Skip to content
All articles
  • All articles
  • About whales & dolphins
  • Create healthy seas
  • End captivity
  • Fundraising
  • Green Whale
  • Prevent bycatch
  • Prevent deaths in nets
  • Stop whaling
IMG_6030

Meet the 2023 Interns: Thomas Zoutis

I'm happy to introduce WDC's first Marine Mammal Conservation Intern of the year, Thomas Zoutis!...
MicrosoftTeams-image (9)

Double Your Impact for Marine Animal Rescue & Response

On a chilly day this past December, the WDC North America team celebrated the first...
20230126_091707

WDC’s Education Wishlist = Cleared!

To the WDC Community, I want to thank you so much for your support of...
Hysazu Photography

Looking forward for Southern Resident orcas in 2023

Hysazu Photography 2022 was a big year for Southern Resident orcas - 2022 brought the...
Credit: Seacoast Science Center

The Unlikely Adventure of Shoebert, a Young Grey Seal Who Visited an Industrial Park Pond

Credit: Seacoast Science Center In mid-September, our stranding partners in northern Massachusetts were inundated with...
Leaping harbour porpoise

The power of harbour porpoise poo

We know we need to save the whale to save the world. Now we are...
Right whale - Regina WDC

Whale and Dolphin Conservation: Change Through Policy.

WDC focuses on education, research, conservation projects, and policy work to create a sustainable future...
Clear the list graphic

Clear WDC’s Amazon Wishlist for Giving Tuesday

UPDATE: We are thrilled to report that everything was donated off of our Amazon Wishlist...

The Winter Bay is on the move again! Whale meat vessel sets off for Japan

The Winter Bay, the second-rate vessel chartered by Icelandic whaler, Kristjan Loftsson, to move an estimated 1,700 tonnes of fin whale meat to Japan, is on the move again! The vessel has been moored in Tromso since June 11th.  Recent reports that the Winter Bay, which has only basic ice strengthening, would be stuck there maybe until late August/early September when ice conditions might be sufficiently favourable to allow her onward journey through the Northeast Passage, have clearly proved groundless or were simply red herrings: anything is possible with Loftsson.

So what can be done? We’ve been working alongside other like-minded NGOs to explore every avenue to get the Winter Bay and her cargo and paperwork inspected, with the aim of forcing her to return to Iceland. The Norwegian authorities have had every opportunity to inspect the vessel during her time at Tromso, but despite strong requests, have failed to do so.

We’ve also been working with global campaigning community, Avaaz, to target St Kitts and Nevis, the small Caribbean island nation that provides a ‘flag of convenience’ to the Winter Bay. Such is her history (and that of her parent company, Aquaships) that most countries would not touch her with the proverbial bargepole, as we previously reported.  


A flag state, however, has certain important responsibilities with regard to a vessel’s seaworthiness and the safety of her crew and Avaaz recently mounted a global petition urging St Kitts and Nevis to remove their flag from the vessel (and also to stop supporting Japan on whaling issues). The petition has over a million signatures – please sign and circulate if you haven’t already done so! The Northeast Passage is considered to be under Russian ownership, however, requests to Russia to refuse the Winter Bay permission to take that route have also fallen on deaf ears.

We will be tracking the Winter Bay as she moves towards the Northeast Passage: you can be sure that we will continue to fight to see this shipment returned to Iceland.  

Join our campaign to stop whaling in Iceland and instead see Iceland celebrated as a Whale Nation, not a whaling nation.