Skip to content
All news
  • All news
  • About whales & dolphins
  • Corporates
  • Create healthy seas
  • End captivity
  • Green Whale
  • Prevent bycatch
  • Prevent deaths in nets
  • Science
  • Scottish Dolphin Centre
  • Stop whaling
  • Stranding
20230202_132407

Whale and Dolphin Conservation partners with local artist for art auction

PLYMOUTH, MA - Whale and Dolphin Conservation (WDC) has partnered with local artist Erik Simmons...
dolphin FB Fundraiser

e.l.f. Cosmetics announces new “porpoise-ful” initiative to benefit Whale and Dolphin Conservation

For Immediate Release, March 16, 2023 OAKLAND, CA - On the fins of its first...

Kiska the ‘world’s loneliest whale’ dies at Canadian theme park

Kiska, dubbed the loneliest whale in the world, has died at Marineland, a zoo and...
Grey seal is released from the kennel on the ocean side of Duxbury Beach

Why did the seal cross the road? WDC responds to a grey seal near Gurnet Point in Plymouth, MA

Grey seal is released from the kennel on the ocean side of Duxbury Beach For...

Gray whale with no tail adapts to survive

A gray whale without a tail fluke has been sighted migrating up the west coast of the US. 

The whale appears to have adapted to the loss of this limb and seems able to swim and dive despite the obvious hindrance. It is thought that the whale had probably become entangled in fishing year at some point and this has led to the eventual amputation of its tail. The sighting comes just days after rescuers attempted to cut fishing lines off another gray whale in an attempt to try and save the animal.

First sighted in its breeding grounds off Baja California in Mexico, the gray whale has since been seen off San Diego and Los Angeles as it makes its way north to its feeding grounds in Alaska.

“This whale is such a trooper, we saw him cruising up the coast,” said Capt Tom White from local whale-watching company, Dana Wharf Whale Watching. “He was seen on Sunday at 6pm in front of Dana Point Harbor, the whale seemed fully adapted to his handicap and seemed fully normal besides how he looks – the whale with no tail!”

Every year, it is estimated that thousands of whales and dolphins are thought to die as a result of encounters with nets and lines. Some species, such as the North Atlantic right whale, vaquita and New Zealand dolphin face uncertain futures because of this threat.

Please sign out petition to help save the North Atlantic right whale.