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
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...
Fin whale

Icelandic government lifts suspension on cruel hunts

The Icelandic government is to allow fin whales to be hunted again after lifting a...

Large group of whales strand on Scottish coastline

Poor weather hampered attempts by rescuers to save a large group of pilot whales that have stranded on the shore at Staffin on Skye earlier this week.

21 pilot whales got into difficulty in the remote location on Monday evening. Three died, including a mother who had to be euthanised after her calf died, but the rescue team managed to refloat 18 other whales at about 04:00 on Tuesday morning. 

Later on Tuesday, some of the remaining whales restranded on Staffin Island itself. Sadly, four more died while rescuers were unable to save two others. However, the remaining whales were eventually refloated and pushed back into open water on the next high tide. The surviving whales are now thought to have left the area.

Pilot whales often strand in large groups. They live in very tight social groups and usually when they strand it appears that either a lead individual has made a navigational mistake, or one individual has become sick or wounded and led the rest of its pod onto the shore.