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Lasting legacies

Lasting Legacies: Orca Action Month 2023

Each June we celebrate Orca Month and the unique community of Southern Resident orcas, and this...
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...
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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...

Making Faces for Food

“If you keep making that face it’ll freeze that way!” Do you think beluga moms use that line on their kids? Probably not, because the moms are making faces, too!  Belugas have very malleable mouths with a cleft upper lip.  These traits are unusual among whales and dolphins, but give belugas their uniquely wide range of “facial expressions,” the ability to pucker their lips, and squirt water with amazing accuracy.

While those skills may seem custom-made for the entertainment of oceanaria visitors, they actually have a very important function for survival in the wild.  Many of the belugas’ various prey items are bottom dwellers, and belugas use their flexible lips and mouths to create suction for feeding.  It’s a shame that the way belugas forage has been twisted by captivity into a stunt intended to amuse spectators.

 

This week, help us keep belugas wild and free by telling Turner Broadcasting (owners of TBS & CNN – where “Blackfish” has recently been seen by millions – among other networks) that you are not amused or entertained by captivity.  We’re going back to Facebook this week (TBS doesn’t provide a general contact email) to tell them: “Turner Broadcasting, you say you’ve been environmentally responsible since your founding – importing wild Russian belugas is NOT environmentally responsible! Say NO to sponsoring the Georgia Aquarium.”

 

Thanks for being part of another action alert – see you next week for your new beluga fun fact!