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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...

WDC asks Dutch government to halt loud underwater surveys

WDC is demanding an immediate halt to on-going underwater surveys for oil and gas in Dutch waters, close to the German border and a special area of protection for a vulnerable harbour porpoise population.

‘Air guns’ are used in these surveys and fire loud pulses of sound down into the seabed to locate deposits of crude oil. Noise levels from these ‘guns’ are extreme and sound from them can travel thousands of kilometers through the water.

The nearby German marine protected area, called the Borkum Reef Ground, is a known habitat for the harbour porpoise, a species strictly protected under Europoean Union law (EU Habitats Directive).

For whales, dolphins and porposes, ‘listening’ is as important as ‘seeing’ is for humans. Noise pollution interrupts their normal behaviour, driving them away from areas important to their survival, and at worst injuring or sometimes even causing their deaths.

Importantly, summertime is known as the most sensitive period for harbour porpoises, as they give birth to their young, which are especially vulnerable to such loud noise pollution.

WDC has written to the Dutch government requesting that these surveys stop immediately.