28 Nov 2023
Nearly half of the whales and dolphins found in UK waters over the past five years contained harmful concentrations of toxic chemicals banned decades ago, an investigation has found. Among orcas stranded in the UK, levels of PCBs, a group of highly dangerous and persistent chemicals that do not degrade easily, were 30 times the concentration […]
31 Oct 2023
Scotland’s west coast seas are a vitally important area for minke whales – with some of these spectacular but vulnerable marine mammals notching up Europe’s longest sighting histories of almost 30 years, research by the Hebridean Whale and Dolphin Trust, shows. A newly published digital catalogue bringing together photographic identification records submitted by members of […]
24 Oct 2023
Boat strikes are one of the top threats to North Atlantic right whales, which can cause death or injury from blunt-force trauma or propeller cuts. Studies have found that limiting boat speeds to 10 knots is estimated to reduce a North Atlantic right whale’s risk of death from being killed by a boat over 65 […]
29 Aug 2023
Marine mammals mistakenly eat plastic debris items such as plastic bags, food wrappers, ropes and abandoned fishing gear, or they become entangled in plastic items including fishing nets. Both scenarios can lead to injury and, in many cases, death. Now a recent US study has revealed that marine mammals face a more subtle plastic threat: microplastics. In the ocean, microplastics […]
08 Jul 2023
A new report by MPs has found some marine wildlife is being failed by the UK government. Protections for whales, dolphins and seals are poorer compared to other countries, the Parliamentary Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee (Efra) found. Some of the threats include underwater noise, pollution in the water and climate change, the BBC […]
06 Jun 2023
From The Conversation: Research has suggested healthy whale populations could help us in unexpected ways – by storing carbon for the long term. How? Whales are usually huge. Among their number is the blue whale, the largest animal ever to have lived. At up to 30 metres long and 190 tonnes, they’re bigger than any dinosaur. […]
10 Jan 2023
Entanglement is the biggest identified cause of death due to human activity for minke and humpback whales, and the extent of the issue has not been well understood. Whales and other marine animals can become entangled in fishing equipment, including the ropes linking creels (also known as pots), which are set around Scotland’s coasts to […]
20 Dec 2022
While many efforts to fight climate change have focused on planting trees or restoring wetlands, researchers publishing in Trends in Ecology and Evolution advocate for the importance of understanding the carbon sequestration potential of the planet’s largest animals—whales. In their paper, the researchers explore how whales can influence the amount of carbon in our air and waters […]
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