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© New England Aquarium and Canadian Whale Institute under DFO Canada SARA permit

Scientists unveil new names for 19 North Atlantic right whales

December 6, 2023 - Contact: Regina Asmutis-Silvia, Whale and Dolphin Conservation, (508) 451-3853, [email protected] Pam...
© Clearwater Marine Aquarium Research Institute, taken under NOAA permit #26919. Funded by United States Army Corps of Engineers

Birth announcement! First right whale calf of the 2024 calving season spotted

November 29, 2023 - On November 28th, researchers from the Clearwater Marine Aquarium Research Institute...
© Peter Flood

Two New England-based nonprofits awarded nearly $400k federal grant

© Peter Flood November 20, 2023 - Contact: Jake O'Neill, Conservation Law Foundation, (617) 850-1709,...
Right whale - Regina WDC

North Atlantic right whale population has stabilized

WDC attends Ropeless Consortium and North Atlantic Right Whale Consortium WDC was in Canada this...

Whale and Dolphin Conservation (WDC) is acting on reports that two wild orcas were captured in August in the Western Okhotsk Sea in Russia.

Russian orcaThe orcas may have been captured by employees of the Sochi Dolphinarium – a facility on the northern coast of the Black Sea and sources suggest that one of the two orcas may have died or been released. The other orca, a female, has been transported to the city of Vladivostok on Russia’s Pacific coast and then on to a holding facility at the dolphinarium of the TINRO-center near Nakhodka, a port city about 50 miles east of Vladivostok.

We are unsure of what the planned final destination for the surviving orca is  – her captors may intend to transport her to one of the marine parks in Sochi (the host city for the 2014 Winter Olympic Games) or supply a new facility opening up on Russiky Island near Vladivostock. She may even be sold to a facility overseas.

Russian orcaMarine parks profit greatly from displaying captive orcas and each year Russia issues live-capture permits for up to ten orcas to be taken from its waters. However, this is the first time in nearly 10 years that orcas have actually been taken from the wild. The last time this happened, in 2003, both orcas tragically died soon after capture.

More on orcas in captivity