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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...

US government approves use of underwater sonic cannons

The US government has announced its approval for the use of loud sonic cannons to find oil and gas deposits below the ocean floor along eastern coastal areas of America.

The approval opens a stretch of water from Delaware to Florida to exploration by energy companies preparing to apply for drilling leases in 2018. It also exposes whale, dolphins and other marine wildlife, such as turtles, to extreme levels of noise pollution under the water. The sonic cannons can fire pulses of sound 100 times louder than a jet engine through the water and down to the ocean floor. The decibel level is higher than that which would cause serious hearing damage in humans, and noise from sonic cannons has been recorded by underwater microphones over 2,000 miles from the source of the original blast.  

Noise pollution threatens whale and dolphin populations, interrupting their normal behaviour, driving them away from areas important to their survival, and at worst injuring or sometimes even causing their deaths. For whales and dolphins, ‘listening’ is as important as ‘seeing’ is for humans, yet there are still no international regulations regarding noise pollution in the world’s seas.