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WDC2023-007 NMLC Release (16)

Seal Rescued in Marshfield Released Back Into The Wild

For Immediate Release, May 31, 2023 PLYMOUTH, MA - A young male grey seal that...

Norway ups whale kill numbers and removes whale welfare protections

The whaling season in Norway has begun on the back of disturbing announcements from the...
Image taken from an unmanned hexacopter at >100ft during a research collaboration between NOAA/SWFSC, SR3 and the Coastal Ocean Research Institute. Research authorized by NMFS permit #19091.

Southern Resident orca petition to list them under Oregon Endangered Species Act advanced

The Oregon Fish and Wildlife Commission voted today to advance a petition seeking to protect...
Hysazu Photography

WDC and Conservation Partners Continue to Seek Oregon Endangered Species Protection for Southern Resident Orcas

On Friday, April 21st, the Oregon Fish and Wildlife Commission will determine whether the petition...

Hundreds more whales killed in the Faroes

Up to 300 pilot whales have been slaughtered in the second whale hunt of the season in the Faroes, which took place on July 30 in Fuglafjørður on the northern Island of Esturoy. The last hunt that took place in this area was at the end of November 2012 when 45 pilot whales were killed.

The staggering number of pilot whales taken in this latest hunt make it one of the largest in the past few years and follows the 125 killed in the opening hunt of the 2013 season earlier in July.

The drive hunts are an extremely inhumane practice where entire family groups of pilot whales are rounded up out at sea by small motor boats and driven to the shore where they are killed in shallow bays. Once they beach, blunt-ended metal hooks inserted into their blowholes are used to drag the whales up the beach or in the shallows, where they are killed with a knife.

The hunts, or grinds, can be carried out in any of 22 sanctioned bays around the Faroe Islands, where sandy beaches make it easier to drive the pilot whales close to shore.  Although there is no formal scheduled drive hunt season, the grinds often occur as early as May and during the summer months when pods may be closer to shore for mating and breeding, but can extend through November.

A WDC team recently visited the Faroe Islands conducting outreach to local communities, and we are urging the Faroe Islanders to bring a permanent end to the hunting of pilot whales and other species of whales and dolphins.