between them and our first minke whale lunged through the middle of the whole giant feast. It was a true spectacle and a wonderful welcome back to the Minch!

On our way to visit the local harbour seal haul out site, a solitary colourful puffin flew past, another reminder of the diversity of life in the Minch. Scottish harbour seal populations are suffering terrible declines throughout large parts of Scotland, but the decline in the Western Isles is slow but gradual. We’re pleased to report that there were many young pups in the group we observed.

Life on the rocks

As if that wasn’t enough excitement for the day, we were thrilled when our boat skipper, Lewis, pointed out an otter, completely unaware of us and munching heartily on a tasty looking wrasse. And then there was another – our first ever pair of otters on Lewis!

Pull the otter one!

In addition to all these incredible encounters, we successfully deployed our first piece of acoustic equipment for 2012 and we retrieved another that had been sat in Loch Erisort monitoring porpoise movements over the winter.

It’s a sugar kelp jungle out there!