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North Atlantic right whale - Peter Flood

Whale AID 2023: A Night of Music and Hope for North Atlantic Right Whales

The inaugural Whale AID concert to support Whale and Dolphin Conservation's (WDC's) work to protect...
IMG_6030

Meet the 2023 Interns: Thomas Zoutis

I'm happy to introduce WDC's first Marine Mammal Conservation Intern of the year, Thomas Zoutis!...
MicrosoftTeams-image (9)

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...
Leaping harbour porpoise

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...

What future for Scotland’s whales and dolphins?

You can help the Scottish government decide what the future might look like!

This summer the Scottish government are giving you the opportunity to tell them what you think about their proposed marine protected area (MPA) network.

Whales and dolphins are STILL not included in the current MPAs – although they haven’t been ruled out of the process, yet.

You’ll know that for the last two years, WDC has been involved in on-going meetings and evidence building to try and ensure that whales and dolphins are part of Scotland’s MPA network. Before Christmas we handed more than 36,000 signatures over to Scotland’s Cabinet Secretary for the Environment, Mr Lochhead, and at the same time Scottish Natural Heritage stated that the MPA network would not be complete without whales and dolphins in it!

This was great news – but we have some way to go. The Scottish government is conducting more analysis of existing data before they decide if whales and dolphins are considered in MPAs at a later stage.

In the next few weeks, Scottish Government will launch a full 16 week public consultation, which will include a section on MPAs. Shortly after this in early August, WDC will update our website with tips that we would like you to include in your consultation response.

If you can do one thing for Scotland’s whales and dolphins this year, please take the time to write a letter. Your response WILL make a difference and whales and dolphins will have safer homes if included in Scotland’s MPAs.

Sign-up to our newsletter and we’ll make sure to let you know when the consultation period begins.

Let’s make Scotland’s MPA network a world-leading one that we can be proud of!