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© 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...
Moana, Marineland France

Orca Moana dies suddenly at Marineland

Twelve-year old orca, Moana has died suddenly at the Marineland Antibes theme park facility in...

Marine organisms can shred a plastic bag into 1.75 million pieces

A worrying new study by marine scientists at the University of Plymouth has found that the problem with plastic bags entering the ocean could be a lot worst than initially thought.
Researchers have discovered that a single plastic carrier bag could be broken down by marine organisms into around 1.75 million microscopic fragments and so increasing the spread of microplastics within the marine environment.

The scientists were examining the rate at which bags were broken down by the amphipod ‘Orchestia gammarellus’, which inhabits coastal areas in northern and western Europe, when they discovered that the organisms actually shred the material.

Between 5 million and 13 million tonnes of plastic leak into the ocean every year. That’s more than the combined weight of every single blue whale on Earth.

Find out more about plastic pollution and how you can help reduce the threat to whales and dolphins by visiting WDC’s NotWhaleFood.com