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 […]
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 […]
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