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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...

WDC warns of crunch time for the whales as IWC65 opens

WDC campaigners are in Portoroz, Slovenia for the 65th meeting of the International Whaling Commission (IWC) which opens today.  The IWC currently meets every two years to consider issues relating to whaling and whale conservation.

WDC has fielded a team at each IWC meeting for the past 25 years; however, we believe that this year will present an exceptional challenge as there are several proposals tabled by the whaling nations which give great cause for concern and which we believe must be strongly opposed.

This year’s meeting is expected to be dominated by discussions on:

  • The repercussions of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruling in March that Japan’s Antarctic whaling was illegal; and Japan’s attempt to create a new category of ‘small-type coastal whaling’ 
  • Greenland’s attempts to obtain an Aboriginal Subsistence Whaling (ASW) quota, despite clear evidence of increasing commercialization of its hunts

Some notable omissions from this year’s formal agenda include:

  • Iceland’s commercial whaling, despite ongoing hunts of endangered fin whales, as well as minke whales
  • Norway’s escalating minke whaling, despite declining demand

The main meeting starts on Monday 15th. We will be posting regular updates at whales.org/IWC2014 and also reporting live on Twitter at #IWC2014