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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...

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.