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This dead right whale calf had injuries consistent with a vessel strike, including fresh propeller cuts on its back and head, broken ribs, and bruising. Photo: FWC/Tucker Joenz, NOAA Fisheries permit #18786

Emergency Right Whale Petition Seeks Overdue Protections From Vessel Strikes

This dead right whale calf had injuries consistent with a vessel strike, including fresh propeller...
Icelandic hunting vessels in port

Whaling boat kept in port after more hunt cruelty exposed

Icelandic whale hunting fleet One of the whaling boats involved in the latest hunts in...
Commerson's dolphin

New Important Marine Mammal Areas added to global ocean conservation list

Commerson's dolphin Experts from a number of countries have mapped out a new set of...
Fin whale shot with two harpoons

Whalers kill just days after Iceland’s hunt suspension is lifted

Whalers in Iceland have claimed their first victims since the lifting (just a few days...

Netherlands court decision keeps Morgan in captivity

WDC was today disappointed at the decision of a court in the Netherlands to uphold an earlier ruling stating that the export of Morgan, a young orca, to the Loro Parque theme park in Tenerife, Spain, was legal. Campaigners had hoped to have the decision overturned as the first step in a plan to have her returned to the wild.

Morgan was taken into care after stranding on the Dutch coast back in 2010. It was hoped that she would be returned to the wild once she had been rehabilitated but despite the advice of orca experts, instead she was kept in captivity at the Dolphinarium Harderwijk until the facility sold her to Loro Parque in 2012. 

Since then, WDC and other campaigners have attempted to use the legal process to have the decision overturned. In the meantime, Morgan’s health and well-being has suffered during her time in captivity, amidst claims by the park that she is deaf and therefore not suitable for a release programme.

More on the fate of captive orcas.