22 Dec 2024
New research published in Science Advances reveals that right whales can survive for more than 130 years — almost twice as long as previously understood. This made them the second-longest lived mammals on Earth, after bowhead whales which could live beyond two centuries. The study examined four decades of data collected by photo identification programs tracking individual […]
10 Dec 2024
Animal rights and environmental groups have denounced the move by Iceland’s outgoing government to issue new permits that allow 209 fin whales and 217 minke whales to be caught during each year’s whaling season, which runs from June to September. The country is one of only three in the world that still allows whaling – […]
26 Nov 2024
Global shipping routes overlap 92% of large-whales habitats and are a leading threat to their survival, but protecting whales in the most dangerous collision hotspots would require action over just 2.6% of the ocean’s surface, potentially saving thousands of whales with minimal disruption to global trade. However, currently less than 7% of global hotspots for whale-ship collisions have protection measures in place. […]
13 Aug 2024
In a recently published paper titled ‘Narwhal, beluga and bowhead whale responses to marine vessel traffic: A systematic map’ researchers looked at interactions between increases in marine vessel traffic and how Arctic whales respond to marine vessels and vessel-associated activities. Exposure to human activity Arctic whales (bowhead, narwhal, and beluga) have historically been shielded from […]
15 Jun 2024
Iceland’s government has issued a licence to hunt whales. The licence for the 2024 hunting season allows the Hvalur company to kill 128 fin whales. The government said the company was now permitted to hunt “99 whales in the Greenland/West Iceland region and 29 whales in the East Iceland/Faroe Islands region, totalling 128 whales”. A […]
11 Jun 2024
Limited understanding of basic ocean processes is hindering progress in marine carbon dioxide removal, with the on-going commercialisation of some approaches “premature and misguided”, say a group of international scientists. In a new paper researchers review the climatic effectiveness of four ‘nature-based’ techniques using marine biological processes. These involve shellfish cultivation, seaweed farming, coastal blue […]
12 Feb 2024
The first-ever State of the World’s Migratory Species report has been launched by the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS), a UN biodiversity treaty, at the opening of a major UN wildlife conservation conference (CMS COP14). The landmark report reveals: Nearly all (97 per cent) of CMS-listed fish are threatened with extinction. While […]
05 Dec 2023
Toxic chemicals in UK whales and dolphins are exceeding safe limits. The compounds, once used in pesticides, flame retardants and coolants, are having significant impacts on the health and reproduction of the animals. Despite many being banned almost 20 years ago, levels of persistent organic pollutants (POPs) remain high in the oceans. In fact, these […]
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